Nightmare
Encyclopedia
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
or horror, but also despair, anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
and great sadness
Sadness
Sadness is emotional pain associated with, or characterized by feelings of disadvantage, loss, despair, helplessness, sorrow, and rage. When sad, people often become outspoken, less energetic, and emotional...
. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep
Sleep
Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...
for a prolonged period of time.
Overview
Nightmares can have physicalHuman body
The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...
causes such as sleeping in an uncomfortable or awkward position, having a fever, or psychological causes such as stress
Stress (medicine)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
and anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
. Eating before going to sleep, which triggers an increase in the body's metabolism and brain activity, is a potential stimulus for nightmares.
Recurrent nightmares that can interfere with sleeping patterns and cause insomnia may require medical help. Recurring post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Posttraumaticstress disorder is a severe anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to any event that results in psychological trauma. This event may involve the threat of death to oneself or to someone else, or to one's own or someone else's physical, sexual, or psychological integrity,...
nightmares in which real traumas are re-experienced respond best to a technique called imagery rehearsal. First described in the 1996 book Trauma and Dreams by Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett
Deirdre Barrett
Deirdre Barrett, Ph.D. is an author and psychologist who teaches at Harvard Medical School. She is known for her research on dreams, hypnosis, and imagery and has written on evolutionary psychology. Barrett is a Past President of The International Association for the Study of Dreams and of the...
, imagery rehearsal therapy
Contemporary dream interpretation
Psychoanalytic dream interpretation is a subdivision of dream interpretation as well as a subdivision of psychoanalysis pioneered by Sigmund Freud in the early nineteenth century...
involves the dreamer coming up with an alternate, mastery outcome to the nightmare, mentally rehearsing that outcome awake, and then reminding themselves at bedtime that they wish this alternate outcome should the nightmare recur. Research has found that this technique not only reduces the occurrence of nightmares and insomnia, but also improves other daytime PTSD symptoms.
Medical investigation
Studies of dreams have estimated that about 75% of dream content or emotions are negative.Two definitions of "nightmare" is a dream which causes one to wake up in the middle of the sleep cycle and experience a negative emotion, such as fear. This type of event occurs on average once per month. They are not common in children under 5, but they are more common in young children (25% experiencing a nightmare at least once per week), most common in teenagers, and less common in adults (dropping in frequency about one third from age 25 to 55).
Fearfulness in waking life is correlated with the incidence of nightmares.
Recognition of nightmares
Several people have received help and insight by learning about universal nightmare and anxiety dream themes which they are also experiencing. Before treating one’s dream disorder, it is helpful to recognize what category the recurring dream falls into, and what it might be caused by. Here are some of the most common themes (with positive examples of dream outcomes for each scenario) and suggestions about what the dreamer might look for in waking life:Nightmare themes
- Chase or attack: The pursuer usually represents the dreamer’s unresolved fearfulness. The pursuer acts as an exaggerated version of an inhibited part of the dreamer’s personality that would otherwise benefit him/her if integrated and appropriately expressed.
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- Ideal outcome: The dreamer learns to stand his/her ground by facing and dialoguing with the pursuer; eventually, he/she will accept and overcome the original fear.
- Falling dream: Represents the feeling of being burdened, unsupported, and worried about something. The dreamer may ask, “How can I feel freer or lighter?” Also, “Do I need to be more grounded?”
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- Ideal outcome: Feelings of safety; landing, floating, or flying away in the dream.
- Car out of control: Life is too hectic and out of control. The dreamer may wonder how he/she can slow down, act more peacefully, and "enjoy the ride". Perhaps there is an important choice (i.e. turn) coming up soon in the dreamer’s life where he/she will need to slow down in order to turn safely in the best direction.
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- Ideal outcome: Driving well & within speed limits, walking peacefully, taking more quiet time to clearly contemplate important upcoming choices so that one doesn't go off track or crash.
