How to Deal with Nightmares and Sleep Better: Insights from a Licensed Psychologist
Have you ever had a nightmare that made you feel scared, stressed, and even traumatized? Do you know why we have nightmares and what we can do to deal with them?
In this article, we'll explore some scientific insights from a licensed clinical and board-certified sleep psychologist, Dr. Yishan, on how to deal with nightmares and sleep better.
Why do we have Nightmares?
There are two common reasons why we experience nightmares.
The first is a traumatic experience. If you've experienced trauma, such as abuse or mistreatment, your brain carries the emotional memory with you. During Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which is our dreaming stage, our brain processes these emotional memories. If you've had a traumatic experience, you may tend to have nightmares and re-experience those memories in your dreams.
The second reason may be some type of sleep disorder, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). When we cannot breathe properly during sleep, we increase the stress level of our body and brain, leading to more intense, aggressive, and violent dreams. If you have OSA, you may experience more frequent nightmares. Studies have shown that by treating OSA, such as using a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, many people report a reduced frequency of their nightmares.
How to Cope with Trauma-Related Nightmares?
If you have trauma-related nightmares, inducing lucid dreaming can help you control and change the content of your nightmare. Dr. Yishan recommends this method because nightmares can be frustrating and scary as you don't have any control over the storyline in the dream. However, dreams can be changed. In order to change our dream, we need to realize that we are dreaming, and this is called lucid dreaming.
Lucid dreaming is a kind of consciousness that can be induced. According to research presented by Dr. Paller's lab from Northwestern University, different sound cues or small cues can help us enter lucid dreaming stages more easily. They use a technology called Targeted Memory Reactivation (TMR), which means that when we are awake, we pair certain memory thoughts with a sound cue. When we are dreaming, experimenters play the same sound cues, and many people report that they could realize they were dreaming. In lucid dreaming, people can even interact with others and respond to certain questions in their dreams.
How to change dream content?
In this YouTube Video, Dr. Yishan explained four methods to do a reality check and induce lucid dreaming. After you realize you are in your own dream, then, there are some tips you can use to alter your dream content. Chinese subtitles available.
Remember, dealing with nightmares can be challenging, but there are ways to cope with them and sleep better. Check out Dr. Yishan’s video and try these tips out. Leave us comments and let us know how your experiences are.
If you or your friends, family could not sleep well, check out Dr. Yishan Xu’s sleep courses in Chinese and English.
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