Nightmares Are A Nightmare

Psychologists in the world today have come the conclusion that nightmares are normal occurrences in human existence and are common in everyday life. There are countless theories as to why people experience nightmares as well as what they could mean about the person experiencing them. The ideas that are often overlooked, however, are the different groups of people experiencing these nightmares and the effects they have on the sleeper.

In order to go further into nightmares and their effects on the people that are experiencing them, it should first be clarified what a nightmare actually is. A nightmare can be defined as a mental experience, or dream, that takes place during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Nightmares will bring out the

The ideas that differentiate people from one another when it comes to sleeping are the frequency of the nightmares, and the effects the dream has on the mental health of the sleeper. The world’s population can be classified into two different groups when comparing nightmares. The first group, group A, is made up of the frequent nightmare sufferers. Five percent of the world’s adult population is part of this group. People from group A have been found to encounter at least one nightmare per week. The effects of these frequent nightmares are prevalent in the overall psychological well-being of the sleepers. In a study done by Sandra Antunes-Alves, it was found that evening and morning stress levels in group A were higher than in an average dreamer. This led to a higher probability of negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and guilt throughout their dreams (Alves and Koninck 2). Nightmares not only have a negative effect on the sleepers dreams and sleep, they also have a negative effect on their day time functions as well. Michael Schredl from the University of Illinois says, “Sufferers of frequent nightmares often report a significant effect in their quality of sleep and their day to day functions” (Schredl 1). The most common waking behaviors affected due to nightmares include a lingering sense of fear and high anxiety. While every person will experience

The average number of nightmares occurring in these adults is one nightmare a month or less (Rader 1). These nightmares are intense, however the effects are less detrimental to the sleepers health and well-being. The sleeper will experience all of the effects of a nightmare, except their day to day functions will not be affected. Because average dreamers only undergo at the most one nightmare a month, they do not suffer from any psychological effects from the dreams like a frequent nightmare sufferer would.

Nightmares are something that every person will come into contact with at one point in their life. There are different groups of people that will experience nightmares differently from one another. The effects of the nightmares on people’s day to day life and their psychological health will differ from person to person as well. The one thing that will stay consistent however, is the fact the nightmares are an everlasting thing that people will remain interested in until the end of