Dreams vs Nightmares

Dreams vs Nightmares

By: Mya Bradford

What are dreams?

Even though all of us have dreams, we really don’t understand what they actually are and how important they are. Dreams are stories that the mind creates when we are asleep even though it is said that we aren’t actually sleeping while dreaming. They can be romantic, sad, scary, or funny. When we are dreaming we are actually very restless. They can happen in any stage of sleep, but vivid dreams are more likely to occur in rapid eye movement or REM sleep. Rapid eye movement starts about 90 minutes after you fall asleep; it's the stage where most dreams occur. When you experience this, a person's brain activity, breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure increase, and the eyes move rapidly while closed. The muscles in the arms and legs are unable to move. It is said that REM sleep plays an important rule in memory and learning.

Why do we have dreams?

Although experts aren't completely sure as to why we have dreams there are many theories out there. Some theories from healthline.com are that our dreams may be the ways of confronting emotional dramas in your life. This makes sense because when you’re awake you may be putting it off but your brain is making these connections when you are sleeping. It might be the way that your brain is getting you ready to deal with a threat. It is basically training you for a bad situation so you know how to react to it. Dreams help us facilitate our creative tendencies. Many artists have credited dreams as their inspiration. Dreams help us get new ideas and be more creative. A popular theory is that dreams help us store memories and things we’ve learned. The brain may help us store information while blocking out stimuli that could interfere with memory and learning.

What are nightmares?

Have you ever woken up startled in the middle of the night, palms sweating, heavy breathing because of a bad dream and wondered what a nightmare actually is and how dangerous they could be? Nightmares are frightening dreams associated with negative feelings. Some nightmares can include being chased, getting stabbed, drowning, teeth falling out, falling, etc. Just like dreams they also usually occur during REM sleep. Side effects of nightmares: they can cause excessive daytime sleepiness which can lead to problems at school or work or trouble completing everyday tasks, problems with mood, such as depression or anxiety, resistance with going to bed in fear that you’ll have another bad dream, suicidal thoughts or attempts. It’s a part of development to have a nightmare every once in a while but if you’re having them consistently you should contact a doctor because they could interfere with your health.

Why do we have nightmares?

Many of us ponder the actual question, why do we have nightmares? Nightmares can be caused by stress, anxiety, or sometimes a certain medication. Even though they aren’t the most pleasant things to have, research shows that nightmares can help some people learn to manage stress better. So even though we are experiencing a bad thing, some of us are still learning a good thing. According to livescience.com, “Nightmares are helpful to our survival or else they probably would have been done away with by evolution, said Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard University.” There was a study done about having anomalous dreams and a third of a half of 1,000 surveyed reported having “anomalous” dreams that warned them about something. Basically saying that if they had a dream about a plane crash and they were going on a plane the next day they canceled their flight because they believed that their nightmare was giving them a warning.

Dreams vs. Nightmares

Dreams are definitely a better feeling than a nightmare, but they are both important for us to have so we can learn stuff. Dreams help us deal with emotions, memories, and other information. Nightmares help us relieve stress, prepare for real-life threats, and provide insight into repressed emotions. Sometimes when you are having a dream you want to never wake up from it because it’s so good and when you wake up you’re happy and in a good mood, but when you’re in a nightmare you’re trying your hardest to wake up and when you do you feel terrified. When you have a dream you don’t wake up startled in the middle of the night, but when you have a nightmare you do; both of these things are known to be associated with anxiety and stress. Experts say that these stories that your mind creates are usually not related to anything in your life. If something comes true from your dream, it's usually just a coincidence, bad memory, or an unconscious linking of known information.

Sources:

Remy Melina, “Nightmares are helpful to our survival or else they probably would have been done away with by evolution, said Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard University.” livescience.com, “Why Do We Have Nightmares?” livescience, 28 July 2010, https://www.livescience.com/32730-why-do-we-have-nightmares.html 10 October 2022

Dale M. Kushner, “In one study, a third to a half of the 1,000 surveyed reported having “anomalous” dreams.” psychologytoday.com, “When Our Dreams Feel Like Warnings.” pyschologytoday, 31 March 2022 https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/transcending-the-past/202203/when-our-dreams-feel-warnings 10 October 2022

N/D, “ You can dream at any stage of sleep, but your most vivid dreams typically occur in rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep” health.clevelandclinic.org,”What do dreams mean?” health.clevelandclinic, 15 June 2022 https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dreams-and-dreaming/ 10 October 2022

https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/rapid-eye-movement-sleep