Remember these the next time you wake up in a cold sweat.
1. Fear isn't the only reason you have them.
In fact, confusion, guilt, disgust, and sadness are more common reasons — and they're more likely to linger with you longer than if you had a fear-based dream, researchers from the University of Montreal found.
2. They can make you feel better.
Scientists have found a surprising upside. Bad dreams are often a reflection of stress and worries you feel when awake, and when you dream, the brain takes these abstract fears and plays them out in a narrative. This is good news. Why? When you wake up, you remember the bad dream itself. Concrete memories are easier for our brains to process and file away than general, abstract anxieties — and we subconsciously think of them as the past, not the present. This helps us distance ourselves from the worry and provide an emotional release.
So remember that, the next time you wake up in a cold sweat. (Note: Clinical anxiety, depression, and PTSD are psychological triggers for chronic nightmares, distinct from the occasional bad dreams experienced by most people.)
3. Your brain is actually wide awake.
During a nightmare, you're usually in the last third of your sleep cycle, when REM is the strongest. REM, which occurs every 90 minutes while you sleep, is a period of high brain activity, rapid eye movement, and inhibited motor activity. (Ever wonder why you always feel paralyzed or unable to scream, no matter how vivid the rest of your senses are in a dream?) You can also blame your amygdala. During REM, this part of your brain (which is associated with fear and aggression) is highly active.
4. There are physical benefits.
During REM sleep (which is when most nightmares occur), blood flow decreases to the brain and redirects towards the muscles and other systems, allowing them to restore and recover. Your growth and stress hormones, immune system, heart and blood pressure are all positively affected. So while it seems like the worst thing ever, staying asleep during a doozy of a bad dream could help your overall well being.
5. Yes, late night snacks can cause them.
Eating right before bed can increase your metabolism and signal the brain to become more active, which leads to nightmares. Scary books and movies are also associated with bad dreams.
6. It could also be chemical.
Medications are also known to contribute to nightmare frequency, from anti-depressants to narcotics. (And going off drugs may not help at first either: Withdrawal from alcohol, drugs, and prescriptions is also a trigger.)
7. They're rather common.
While children have them more often than most, 50% to 70% of all adults get them occasionally — especially women. And 2% to 8% of adults get them frequently.
8. You can make them stop.
In addition to limiting behaviors that cause nightmares, you can also shut them down once they've begun. Some medical professionals believe in a process called "lucid dreaming," the process of becoming aware while still in a dream. Once lucid, the dreamer can acknowledge that there is no real danger and attempt to create an alternate ending — like how to defeat an attacker, escape the sinking ship, etc.
9. There's also a trick to remember them.
It's called imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT). And it's important because even if you don't remember all the details of your nightmare, the stress of it can linger. So first, write down as much of your bad dream that you can recall. Then, think about a way to resolve it. The more you paint a mental picture of the solution, the easier it gets.
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