The effect seems to have been most pronounced in those particularly affected by the virus and in countries with strict lockdown measures. Concerns about lockdowns, loved ones and personal health were suddenly jumbled up with other mundane thoughts, leaving some waking up in confusion.
For people on the frontline, the dreams became nightmares. Of doctors and nurses working in the Chinese city of Wuhan, who all took part in one study published in January , more than a quarter reported having frequent nightmares. Reports of nightmares among citizens also rose during national lockdowns , with young people, women and people suffering with anxiety or depression the highest risk.
But for people who research trauma, the increase in nightmares was no surprise. For those on the frontline of Covid responses, like those doctors and nurses in Wuhan, was a period of "chronic stress", says Rachelle Ho, a PhD candidate at McMaster University in Canada.
Long periods of stress which last months or years and affect whole populations are quite unusual — comparable only to wars in recent history, Ho says — but we know that chronic stress has a significant effect on our cognitive function. People living under regular duress are more likely to have nightmares.
A study looking at schoolchildren aged 10 to 12 in the Gaza strip found that more than half experienced frequent nightmares and on average they occurred on more than four nights per week. Children are particularly susceptible, says Ho, because their brains are still developing.
While nightmares are strongly linked to a host of mental illnesses, some vivid dreams help us to process the emotions of the previous day, says Joanne Davis, a clinical psychologist at the University of Tulsa. Understanding why bad dreams become nightmares is helping to treat people who have experienced trauma. Psychologists like Davis are beginning to unravel the links between our dreams, psychological disorders and their importance in keeping us emotionally stable when in good health.
While we sleep, we organise and file away our memories of the previous day and give our older memories a bit of a dust-off and reshuffle. It is thought that this happens throughout sleep , but it is in the Rapid Eye Movement REM stage just before we awake or as we dip into sleep that we store our most emotional memories. These emotionally charged memories then become the subject of our dreams.
A bad dream might help people in waking life. The hypothesis " sleep to forget, sleep to remember " suggests REM sleep strengthens emotional memories , safely storing them away, and also helps to tone down our subsequent emotional reactions to those events. For example, if your boss shouts at you and later that night you dream about it, the next time you see your boss you will feel less emotional about that event.
We are most likely to remember the dreams we have just before awaking or as we dip into sleep Credit: Getty Images. It's an intriguing idea that our dreams train us to control our emotions — but what evidence is there? When our brains are in the REM stage of sleep, both the hippocampus and amygdala are highly active.
However, nightmares are more common in children, especially those under age Girls are more likely to be troubled by their nightmares than boys. However, nightmares can become a problem if they persist and interrupt your sleep pattern. This can lead to insomnia and difficulty functioning during the day. Consult with your doctor if you are having trouble coping with nightmares. They also differ from night terrors, also known as sleep terrors. They may also have a tendency to sleepwalk or urinate in bed during night terrors.
Night terrors usually stop once a child reaches puberty. However, some adults may have night terrors and experience limited dream recall, especially during times of stress. Most children and adults have nightmares from time to time. However, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor if nightmares persist over an extended period of time, disrupt your sleep patterns, and interfere with your ability to function during the day. Your doctor will ask you questions about your use of stimulants, such as caffeine, alcohol, and certain illegal drugs.
They will also ask you about any prescription or over-the-counter medications and supplements you are currently taking. If you believe a new medication is prompting your nightmares, ask your doctor if there is an alternative treatment that you can try. There are no specific tests for diagnosing nightmares.
However, your doctor may advise you to undergo a sleep study. During a sleep study, you spend the night in a laboratory. Sensors monitor various functions, including your:. People who have nighttime disruptions from nightmares may wake up feeling anxious, making it hard to relax their mind and get back to sleep. Fear of nightmares may cause sleep avoidance and less time allocated to sleep. Unfortunately, these steps can make nightmares worse. Sleep avoidance can cause sleep deprivation, which can provoke a REM sleep rebound with even more intense dreams and nightmares.
This often leads to further sleep avoidance, giving rise to a pattern of disturbed sleep that culminates in insomnia. Nightmares may exacerbate mental health conditions that can worsen sleep, and insufficient sleep can give rise to more pronounced symptoms of conditions like depression and anxiety.
You should talk to your doctor about nightmares if:. To help your doctor understand how nightmares are affecting you, you can keep a sleep diary that tracks your total sleep and sleep disruptions, including nightmares.
By reducing nightmares, treatments can promote better sleep and overall health. Psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy, is a category of treatment that works to understand and reorient negative thinking. Talk therapy has broad applications in addressing mental health disorders and sleeping problems like insomnia.
A central component of CBT is reorienting negative thoughts and feelings and modifying detrimental patterns of behavior. Behavioral recommendations associated with talk therapy frequently involve changes to sleep hygiene.
This includes making the bedroom more conducive to sleep as well as cultivating daily routines and habits that facilitate consistent sleep. Many psychotherapies for nightmares involve a combination of methods. Mental health professionals can tailor talk therapy for nightmares to fit a patient, including, when appropriate, account for a coexisting mental health disorder. Several types of prescription medications may be used to treat nightmare disorder.
Most often, these are medications that affect the nervous system such as anti-anxiety, antidepressant, or antipsychotic drugs. Different medications may be used for people who have nightmares associated with PTSD. Medications benefit some patients, but they can also come with side effects. For that reason, it is important to talk with a doctor who can describe the potential benefits and downsides of prescription drugs for nightmare disorder. If you have nightmares that interfere with your sleep or daily life, the first step is to talk with your doctor.
Identifying and addressing an underlying cause can help make nightmares less frequent and less bothersome. Whether nightmares are common or occasional, you may get relief from improving sleep hygiene. Building better sleep habits is a component of many therapies for nightmare disorder and can pave the way for high-quality sleep on a regular basis.
There are many elements of sleep hygiene, but some of the most important ones, especially in the context of nightmares, include:. Eric Suni has over a decade of experience as a science writer and was previously an information specialist for the National Cancer Institute. His research and clinical practice focuses on the entire myriad of sleep disorders.
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Our editors and medical experts rigorously evaluate every article and guide to ensure the information is factual, up-to-date, and free of bias. Updated June 24, Written by Eric Suni. Medically Reviewed by Dr. Abhinav Singh. What Is Nightmare Disorder? Are Nightmares Normal? Why Do We Have Nightmares?
What Causes Nightmares? Can Nightmares Affect Sleep? How Is Nightmare Disorder Treated? What Are Nightmares? If awakened, they likely will be disoriented. In contrast, when a person wakes up from a nightmare, they tend to be alert and aware of what was happening in their dream.
The following day, a person with nightmares usually has a clear memory of the dream. People with sleep terrors very rarely have any awareness of the episode.
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