What Causes Nightmares, and How Can You Prevent Them?

Everyone has bad dreams sometimes, but if nightmares plague you, mental exercises or physical treatments might help. Learn more in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/sleep/dreams/nightmares.htm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Hey brain Stuff Lauren Bobi boam Here. Everyone has the
occasional nightmare. A roughly five percent of the general population
has at least one bad dream per week, and for
some people, the intensity or frequency of these dreams can

(00:22):
have a negative effect on waking life. But why do
our sleeping brains inflicked us with upsetting images and scenarios? Today?
Let's talk about what we know and don't know about
nightmares and how to prevent them. For the article this
episode is based on, Has to Work. Spoke by email
with clinical psychologist and sleep expert Dr Michael Bruce. He

(00:45):
explained nightmares typically happened during rim sleep, during the middle
and later portions of the night. Because of where nightmares
tend to fall in the sleep cycle, and because of
the intensity of their imagery and emotions, nightmares will result
in some degree of awakening. You may bolt upright in
bed and have trouble returning to sleep thanks to a nightmare.

(01:07):
We don't know exactly why nightmares happen, but Bruce says
it's possible that they helped the brain quote practice, prepare,
and even anticipate difficult or dangerous experiences in waking life.
Sometimes such issues need attention in daylight hours. Maybe if
you're dreaming about car accidents, that's an anxiety about driving

(01:28):
that may be lessened by getting work you've been putting
off done on your car, or by talking to a
therapist about your fears. Bruce said, of course, it's possible
that nightmares, like dreams in general, don't have a primary function,
that they are a byproduct of other activities in the body,
but most sleep scientists think that dreams and nightmares exist

(01:49):
for some purpose. Certain circumstances and characteristics may make some
people more prone to nightmares than others. Folklore often attributes
nightmares to eating too much rich food before bedtime, but
the jury is still allowed on whether this is true.
One study from did find a link between eating dairy

(02:09):
or spicy foods before bedtime and having disturbing dreams, but
the study authors noted that this couldn't be proven conclusively
because the data were self reported and there were a
lot of other variables to consider. For instance, some of
the participants were binge eaters, a practiced inter minute fasting,
or may have had undiagnosed reactions to certain foods. Physical

(02:32):
and mental health issues are more reliably linked to having nightmares.
How staff works also spoke the Dr Barry Craiko, a Savannah,
Georgia based internist and sleep medicine specialist. He explained that
people who have been traumatized are at higher risk of nightmares,
offering examples like war veterans, those who have suffered sexual

(02:52):
or criminal salt, or those who have been in a
life threatening accident. And bad dreams are more common in
people who experience it's anxiety or depression, or who misuse
alcohol or other drugs, and research in recent decades has
shown that people who experience sleep disorders are also more
likely to have nightmares. Specifically, people with undiagnosed or untreated

(03:16):
sleep apnea are at a higher risk. People will sleep
apnea stop and then start breathing again hundreds of times
throughout the night. Although it's largely associated with snoring, a
person doesn't have to snore to have sleep apnea. People
will sleep apnea are often very tired during the day,
even when they've supposedly slept all through the night. Other

(03:38):
symptoms are gasping for air while sleeping, dry mouth or
headache in the morning. Problems staying asleep, and irritability and
attention issues. According to Craiko, the many misconceptions regarding sleep
apnea make it tough for a person to get diagnosed,
and this is a big deal because, in addition to nightmares,
sleep apnea is associated with greater risk of diabetes, brain dysfunction,

(04:01):
heart disease, and other disorders. He said, so many children
have sleep apnea and they don't get diagnosed until they're
fifty years old. There are so many deaths caused over
the course of time by oxygen not getting to the brain.
Quaco's practice helps treat mental health patients who have sleep disorders,
including nightmares. He said, so many of these have undiagnosed

(04:24):
sleep apnea. The vast majority report reducing sleep apnea by
using a c PAP machine, which then appeared to decrease nightmares.
A c PAP is continuous positive airway pressure therapy, a
standard treatment for people with obstructive sleep apnea. The problem
is that many mental health professionals, whom people typically approach

(04:44):
for help with nightmares, aren't aware of the link. Craikko said,
some people go into psychotherapy for years for PTSD and
the nightmares don't go away. But if sleep apnea isn't
the root cause of nightmares, other treatment options are of
a ellable. One endorsed by the American Sleep Academy is
image rehearsal therapy or i r T. Craiko explained how

(05:08):
it works, quote, if you teach somebody how to picture
a new version of your dream in your mind's eye
while you're awake, and that has a very powerful impact
over your dreams. By picturing new images, they seem to
be activating and imaging system that sets into motion the
process of decreasing disturbing dreams. He noted that it only

(05:30):
takes a couple of weeks to see clear cut decreases
in nightmares. A study he helped publish back in two
thousand one showed dramatic results in the group that received
the I r T treatment, of patients had their post
traumatic stress symptoms decrease by at least one level of
clinical severity. In the control group, meanwhile, of patients experienced

(05:52):
their symptoms either not changing or worsening. Craiko notes that
i r T is just as powerful as somebody useing
a PTSD medication, and he notes that for many people
it's not even necessary to visit a professional to engage
in I r T, you can look into Imagery Rehearsal
Therapy online. The lessons and workbooks are available for download

(06:13):
for low or no cost. Today's episode is based on
the article what causes Nightmares and how can You Lessen Them?
On how stuff works dot Com written by A. Leah Hoyt.
Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership
with how stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by
Tyler Clang. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit

(06:34):
the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows