Nightmares and Nightmare Disorder

[David Baxter PhD]

Nightmare Disorder
April 15, 2008

You wake up terrified. Your heart is pounding, you're breathing is shaky, and you feel distraught. Most of us have had this experience - waking up from a nightmare, but what happens when it is a regular occurrence?

Nightmare Disorder is another sleeping disorder. While nightmares affect 10-50% of children aged 3-5 years old and 3% of adults report having nightmares frequently, the prevalence of Nightmare Disorder in the United States is not currently known.

Individuals who experience Nightmare Disorder awaken from vivid, frightening dreams during naps or at night. They are able to recall the details of their frightening dreams and quickly realize their surroundings upon awakening. Frightening dreams include those that threaten one's security, safety, life, and/or self-esteem.

Nightmare Disorder is diagnosed when nightmares affect an individuals social, occupational, academic, or other important parts of one's life. Before Nightmare Disorder is made as a diagnosis, however, mental health professionals rule out other mental illnesses, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, general medical conditions, and any substance or medication that could be causing the nightmares.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Comforting Yourself After a Nightmare

Comforting Yourself After a Nightmare

I know that children tend to get nightmares more often than adults do, but many adults still get nightmares occasionally.

Here are some ideas you can use to comfort yourself when you wake up from a nightmare because no matter what age you are nightmares are quite disturbing and distressing.

1. If you have a cat or dog, pet him or her. He or she can be very grounding.
   
2. If you need to talk about your nightmare and have a partner or spouse who is supportive, you may want to wake him or her up to discuss your nightmare. Alternatively, you can write down the details of your dream to get them out of your head.
   
3. Get up and have a drink of water.
   
4. Read something soothing.
   
5. Concentrate on your surroundings in order to remind yourself where you are.

 

[braveheart]

For me, it's part of PTSD. I didn't realise it could be a separate thing...

I just do a lot of soothing and reassuring internal dialogue, cuddle my soft toy and write about it in my journal the next day - and talk about it in my next therapy session.

 

[ladylore]

I didn't realize it either.

I do have a big stuffed dog I could pet. After the last nightmare I had I immediately got up and checked the doors to make sure they were locked and that I was safe.

My therapist said this was a great thing to do because I was calming down the fight or flight response.

 

[Into The Light]

this sounds like i have nightmares all the time, except they don't wake me up. i seem to remember them if they're happening just before my wake up time. i don't really experience a strong fear but i do fear for my life in the dream itself. i just get really annoyed with these dreams now - enough already. does that still classify it as a nightmare even though i am not significantly distressed?

 

[Misha]

I get horrible nightmares in which my perception of time is totally altered. Each one of these dreams, while the length of a normal dream, perceptually lasts for days, even weeks. I'm usually in a situation like at home with my parents (not good), and I always am aware that I am dreaming. I spend the whole time yelling and screaming at people that "I am dreaming and why can't I wake up?" People keep saying back to me that this is real, that I'm just crazy.
I know it's not monsters or anything, but these dreams are excessively unsettling and the altered perception of time can totally throw me off when I do wake up.
I have these dreams much less frequently now that I do not take Imovane anymore, but they still occur on occasion.

 

[braveheart]

That sounds like a kind of dissociation might be coming through in your dreams in some way, Misha.
I've had dreams in which I had dissociative amnesia in the dream... which is also unsettling...

 

[Misha]

Last night I had another strange time dream. I had a knowledge of everything that was happening in it... I had somehow experienced it before. And everybody else seemed to be stuck in the past in some way; they couldn't acknowledge that this had already happened. It was excessively upsetting, just like my other dreams.
I think you're right that this is a kind of dissocciation. I had considered that, but how to deal with it, I have no idea. It really throws off my mood and puts me on edge.