Nightmares are dreams that generate fear and great anxiety in the person. These dreams usually arise in the second half of the night. These dreams are more frequent in children and less frequently in adults. According to studies, approximately 50% of adults suffer from occasional nightmares, with women experiencing the most these kinds of dreams.
Nightmares can cause people (in addition to fear), depression, sadness and a lot of anxiety. In addition to this they can include a state of psychological and physical panic. People who suffer from it, usually wake up with great anguish and with difficulty returning to sleep for a long period of time.
Nightmares are considered a sleep disorder, when due to their continuity and intensity, they hinder the person's daily activity. They can arise for psychological reasons, such as experienced trauma, or physical reasons such as high fever, sleeping in an uncomfortable position, etc.
When the individual is experiencing a nightmare, they usually move which helps them to wake up, ending this unpleasant dream.
There are those who are attracted to the analysis of this type of dream, always trying to interpret the images present in nightmares.
In general, the person always tries to forget those horrible dreams, which all they do is fill the sufferer with anguish. However, it would be a mistake since nightmares can contain specific information that can be useful. For example, in cases of nightmares with water, where the person feels that he is drowning and that he is short of breath, it can be linked to states of anxiety of the person when he feels that he cannot get ahead on his own or solve his problems.
As you can imagine, the interpretation of nightmares is not an easy thing to do, since it involves a lot of subjectivity and great controversy. The truth is that it is interesting and that no matter how difficult it is to study it, fields such as psychology and neuroscience have created numerous investigations on the subject.
Some of the most recurrent nightmares among people are:
- Dreaming that the person falls into the void: it is the second most common nightmare and it means that the subject is going through a very strong state of stress.
- Dreaming that you lose a loved one or your partner: this common nightmare is usually interpreted as being afraid of loneliness, insecurities, etc.
- Dreaming that they are chasing you: it is also one of the most recurrent nightmares, it is interpreted as feeling fear in the face of a confrontation either with your boss or with a teacher or it can also arise in those people who have experienced some kind of abuse.
