nightmare
No one wants to be woken up while sleeping, especially by an attacker, a snake in the bed, or being swallowed up by a sea of fire. Bad dreams (to be exact, nightmares) are not only boring, but once the same horrible situation reappears, it will not only disturb a rare 8-hour sleep, but also affect daily life in the daytime.
In a dream, missing an important exam or appearing naked at work is nothing compared with the frightening nightmare of waking people up! They occur in the late night rapid eye movement period (REM), and because we suddenly wake up in our dreams, we can often clearly recall the atmosphere of fear, anxiety and fear in our dreams.
Everyone dreams every night, and “absolutely dreamless” nights are relatively rare. Those emotional and exciting dreams may stay in memory for a few days, weeks or months, or even forever, but they only account for about 10% at most, and most of the rest disappear in the mind before the dreamer wakes up. However, there is enough evidence to show that the content of dreams is not related to psychological problems, that is to say, often having nightmares does not necessarily reflect psychological problems.
For some people, certain drugs, alcohol, drugs, lack of sleep, high fever or anxiety sometimes lead to nightmares. But generally speaking, nightmares can also be caused by emotional problems in life, changes in the dominant life (such as moving), painful experiences, and stress in sports or learning, even if what happens in the dream seems to have nothing to do with real life. Here are six possible reasons for nightmares:
1. Anxiety and stress
Anxiety and stress are usually caused by external trauma in life, and sometimes become the trigger of nightmares and nightmares. According to a study by the International Association for the study of dreams (IASD), major surgery or illness, grief over the loss of a loved one, encounter or witness an attack, accident, etc. can all lead to nightmares and nightmares. Post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) is usually the common cause of nightmare recurrence.
However, not all nightmares are caused by external trauma, and daily stress can also cause people to have nightmares all night long, such as work or economic worries; Changes in life, such as moving or divorce.
2. Spicy food
Food and eating time will also affect our rest at night.
A small report in the International Journal of psychophysiology tested a group of healthy men, asked them to eat spicy food before going to bed on certain nights, and compared their sleep quality with that without eating spicy food.
The results showed that in the night of eating spicy food, they woke up longer and slept worse. The reason is that spicy food will increase the temperature of the body, which will disturb sleep. This reason can also explain why some people say that eating too much before going to bed will cause nightmares.
Although few studies have paid attention to this point, eating before going to bed will enhance metabolism and brain activity, and then trigger nightmares or nightmares.
3. Foods with high fat content
Although there is no final conclusion, some studies have revealed that the more high-fat foods eaten during the day, the greater the impact on sleep quality.
A study by psychological report in 2007 found that people who eat more organic food (i.e. 100% natural ingredients) and people who eat more junk food have different dreams! The author of the article speculates that certain foods may have a negative impact on dreams.
4. Alcohol
Although alcohol, like sedatives, can help you fall asleep in a short period of time, once the calming effect fails, it will wake you up too early.
Excessive drinking can also lead to nightmares and poor sleep. For those who are in the process of abstaining from alcohol, nightmares will often come.
5. Drugs
Some drugs, including antidepressants, barbiturates and anesthetics, have the side effect of “letting nightmares come to you automatically”.
According to the research on ketamine, a drug that has been used for anesthesia and health care, in the journal psychopharmacology in 2008, the use of ketamine will lead to more unpleasant dreams and double the probability of nightmares compared with placebo.
Similarly, anyone who has gone to the countryside where malaria is frequent and taken mefloquine will have some nightmares related to it. Usually, after the medicine fails, the nightmare will disappear.
6. Disease
Diseases, including fever (such as flu), can often cause nightmares. Other sleep disorders, including apnea and narcolepsy (patients have uncontrollable, paroxysmal short sleep during the day), can lead to nightmares and nightmares.
Nightmares and nightmares are usually considered as a normal reflection of daily experiences, but the International Association for the study of dreams still suggests that if they continue to worsen and gradually deteriorate, you still need to seek the help of a doctor. However, first of all, you need to work hard to get rid of the above six factors. This is the best way to call sweet dreams and drive away night demons!
In addition, you can try to create a regular work and rest schedule, which should leave enough time for you to sleep well at night and avoid continuous dozing in the afternoon or evening. It is also useful to reduce the intake of caffeine and alcohol and smoke less (especially at night). Here are 6 tips for getting a good sleep and getting rid of your nightmares:
first, try not to catch up on sleep:
If you can’t sleep again after waking up for 15 minutes at night, you can listen to your favorite music and turn off the music when you feel sleepy. Remember: no matter how well you sleep at night, you should get up on time the next morning. Even on weekends, you can’t try to catch up on your sleep, because this practice will not help you overcome insomnia.
II. Do not drink coffee or smoke before going to bed:
Coffee, Coca Cola and chocolate all contain exciting caffeine, so don’t drink or eat these things before going to bed. In addition, smoking is easy to excite people, so we must change the habit of smoking before going to bed.
III. do not drink alcohol before going to bed:
In order to relax themselves, some people like to drink some wine before going to bed, thinking that this can help sleep, which is actually wrong. You should know that alcohol inhibits your central nervous system and destroys your sleep. After a few hours, you will wake up and feel headache due to the stimulation of alcohol. It’s harmful to your health in the long run.
IV. develop the habit of stopping thinking before going to bed:
Before going to bed, listen to music with euphemistic tunes and slow rhythms, or learn to listen to the sounds of nature, such as rain, insects, etc. The method of listening to nature may be difficult at first, but you can learn it as long as you persist.
v. evening walk:
People who suffer from insomnia for a long time can also take a walk at night. The best place is near home, and the distance is not too long. Walking can relax muscles and make the body warm. Usually, when the temperature drops, people will feel sleepy and want to sleep.
6. Take a hot bath before going to bed:
People’s body temperature is low when they fall asleep, but it is the highest during the day. According to this theory, a hot bath two or three hours before they go to bed can help them sleep, because bathing can raise their body temperature. When you go to bed, your body temperature will drop.
Leave a Reply