Are There Benefits to Having Nightmares?

Although they’re related to discomfort, having nightmares has its benefits. One of them is exposure to scary situations.

We often consider nightmares with complete rejection; we don’t like their content and so they cause discomfort. However, each nice dreams and nightmares are a part of our lives and in addition matter.

Although they’re related to dreams that generate intense fear or threat, some profit is attributed to them. Still, it is important to know when to fret, as sometimes they’re an expression of more discomfort. We will let you know more about it below.

Causes of nightmares

Let’s start with what nightmares are. According to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in its most up-to-date edition (DSM-V) they’re a genus parasomnia consisting of repeated occurrences of frightening dreams that may awaken the affected person and whose content generates intense fear or discomfort.

They generally appear during REM sleep, which is occurs 90 to 110 minutes after falling asleepor within the second half of the night, which happens most frequently. When researching the causes of nightmares, there are numerous causes.

There are positions that deal with neurobiology and psychophysiology, while other approaches are oriented towards the unconscious attempting to send us a message or solve a desire. The interpretations will not be necessarily mutually exclusive.

• The presence of chronic stress can be the reason behind nightmares, subsequently, it is crucial to handle each issues hand in hand as they may be related to significant impairment of day by day functioning.
• Concerns about nightmares have been on the rise because the Covid-19 pandemic. In this case, the triggering factor was a high burden of stress and uncertainty, in addition to concern for the health of 1’s own and family members.
• On the opposite hand, nightmares often occur after a heavy dinner, with heavy food, which prevents night’s sleep.
• They also can occur because of being drunk or other substances.
• There are eras where it’s stated that there are greater nightmares or nightmares. In this case, they’re quite common in childhood and adolescence and can be a part of the brain development process.

Benefits of getting nightmares

It is tough to imagine that nightmares are helpful once they are related to poor sleep and negative emotions. But test conducted by scientists from the University of Geneva, University Hospitals of Geneva and the University of Wisconsin within the United States suggests some positive effects.

According to the publication, neuroscience theories suggest that the emotions experienced in dreams contribute to resolving emotional distress and prepare for future affective responses.

In other words, they will assist you to act more safely in potentially dangerous life situations. As observed, the nightmares resulted in greater activity within the medial prefrontal cortex, the realm of ​​the brain that regulates the fear response. Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at the possible advantages.

Relaxing

One of the important advantages of nightmares is stress reduction. This is achieved by allowing you to tackle other roles and perform activities that will not be actually allowed or are held back for some reason.

That is, they provide space for alternative “exits”. Like that nightmare where someone is arguing with their boss and yelling at him very loudly. In real life, it’s probably not thing, but it surely’s liberating after sleep.

Confrontation with emotions

In some cases, the sensations experienced in nightmares allow us to face our fears and anxieties. In fact, sometimes they appear so real that you’re feeling physically exhausted. Still, reviewing waking events, it is feasible to take a unique perspective on what happened and reflect on it.

In nightmares, the events are exaggerated, but they make us take into consideration “what if.” In this fashion, we face the situations we fear and practice possible reactions.

Finding solutions

In many cases, the interpretation of nightmares is the place to begin for solving problems that arise in real life. They also enable latest ideas for coping with situations that appear difficult.

Telling nightmares is usually cathartic. It is liberating and brings relief.

There’s something good about nightmares, too

Nightmares can be an unrealistic scenario where we will practice different roles and take care of some fears. One of its benefits is that by anticipating a scary scenario, we familiarize ourselves with it.

For this reason, we will not only prepare ourselves, but in addition predispose ourselves in a different way, each at the extent of posture and body.

Nevertheless, these episodes are serious and warrant consultation once they recur or interfere with rest. For example, in the event that they interrupt sleep, then you definately cannot return to sleep. Also whether it is mandatory to follow certain behaviors after consuming them, akin to leaving the lights on.

In these cases, you must try to enhance your sleep hygiene through habits akin to going to bed early, limiting sugar and caffeine intake within the hours before bedtime, avoiding screens, amongst others.

Frequently, nightmares are a symptom of clinical conditions akin to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. In that sense, it’s idea seek the advice of an expert to regain well-being.

Maybe it should interest you…