- Unprepared or late for an exam: Is the dreamer feeling unprepared for some upcoming event or deadline, or is he/she lacking confidenceConfidenceConfidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Self-confidence is having confidence in oneself. Arrogance or hubris in this comparison, is having unmerited...
about a performance? Is the worry needless, or does the dreamer actually need more preparation in order to feel confident and do a good job?
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- Ideal outcome: Feeling assured about oneself, performing well, making sure to schedule wisely in order to peacefully meet a deadline.
- Stuck in slow motionSlow motionSlow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....
, unable to move or make any noise: Where does the dreamer feel stuck in life, or like he/she is getting nowhere and can’t voice his/her true feelings? Think about what can be done to change this.
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- Ideal outcome: Relaxation and acceptance, and eventually peaceful action & self-expression.
- Embarrassed to be nude or scantily dressed in public, though nobody seems to really notice or mind: This type of dream may be a side-effect of personal embarrassment, perhaps because the dreamer has low confidence or very few skills. It is usually pointing out, by the fact that the other dream characters don’t notice, that the dreamer is the only one viewing himself/herself that way, and usually mistakenly so.
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- Ideal outcome: The dreamer is comfortable with himself/herself as is, and is confident.
- Personal injury, dismembermentDismembermentDismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
: What part of the dreamer’s life—not usually the physical body—has he/she been neglecting, mistreating, or forgetting? (I.e. dismembering as opposed to remembering.)
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- Ideal outcome: Healing.
- Trapped, locked in: The dreamer may feel trapped somewhere in his/her life. How might he/she become open to a new perspective, and explore new courses of action?
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- Ideal outcome: Breaking out, exploring new rooms or places.
- DrowningDrowningDrowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
, threatening waves, tsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
(tidal waves) or flooding: Is the dreamer blocking, denying, or feeling overwhelmed by emotions? They should consider how they might better acknowledge and accept these feelings, which often include vulnerability.
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- Ideal outcome: Swimming, surfing, and/or breathing underwater.
- Helpless, abandoned, or with a crying baby or animal: Has the dreamer been taking care of his/her "inner childInner childInner child is a concept used in popular psychology and Analytical psychology to denote the childlike aspect of a person's psyche, especially when viewed as an independent entity. Frequently, the term is used to address subjective childhood experiences and the remaining effects of one's childhood...
"? Perhaps there is a creative project or relationship that he/she has forgotten or abandoned that needs attention. The dreamer should try to laugh more, play outdoors, express creativity, be more spontaneous, and/or enjoy more personal warmth and intimacy.
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- Ideal outcome: Caring for the baby or animal, playing, and simply having more fun.
Treatment
Both Freud and JungJung
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology.Jung may also refer to:* Jung * JUNG, Java Universal Network/Graph Framework-See also:...
seemed to have shared a common understanding that people frequently distressed by nightmares could be re-experiencing some stressful event from the past. Both perspectives on dreams suggest that therapy can provide relief from the dilemma of the nightmare experience.
Treatment theories
Halliday (1987) grouped treatment techniques into four classes. Direct nightmare interventions that combine compatible techniques from one or more of these classes may enhance overall treatment effectiveness:- analyticAnalytical techniqueAn analytical technique is a method that is used to determine the concentration of a chemical compound or chemical element. There are a wide variety of techniques used for analysis, from simple weighing to titrations to very advanced techniques using highly specialized instrumentation...
and catharticCatharticIn medicine, a cathartic is a substance that accelerates defecation. This is in contrast to a laxative, which is a substance which eases defecation, usually by softening feces. It is possible for a substance to be both a laxative and a cathartic...
techniques
- story-line alteration procedures
- face-and-conquer approaches
- desensitizationDesensitization (psychology)In psychology, desensitization is a process for mitigating the harmful effects of phobias or other disorders. It also occurs when an emotional response is repeatedly evoked in situations in which the action tendency that is associated with the emotion proves irrelevant or unnecessary...
and related behavioral techniques
Other treatment techniques
- Imagery Rehearsal Therapy:
Under the overview section of the Nightmare page, there is a broad description of this therapy.
