Do you have recurring nightmares about being chased, drowned or attacked by wolves?
If so, an interesting new finding Swiss researchers have shown that making repeated noises while someone is asleep can not only reduce the frequency of having nightmares, but also turn bad dreams into more pleasant ones. You may be interested in research.
I am personally interested in this because I have had the same nightmares over and over again for years. That includes trying to get somewhere for an urgent appointment and never being able to do it. I wake up with a feeling of edge.
My dreams are typical anxiety dreams, which I tend to see when I feel pressured. Other common examples include losing teeth, being naked in public, and going to exams unprepared.
My dreams are typical anxiety dreams, which I tend to see when I feel pressured. Other common things are losing teeth, being naked in public, and taking exams that you didn’t prepare for. But where do such bad dreams come from?
When we first fall asleep, we enter a state of deep sleep that is difficult to wake up from. Late at night, you transition into a more bizarre state known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This is when we have our most vivid dreams.
If you look at someone in REM sleep, you can see their eyes moving like crazy under their eyelids. No one knows why this happens, but one theory is that it reflects the kind of eye movements you make while watching a movie.
Dreams have been called the cinema of the mind, so perhaps eye movements are a sign that we are following action.
Another peculiarity of REM sleep is that most muscles are paralyzed during sleep.
What is REM sleep?
REM (or “rapid eye movement”) sleep is one of several sleep cycles your body goes through each night.
Begins about 90 minutes after falling asleep and repeats.
A longer period of REM sleep occurs with each successive cycle.
However, rapid eye movements are not the only feature of the stage.
REM sleep also leads to increased heart rate, limb numbness, wakeful brain waves, and dreams.
sleep cycle
This is probably to avoid hurting yourself by banging your body while you are having an intense and dramatic dream. We continue to take short, shallow breaths, but the only other part that is clearly moving is our eyes.
One theory is that you have vivid dreams during REM sleep because that’s the only time that links to parts of your brain that produce stress-inducing chemicals are turned off.
This means that the dreams we have can be scary or disturbing, but they are not as sickening as if they were happening when we were awake.
Another very plausible reason for having vivid and disturbing dreams during REM sleep is that this is a time when you can revisit unpleasant memories and events but remain sober.
Dreams during REM sleep allow us to unconsciously process and resolve our emotions. Think of dreaming as an inexpensive but effective psychotherapy.
But something is wrong with those who have recurring nightmares. Far from being overwhelmed, the emotions nurtured in the dream continue to haunt them.
And worryingly, new research suggests this may be linked to an increased risk of dementia later in life.
The new findings, published in The Lancet journal in September, are based on a study of more than 3,500 people over the age of 35.
At the start of the study, all participants had to complete a detailed questionnaire, including how often they had bad dreams.When researchers assessed the participants 10 years later, they reported having nightmares every week Older men were found to be five times more likely to develop dementia than older men who did not report nightmares. Only 41%.
A new study shows that repeatedly playing noises while someone is asleep not only reduces the frequency of nightmares, but can also turn bad dreams into more pleasant dreams.
These findings suggest that frequent nightmares are an early sign of brain problems that lead to dementia, or that having regular nightmares triggers dementia (perhaps the brain-restoring component of sleep). (by interfering with
The good news is that treating nightmares can improve memory and thinking skills and, in some people, prevent dementia, according to Dr. Abidemi Otaik, a neuroscientist at the University of Birmingham who conducted the study. It means that there is even
So what can you do to avoid having bad dreams? One thing you don’t have to worry about is eating cheese. Despite the notion that this would lead to nightmares, researchers at the British Cheese Board asked 200 volunteers to eat 20 grams of a variety of cheeses each night for a week before going to bed and found they had no nightmares. (although Stilton eaters report more bizarre dreams).
A better alternative is to try imagery rehearsal therapy. In this method, you revisit the nightmare while you are awake and imagine another positive outcome.
For example, if your nightmare is attacked by a wolf, imagine the wolf turning into a cute King Charles Spaniel curled up in your lap and your dream ending. Do this for 5-10 minutes every day and you should see your nightmares become less frequent within 2 weeks.
But it doesn’t work for everyone. For some, the new musical techniques mentioned above may be a better option.
In this study by the University of Geneva, Switzerland, 38 people who frequently had distressing nightmares were asked to imagine a positive outcome for their bad dreams.
While they were doing this, half of the group also listened to the piano chords played every 10 seconds. The idea is to build a link in your brain between ‘piano chords’ and ‘happy endings’. They did this for two weeks.
All participants were given a sleeping headband containing electrodes that measured brain activity to take home. At the end of the experiment, all reported having fewer nightmares, but the group that heard the piano chords saw the greatest improvement and reported having far more positive dreams.
The researchers plan further studies to see if this approach works in more severe nightmares, such as those associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. I’ve found that it reduces the stress of anxious dreams about getting on a train, but I’d like to try a new approach.
