Nightmares...

[OmnipotentTitan]

Dont get me wrong, im not complaining ! What is it that causes nightmares, I dont ever get them really, I would have to count dreams where I have gotten an adrenaline rush to even say ive had a nightmare since 6..... Is it mostly stress or are there other factors?

[Mr_Fire]

I don't know much about what causes them, but...Hrm, I would guess it's stress related/maybe what's on your mind when you fall asleep. Maybe even just a way for your mind to tell you something, who knows?

[loveapple]

I used to suffer from the most appalling nightmares as a child and teenager! My husband (59) has nightmares from time to time all through our married life (37 years), they are often pretty horrific. Sometimes he has told me the nightmare in graphic detail, and we have both required the light on for the rest of the night!

[OmnipotentTitan]

I used to suffer from the most appalling nightmares as a child and teenager! My husband (59) has nightmares from time to time all through our married life (37 years), they are often pretty horrific. Sometimes he has told me the nightmare in graphic detail, and we have both required the light on for the rest of the night! [/b] is he usually stressed out when he has these?

[Ne-yo]

Some nightmares can be caused by certain drugs or medications, or by rapid withdrawal from them, or by physical conditions such as illness and fever. The nightmares of early childhood likely reflect the struggle to learn to deal with normal childhood fears and problems. Many people experience nightmares after they have suffered a traumatic event, such as surgery, the loss of a loved one, an assault or a severe accident. The nightmares of combat veterans fall into this category. The content of these nightmares is typically directly related to the traumatic event and the nightmares often occur over and over. Other people experience nightmares when they are undergoing stress in their waking lives, such as difficulty or change on the job or with a loved one, moving, pregnancy, financial concerns, etc. Finally, some people experience frequent nightmares that seem unrelated to their waking lives. These people tend to be more creative, sensitive, trusting and emotional than average.

[DancingRed]

I would not know, I never have nightmares as such. I have plenty of freaky dreams, but nothing I would call a nightmare. Perhaps it depends on how you iterpret dreams after you've woken up, because as soon as I wake up I'm able to say to myself 'that's just a dream'. My dreams are like reading books; they're freaky but I can forget about the danger of them as soon as they've finished. I don't know about stress.

[the real pieman]

i think that nightmares are created by something in a dream which triggers something due to your mind remembering something, and that begins a chain which is shown through optic visions, in your dreams then eventually it will reach to a thing which terrifies you, and because you continue to focus on that thing it grows and you become more scared, then it changes into a fully fled nightmare...

[Jimmie Lynne]

I am not a psychologist and haven't done any extensive research on the subject so this is just speculation. I think what causes nightmares is anxiety. I have had dreams where I was violently stabbed to death and not been at all frightened. After waking up I would reflect on how odd the dream had been and the curious sensation of being stabbed but since I wasn't afraid at any point during the dream it wasn't a nightmare. BUT if I have a dream in which my ex-boyfriend so much as touches my arm I'll wake up screaming with my heart pouding like I'd just run a mile. Not only is there no chance that I'll be able to fall back to sleep but it also screws up my entire day. These are my nightmares. What's important about these two situations isn't the ACTUAL situation but the feeling I have about them in the day time. I suppose I'm afraid of death in the way that any human is afraid of the unknown but I don't spend any time during the day worrying about dying. I just don't really think about it. My ex on the other hand is a manipulative, creepy, stalker, and a person to be avoided at all costs. I spend a great deal of time wondering whether or not he's in my parking lot . . . or trying to badger my mother into giving him my new phone number. While I don't believe that I'm in danger of him actually physically hurting me, the idea of seeing him fills me with irrational mortal terror. My conclussion then is that what turns a normal dream into a nightmare is the amount of actual anxiety you feel about that particular situation. Since I've never been attacked by a loon with a knife and therefor spend no time during the day worrying that I might be, my mind hasn't developed an instinctual fear of that exact situation and doesn't release any adrenalin. When applying this hypothesis to other people I would assume that their irrational fears and anxiety are what cause their nightmares. A fear of social akwardness might cause dreams in which they are naked in public. A fear of academic failure might cause dreams in which they are late to school. . . or perhaps find themselves taking a test for which they haven't studied. Just as in children a fear of the dark, or of what's lurking in their closets cause nightmares about monsters. I would think that people who don't have nightmares are live in the now types. People who don't ever worry during the day would be less likely to find their worries continued into their dreams. But again, I'm not a psychologist. I'm just trying to think critically about my own experiences.

[TweaK]

Anxiety, yes. But also uncertainties. Lack of confidence, no self esteem, those kind of things. And of course, fears. At first, I had nightmares (getting killed) every night, until I was about 10. Why? I just simply stopped really fearing getting killed (I was really scared about getting killed, until I just realized it was nonsense). After that, for a couple of years (2-3?) I had those dreams where you stand naked in front of your class/friends/girl you have crush on.. those kinda things. Then eventually - somehow - I got way more confident about myself, started thinking differently (e.g. when giving presentations for school. I used to be really anxious and stuff because I was scared I was going to be laughed at when I made a stupid mistake or something like that. But then I looked at it from the other way around; If someone else made a stupid mistake, would I tease them with that? Laugh at them so hard because of that? No. It doesn't matter at all), and got my self-esteem up. I have only had 2-3 nightmares since (those were caused by fevers btw).

[OmnipotentTitan]

im still reading

[HereWeGo]

I have nightmares about tornadoes. Because i dont like them and I fear them. As a matter of fact i had one today. It something about them that awes me, but yet they are very scary. I subconciously want too see an actually tornado lol.

[QwinsepiaSquared]

I don't think I ever really have nightmares. I've had dreams where I'm scared, but usually it's something so rediculous that if I were awake I would have laughed and shook it off.