According to Bret Moore and Barry Krakow, the most common variations of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) "relate to the number of sessions, duration of treatment, and the degree to which exposure therapy
Exposure therapy
Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy intended to treat anxiety disorders and involves the exposure to the feared object or context without any danger in order to overcome their anxiety. Procedurally it is similar to the fear extinction paradigm in rodent work...
is included in the protocol".
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- "A comprehensive model has been put forth by Krakow and Zadra (2006) that includes four group treatment sessions, ~2.25 to 2.5 hr in length. The first two sessions focus on how nightmares are closely connected to insomniaInsomniaInsomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
and how they become an independent symptomSymptomA symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...
or disorder that warrants individually tailored and targeted intervention. The last two sessions focus on the imagery system and how IRT can reshape and eliminate nightmares through a relatively straightforward process akin to cognitive restructuringCognitive restructuringCognitive restructuring, sometimes used synonymously with Debating, is the process of learning to identify irrational or maladaptive thoughts and challenge their veracity using strategies such as logical disputation....
via the human imagery system. First, the patient is asked to select a nightmare, but for learning purposes the choice would not typically be one that causes a marked degree of distress. Second, and most commonly, guidance is not provided on how to change the disturbing content of the dream; the specific instruction developed by Joseph Neidhardt is “change the nightmare anyway you wish” (Neidhardt et al., 1992). In turn, this step creates a “new” or “different” dream, which may or may not be free of distressing elements. Our instructions, unequivocally, do not make a suggestion to the patient to make the dream less distressing or more positive or to do anything other than “change the nightmare anyway you wish.” Last, the patient is instructed to rehearse the “new dream” through imagery and to ignore the old nightmare."
- "A comprehensive model has been put forth by Krakow and Zadra (2006) that includes four group treatment sessions, ~2.25 to 2.5 hr in length. The first two sessions focus on how nightmares are closely connected to insomnia
Examples from literature
There are several examples from literature of characters who have dealt with nightmares and have had to overcome them. Here are just a few.- Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the fifth in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling, and was published on 21 June 2003 by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom, Scholastic in the United States, and Raincoast in Canada...
: When Harry sleeps, there are nights when his dreams are infiltrated by the thoughts and feelings of Lord VoldemortLord VoldemortLord Voldemort is the main antagonist of the Harry Potter series written by British author J. K. Rowling. Voldemort first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which was released in 1997...
. In order to deal with these nightmares, Harry has to take Occlumency lessons from Professor Snape, in which he learns to block his mind from Lord Voldemort. In a way, this method of recovery can be likened to desensitization.
- The Hunger GamesThe Hunger GamesThe Hunger Games is a first person young-adult science fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins. It was originally published on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic. It is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world...
: After the conclusion of the Hunger Games, Katniss EverdeenKatniss EverdeenKatniss Everdeen is the main character of Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games trilogy. Her name comes from an edible plant called katniss. Jennifer Lawrence is set to portray Katniss in the upcoming movie The Hunger Games, directed by Gary Ross....
and Peeta MellarkPeeta MellarkPeeta Mellark is one of the protagonists of The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins...
have recurring nightmares of their days in the arena. The best way for Katniss to cope with the stress and to be able to sleep is to have Peeta comfort her.
- There's A Nightmare in my Closet: In the most literal sense, the boy in this story is visited by a recurring "nightmare", a monsterMonsterA monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is somewhat hideous and may produce physical harm or mental fear by either its appearance or its actions...
who stays in his closet. He deals with the "nightmare" by facing his fears one night and realizing that the monster isn't as bad as he seemed.
Further reading
- Anch, A. M., Browman, C.P., Mitler, M.M., & Walsh, J.K., Sleep: A scientific perspective (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1988).
- J.-M. Husser et A. Mouton (Éd.), Le Cauchemar dans les sociétés antiques. Actes des journées d'étude de l'UMR 7044 (15-16 Novembre 2007, Strasbourg) (Paris, De Boccard, 2010).
- Harris J.C. (2004). Arch Gen Psychiatry. May;61(5):439-40. The Nightmare. (PMID 15123487)
- Jones, Ernest (1951). On the Nightmare (ISBN 0-87140-912-7) (pbk, 1971; ISBN 0-87140-248-3).
