Bad dreams which are commonly referred to as nightmares are common occurrence, we all might have had one or at least we've heard someone say they had one. Either ways they leave us feeling anxious, fearful and disturbed, sometimes stressed. The degree of this feelings are directly proportional to how bad the dreams are. Sometimes the effects of this dreams can lead to stress and worry, which can affect a person's overall life. Hence the need to look at the possible causes of these phenomenon and diverse means of curbing it.

Meaning of Bad Dreams

Whenever a dream makes us feel anxiety, fear, nervous or paranoid, it's considered a bad dream. The concept of bad dreams goes deep into psychology, as they are mostly a figment of our deepest fears, most hidden truths, past traumas and even future worries. These dreams tend to happen during the deepest stage of slumber, a time when the body is fully at rest but the brain remains active. In an eight hours of sleep, we usually have two hours of dreams, why? Even the best scientists haven't figured that out yet. Nightmares are lengthy, elaborate dreams that evokes fear, anxiety, or sadness. The dreamer may wake up to avoid the perceived danger, and he/she is most likely to remember the dream(s) and it may sometimes lead to difficulties in returning to sleep. Nightmares in itself isn't bad, but its reoccurrence following the same pattern, may cause extreme terror and anxiety, which can also lead to sleep disorder.

Source

Why do we have Bad dreams

Now that we know the meaning of bad dreams, let's take a look at the causes and things that can trigger such dreams.

• ILLNESS
  The occurrence of sickness and illness can result into nightmares, when one tries sleeping through them, it gets even worse when we use sleep induced drugs, for we tend to sleep deeper in shorter times, which results into the switching between consciousness and subconsciousness.

• TRAUMA
  Sometimes our dreams could be as a result of something traumatic that has happened in our life. It could be death of a loved one, accidents, sexual assault, and the likes. Such traumas can reminisce in our dreams as quickly as the day it happens.

• ANXIETY OR STRESS
  50% cases of nightmares are as a result of anxiety or stress. The fear of the unknown might find its way into our dreams. On days when we have been so anxious or stressed, we tend to sleep deeper and as we've learnt, nightmares occur at this stage of our sleep.

• NEGATIVE THINKING
  The line between our conscious mind and subconscious mind is very thin, as a result what we think about is more likely to find its way into our dreams. During the hours of sleep, the brain is still active and when one is dreaming, some of these negative thoughts are most likely to be remembered by the brain and it brings them to our minds in form of dreams. It's more likely for someone who watches a horror movie to have a nightmare, especially when the person keeps thinking about the movie.

• EATING JUST BEFORE BEDTIME
  Eating just before going to sleep, this increases the body metabolism and the brain's activity. When we eat just few minutes before we sleep, after the body has finished processing the food we ate, the body tend to recuperate and hence it makes us sleep deeper, then nightmares come to play.

• PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS
  Certain psychological conditions can be responsible for nightmares, such conditions includes breathing disorder during sleep (sleep apnea), sleep disorders (narcolepsy, sleep terror disorder), high levels of stress and tension, depression, and a disturbed state of mind in a person.

Other factors

Other factors that might be responsible for causing bad dreams include

• Adverse reaction to or side effect of a drug
• Recent withdrawal from a drug, such as sleeping pills
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Abrupt alcohol withdrawal

How to stop bad dreams

Haven understood the reasons or causes of bad dreams, it's important to know how to stop this phenomena from occurring, so as not to lead to a severe and destructive outcome. Therefore in order to have more peaceful nights we must;

• Sleep early
  Since the whole concept of dreams is based on sleep, its therefore an important thing to note that one must sleep early in other to avoid nightmares, with a 6-8 hours of sleep, the body fully recuperates at a normal rate, but when the hours falls short, it forces itself into the deep sleep mode, which results into bad dreams. It's simple, to have a peaceful sleep, avoid staying up late and get enough sleep.

• Avoid eating during bedtime
  So as not to over work the body metabolism, its advisable to avoid eating meals or snacks during bedtime.

• Do not read or watch scary movies before bedtime
  
  Source

If you are the type that gets scared easily or you are the type that what you read or watch lingers, then its advisable that you refrain from reading or watching scary movies.

• Get rid of negative thoughts before sleeping
  Thoughts are what transcends into dreams, therefore it's important to always go to bed without any negative vibes or thought, watch funny movies, if you are having a bad day, talk to your best friend to ease your thoughts into happy ones.

• Avoid drinking alcohol before bedtime

• Watch the type of medications you use. If you are experiencing nightmares on some medications, don't just stop them, always consult a doctor.

---

# I am @bookoons, reminding you today to Make A Difference!