Types of Nightmares

Nightmares are terrifying dreams that occur mostly during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. They arouse the feelings of intense distress, fear or extreme anxiety. It causes a disturbance in the sleep. Frequent occurrence of nightmares is referred to as Nightmare Disorder or repeated nightmares. Nightmares occur more commonly among children than in adults.

What causes Nightmares?

What are the causes for nightmares? Nightmares are commonly associated with stress, depression and anxiety. Major life events such as death of a beloved one and in some cases, traumatic events such as accident or surgery may be the cause of nightmares. Those, who undergo extreme stress, due to change in job, relocation or financial problems, may experience nightmares.

Certain drugs and medications such as sleeping pills, and some physical conditions such as fever and illness are also some causes of nightmares. Alcoholism and some of the sleep disorders also cause nightmares. Eating just before going to bed also increases the possibility of nightmares, due to increased brain activity and metabolism.

Types of Nightmares

For some people, nightmares are like a horror film, being bloody. A nightmare may show that you are being chased by a knife-wielding murderer or a vicious monster. It may be psychologically upsetting for you, if you dream that someone long dead is alive again. Nightmares can be divided into three broad categories such as chronic, lifelong nightmares that are phenomena of personality; drug-induced nightmares; and traumatic nightmares associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

It is observed that chronic nightmare sufferers have an elevated level of creative, artistic and pathological tendencies, high levels of vulnerability and openness, variable and unsettled social relationships, lack of defense, fluid sexual identities and high sensitivity, in terms of both perceptual sensitivity and interpersonal relations. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is caused by experiencing some life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accident or violent personal assaults. People suffering from this disorder relive the traumatic experience they encountered through flashbacks and nightmares. In case of drug-induced nightmares, certain drugs such as reserpine, L-Dopa, cholinesterase inhibitors and beta-blockers are found to be responsible for nightmares.

Some of the common types of nightmares are as follows:

• Dreams of lethal injury
• Dreams of danger
• Dreams of dismemberment
• Dreams of bodily harm
• Dreams of harm to a loved one
• Dreams of lack of control
• Dreams of losing someone or something

In most cases, greater the stress, longer and more prevalent will be the nightmares. If you are involved in a specific task, then you may have nightmares about that. If you are involved in a car accident, then you may have nightmares about that for years.

If you are experiencing a lot of pressure at your job and you hate your boss, then you may have a dream in which a monster is chasing you. You will notice that the monster is a personification of your boss. War veterans experience nightmares of war, generally several years after the fact. Sometimes, a nightmare may not be easy to understand. It may be difficult to interpret the dream.