- Forbes, D. et al. (2001) Brief Report: Treatment of Combat-Related Nightmares Using Imagery Rehearsal: A Pilot Study, Journal of Traumatic Stress 14 (2): 433-442
- Siegel, A. (2003) A mini-course for clinicians and trauma workers on posttraumatic nightmares.
- Burns, Sarah (2004). Painting the Dark Side : Art and the Gothic Imagination in Nineteenth-Century America. Ahmanson-Murphy Fine Are Imprint, 332 pp., University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-23821-4.
- Davenport-Hines, Richard (1999). Gothic: Four Hundred Years of Excess, Horror, Evil and Ruin. North Point Press, p. 160-61.
- Hill, Anne (2009). What To Do When Dreams Go Bad: A Practical Guide to Nightmares. Serpentine Media, 68 pp., ISBN 1-88759-004-8
- Simons, Ronald C and Hughes, Charles C (eds.) (1985). Culture-Bound Syndromes. Springer, 536 pp.
- Sagan, Carl (1997). The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.
- Coalson, Bob. "Nightmare help: Treatment of trauma survivors with PTSD." Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training 32.3 (1995): 381-388. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 18 Mar. 2011.
- Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008.
- "Dreams - Practical Dream Analysis & Waking Life Meaning." Dream Interpretation, Psychology & Research, Nightmares & Alternative Medicine. Dreams Foundation, 1996. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.
- Halliday, G. (1987). “Direct psychological therapies for nightmares: A review.” Clinical Psychology Review, 7, 501–523.
- "Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)." The Encyclopedia of Trauma and Traumatic Stress Disorders. Ronald M. Doctor and Frank N. Shiromoto. New York: Facts on File, 2010. 148. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
- Mayer, Mercer. There's a Nightmare in My Closet. [New York]: Puffin Pied Piper, 1976.
- Moore, Bret A., and Barry Kraków. "Imagery rehearsal therapy: An emerging treatment for posttraumatic nightmares in veterans." Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 2.3 (2010): 232-238. PsycARTICLES. EBSCO. Web. 18 Mar. 2011.
- Rowling, J.K.. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Illustrated by Mary Grandpere. Arthur A. Levine Books/ Scholastic Press, 2003.
See also
- False awakeningFalse awakeningA false awakening is a vivid and convincing dream about awakening from sleep, while the dreamer in reality continues to sleep. After a false awakening, subjects often dream they are performing daily morning rituals such as cooking, cleaning and eating...
- Hag in folklore
- Lucid dream
- Mare (folklore)Mare (folklore)A mare or nightmare is a spirit or goblin in Germanic folklore which rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on bad dreams . The mare is attested as early as in the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century, but the belief itself is likely to be considerably older...
- Mora (mythology)
- MoroiMoroiA moroi is a type of vampire or ghost in Romanian folklore. A female moroi is called a moroaică...
(folklore) - Night terrorNight terrorA night terror, also known as a sleep terror, incubus attack, or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia disorder that predominantly affects children, causing feelings of terror or dread, typically occur in the first few hours of sleep during stage 3 or 4 NREM sleep...
- Nightmare disorderNightmare disorder'Nightmare disorder', or 'dream anxiety disorder', is a [sleep] disorder characterized by frequent [nightmares]. The nightmares, which often portray the individual in a situation that jeopardizes their life or personal safety, usually occur during the second half of the sleeping process, called the...
- NocnitsaNocnitsaThe Nocnitsa, or "Night Hag", in Polish mythology, is a nightmare spirit that also goes by the name Krisky or Plaksy. The Nocnitsa is also present in Russian, Serbian and Slovakian folklore. She is known to torment children at night, and a stone with a hole in the center is said to be a protection...
- Sleep disorderSleep disorderA sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning...
- Sleep paralysisSleep paralysisSleep paralysis is paralysis associated with sleep that may occur in healthy persons or may be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occurs during REM sleep. When considered to be a...