In order to stop having nightmares, I tried to make up a "good ending" for it, and it actually worked!

Generally speaking, if you have a good night's sleep, you will feel refreshed in the morning and be in a good mood all day long. If you have a nightmare at night, not only will you feel very tired when you wake up, but you will also always feel listless during the day.

Life is hard enough for workers during the day. Is there any way to control nightmares and have a peaceful night?

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Too long to read version:

1. If the theme of nightmares is similar, you can try to change it to a "good ending" according to that routine, and replay it several times before going to bed;

2. Play some relaxing, soothing music or white noise before going to bed.

The movie "Inception" depicts a scene of controlling dreams. Scientists have discovered that this magical ability may not be completely fictional. Perhaps we really have a way to control dreams, or at least regulate the emotions in dreams.

Most dreams occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep , a period of sleep in which the body's muscles are paralyzed but the brain's neuronal activity is similar to that of wakefulness.

Some theories believe that the neural activity during REM stage originates from the brainstem. Some theories believe that the neural activity during REM stage originates from the brainstem. The parts of the brainstem are marked from top to bottom: midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata. Image source: OpenStax-wiki

The transition from deep sleep to REM sleep begins with a periodic electrical pulse called a PGO wave (Ponto-geniculo-occipital waves), which starts in the pons, moves to the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus, and ends in the primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe.

When it reaches the visual cortex, the waves have the largest amplitude, which is one of the causes of "rapid eye movement".

There is a lateral geniculate body in each of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, named because it resembles a bent knee, and it is a key component of the mammalian visual pathway. Image source: Henry Gray-wiki

It is believed that this rhythmic discharge is the cause of dreams, and that activity in some areas of the cerebral cortex is a response to this wave of electricity. The activity of the brain stem awakens the cortex, and once the cortex is activated, a lot of organized thinking (although they are not necessarily logical) will be generated.

Scientists have studied how our emotion regulation affects dreams and found that "difficulty in cognitive reappraisal" or "difficulty in regulating negative emotions" will have a certain impact on dreams.

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Cognitive reappraisal is a commonly used emotion regulation strategy in psychology. Through this method, one can change one's understanding of events that cause negative emotions, such as comforting oneself that these are small things and it doesn't matter.

Studies have found that if emotions are not regulated well and unwanted thoughts are suppressed, these thoughts may "rebound" in dreams, and the intensity and frequency of dreams with some typical themes will increase.

That is to say, dreams are not only related to emotions, but also to the way we deal with emotions.

Negative emotions are always accompanied by problems such as stress and anxiety, which are the causes of nightmares.

Other causes of nightmares include irregular sleep, mental health disorders, and drug effects. The one that has a deeper impact on people and has been studied more is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

During nightmares, areas of the brain associated with fear, such as the amygdala, become overactive.

Whether it's anxiety or severe PTSD, nightmares can occur in a similar way.

The location of the amygdala in the human brain. Image source: Washington irving-wiki

When nightmares occur frequently and have a negative impact on our social, work or other daily life scenarios, they are classified as "nightmare disorder" (ND).

The most effective relief method currently considered is imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT), in which therapists advise patients to recall their nightmares and then "rewrite" them into a good ending .

However, this therapy still has some flaws. For example, it may be more suitable for people who experience repeated nightmares of similar situations. In addition, about 30% of patients' sleep conditions are not effectively improved through IRT therapy.

A team of researchers from Switzerland found that adding some supporting sounds to IRT therapy can lead to better results.

They fitted some of the nightmare patients who participated in the trial with wireless headbands that automatically monitored their sleep cycles and played sounds during the REM sleep stage.

These sounds were associated with imagined positive situations in the previous IRT process and can bring positive emotions to people.

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With the assistance of sound, the frequency of nightmares of the subjects was significantly lower than that of IRT alone. The distress caused by nightmares was significantly improved, and they gradually experienced happiness in their dreams.

If you occasionally suffer from nightmares, or if the stress of daily life affects your sleep, you can refer to professional treatment methods to relax yourself. For example, you can try to practice rewriting your dreams or try playing some white noise when you go to bed.

Although quietness is a major need for sleep, a quiet environment can also make people more alert and more easily awakened by occasional noise. At this time, playing some white noise can help improve sleep quality.

Of course, if the situation is more serious, it is best to seek medical attention in time. I wish we can all have a good night's sleep.

References:

[1]https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BF%AB%E9%80%9F%E5%8B%95%E7%9C%BC%E6%9C%9F#%E6%A2%A6

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_eye_movement_sleep

[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PGO_waves

[4]https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-control-dreams/

[5]https://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publications-archive/brain/nightmares-brain

[6] Wong, S.-S., & Yu, CK-C. (2022). Direct and indirect effects of dispositional emotion regulation on dream experiences. Dreaming, 32(4), 393–407. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000216

[7] Schwartz S, Clerget A, Perogamvros L. Enhancing imagery rehearsal therapy for nightmares with targeted memory reactivation. Curr Biol. 2022 Nov 21;32(22):4808-4816.e4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.09.032. Epub 2022 Oct 27. PMID: 36306786.

[8]https://paper.sciencenet.cn/htmlpaper/2022/10/202210281750276276684.shtm

Source: Bringing Science Home

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