Recurring Nightmares: More Than Bad Dreams
Everyone, or almost everyone, has had a nightmare sometime. They are dreams with a frightening content that cause anxiety and fear. Normally, you wake up with a start and heart pounding, and the feeling of dread persists even after waking up. Feelings of confusion or sadness may also occur.
The causes of nightmares are many : the intake of certain substances, fatigue, food problems or emotional difficulties. Whatever the cause, it means you are not enjoying good sleep hygiene.
The situation becomes complicated when nightmares become recurrent. Sometimes we have the same dream several times, as if it were in series. Sometimes the context changes, but the pattern is fundamentally always the same. In these cases it becomes important to pay attention to what is happening.
Ordinary nightmares and recurring nightmares
Ordinary nightmares are those anxious dreams that occur sporadically. Having a nightmare every three months is part of the spectrum of what can be called “normal”. In these cases, each nightmare has a different content than the previous ones.
The causes of these nightmares can be:
- A transient state of stress.
- Consumption of alcohol.
- Consumption of psychoactive substances.
- Consumption of certain medicines with undesirable effects on sleep.
- Frequent insomnia causing fatigue.
- Eating too late or too abundantly before going to sleep.
To control these nightmares, it is enough to eliminate the factor that originates them. It is important to do this because, if not, they can hinder rest. It would be best to have an early dinner and avoid alcohol or other substances at least two hours before bedtime.
Recurring nightmares, on the other hand, appear when the individual is unable to recognize a conflict living in real life. It can be a symptom of post-traumatic stress or the expression of a difficulty in accepting traits of oneself or certain situations. Since this occurs in the sphere of the unconscious, it can only emerge through distressing dreams.
Frequent contents of nightmares
There are some recurring nightmares with equally very frequent content. They represent conflicts typical of the human being, although the individual is the only one who can identify their exact meaning. The most frequent contents and their basic meaning are the following:
- Pursuits
: they represent difficulties in accepting a part of ourselves that, unconsciously, we judge obscure or reprehensible.
- Falls
: they express the fear of feeling abandoned or unsupported.
- Extreme speed
: it is related to the feeling of lack of control.
- Examination
: the nightmare is about being judged, arriving late or unprepared. It alludes to one’s lack of confidence in a situation that one will have to face in the present or in the immediate future.
- Paralysis : it is related to feeling blocked, the lack of authentic goals and the difficulty in expressing one’s emotions.
- Nudity : The individual usually dreams of being naked in public without others realizing it. It has to do with insecurity in some aspect of one’s life, one has a feeling of suffocation or lack of capacity.
- Mutilation : nightmares of losing teeth, an arm, a leg, etc. They talk about a part of life that has been ignored or mistreated.
- Being trapped : it is related to repressed or blocked aspects of life.
- Drowning : There are usually large waves or turbulent waters. It has to do with the overflow of emotions that cannot be expressed or recognized.
- Child or animal in need of care : concerns an aspect of childhood or a vulnerable element of the personality that requires attention.
Even if recurring nightmares make us uncomfortable and sometimes we are terrified of them, in reality we need to see them as a positive and precious element. It is a way in which the unconscious sends us messages about elements that we have overlooked and that we need to resolve.
The ideal is that the conflict with oneself that appears in the recurring nightmare makes its way towards the solution. If this happens, it is possible to dream of similar content, but with a positive ending. This indicates that the distress has been resolved and that the terrifying dreams are no longer needed.
