By Sami Shields of ContemporaryVA
Despite their scary reputation, fear is actually not the main emotion elicited in many nightmares and bad dreams, according to a new study.

Just a little more than one-third of nightmares and more than half of bad dreams elicited primary emotions other than fear, University of Montreal researchers found. Instead, feelings of confusion, disgust, sadness, and guilt are common in these types of dreams.

Nightmares are terrifying dreams; dreams in which our worst fears are brought to life in fully convincing detail. Whatever horrors you personally believe to be the worst things that could happen—these are the most likely subjects of your nightmares. All people, in every age and culture have suffered from these terrors of the night. People’s understanding of the origins of nightmares has varied as much as their understanding of dreams. To some cultures, nightmares were the true experiences of the soul as it wandered another world as the body slept. To others, they were the result of the visitation of demons. Indeed, the word nightmare comes from the Anglo-Saxon mare, for goblin or incubus. (An incubus is a demon who comes in the night to steal the sexual favor of ladies, and has its female counterpart, the succubus.)

Studies of frequencies of nightmares among adults show that one third to one half of all adults experience occasional nightmares. A study of college students found that almost three-quarters of a group of 300 had nightmares at least once a month. In another study, five percent of college freshmen reported having nightmares at least once a week. If this rate applies to the general population, then we might find that more than ten million Americans are plagued by wholly realistic horrifying experiences every week!

Some factors that seem to contribute to nightmare frequency are: illness (especially fever), stress (caused by situations like the difficulties of adolescence, moving, hard times at school or work), troubled relationships and traumatic events, like being mugged or experiencing a serious earthquake. Traumatic events can trigger a long lasting series of recurrent nightmares.

Some drugs and medications can cause an increase in nightmares. The reason for this is that many drugs suppress REM sleep, producing a later effect of REM-rebound. If you go to sleep drunk, you may sleep quite soundly, but dream little, until five or six hours into sleep. Then, the alcohol’s effect has mostly worn off and your brain is prepared to make up for the lost REM time. As a result, you will dream more intensely than usual for the last few hours of your sleep time. The intensity is reflected in the emotionality of the dream, which often will be unpleasant.

There are a few drugs which seem to increase nightmares by increasing the activity of some part of the REM system. Among these are l-DOPA, used in the treatment of Parkinsonism, and beta-blockers, used by people with some heart conditions. Since research has shown that lucid dreams tend to occur during periods of intense REM activity, I believe that drugs that cause nightmares may also facilitate lucid dreaming. This is a topic I plan to research in years to come. I think that whether an intense REM period leads to dreams that are pleasantly exciting or terrifying depends on the attitude of the dreamer.

So what exactly does this mean? Do our dreams really have deeper meanings? If you dream about your significant other cheating on you, does that mean they really are? Um, no – our dreams aren’t magic (I wish they were though). But it is possible that if you’re frequently dreaming about your significant other cheating, that could be your real-life distrust of them carrying over to dreamland. It could be a sign that maybe you really don’t trust this person.

The good news is that if you’re in a good relationship, you don’t feel these negative effects as much after a nightmare. However, if you are having problems with bad nightmares in your relationship, Contact Never Give Up today….we can help you overcome this unsatisfying sleep disorder!

What are you currently struggling with? Let us know in the comments below or send a message here.