Ellie Johnson
Nightmares and Their Disorder
10% of Americans are impacted by sleep parasomnias. Frightening dreams occur for everyone, but as you start to get older, usually around the age of ten, the dreams start to decrease, but consider that this may be different for people with Nightmare Disorder. Nightmare disorder is an uncommon parasomnia found in children and adults. Parasomnias are a group of sleep disorders in which unusual sleeping patterns take place while going to sleep, during the stages of sleep, or while waking up.
Everybody experiences nightmares, but it is only considered nightmare disorder if the nightmares are consistent. They are usually described as vivid, emotional, and realistic. Nightmares can be caused by many factors such as stress, trauma, sleep deprivation, medications, substance abuse, unnerving books and movies, and other disorders. In 2014, Mayo Clinic stated, there is no need to worry if the nightmares are occasional. Nightmares usually begin to occur in children ages three through six, and they usually lessen after age ten. When children hit the age of thirteen, nightmares are more common in females. Because the nightmares tend to lessen at age ten, children are more likely to have nightmares.
Ordinarily, nightmares cause anxiety, for people with Nightmare Disorder, the anxiety produced by the nightmares may cause difficulty functioning during the day. 70% of patients with nightmare disorder have found behavioral treatments effective. 20 to 30% of children have frequent nightmares, but the frequency of the dreams go down as their age increases. The nightmares they have usually have detailed alarming plots. Once a child has awakened from their dream, it is challenging for them to fall back asleep. Only 5-8% of adults have frequent nightmares. The nightmares can cause daytime memory loss, anxiety, and they usually have more awakening during the night. According to the AAFP, in 2000, for both children and adults, the nightmares usually happen the REM sleep stage. If you would like to learn about more parasomnias you can visit the American Academy of Family Physicians’ website.
Because nightmares occur in people of all ages, treatment for this disorder isn’t usually required unless it is part of a larger disorder or disease. To avoid having nightmares, you need a steady sleep schedule, and making sure you get the recommended hours of sleep at night for your age group. Not drinking caffeine, smoking cigarettes, or drinking alcohol can also help eliminate these dreams. Late night snacks or eating before bed should also be avoided, as those that lead to bad dreams as well. Exercising is also a good way to avoid nightmares as long as it’s not right before you go to bed because you need to relax so you can get good rest. Next time you have a nightmare, think about ways you could avoid having more of them.
What are other common sleep parasomnias?
Is there any way to completely stop people from having nightmares?
Are there any other treatments besides medications and therapy? If no, what other types of therapy are used to treat nightmare disorder (or other form of parasomnias)?
Another common sleep parasomnia is bruxism, or teeth grinding. Teeth grinding is when a person gnashes, grinds, or clenches their teeth together very tightly. There are two types of bruxism: awake bruxism and sleep bruxism. As you can tell, awake bruxism is teeth grinding while you are awake, and sleep bruxism happens while you are asleep. Sleep bruxism is much more severe than awake because there isn’t much you can do to control it while you’re asleep. Teeth grinding can be a side effect of people who deal with stress, anxiety, mental disorders, and other intense emotions. To treat bruxism, there is always the option of therapy and medication to try to work through the stress causing it, or talk to your dentist to see if you are able to get a splint or mouth guard to prevent your teeth from wearing down. Below I have the website I got my information from.
http://www.alaskasleep.com/blog/sleep-bruxism-teeth-grinding-symptoms-causes-treatment
According to Wiki How, you can avoid having nightmares if you don’t eat before bed. “…as food speeds up your metabolism and sends signals to your brain to become more active” triggering nightmares. You can also avoid nightmares by avoiding or releasing stress. Stress adds to nightmares, so spending more time with loved ones, knitting, running, and yoga or meditation can all help you to release stress. Improving sleep may also help to decrease nightmares. Making your room a relaxing and calming place can help improve sleep. As well as, getting more exercise and cutting back on nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol intake can also result in better sleep.
http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Having-Nightmares
Another very common parasomnia is somnambulism, which is frequently referred to as “sleepwalking”.
Somnambulism is a motor parasomnia, meaning the source is one’s motor-activation during the night. When one lays down and relaxes, the brainstem stops attempting to keep the body awake, slowly beginning the NREM state. Motor functions become more difficult until the body enters the REM state. Once in REM, motor functions are allowed again, but the brain can’t communicate to the rest of the body since the spinal cord is inhibited. It isn’t entirely known what causes sleepwalking, but this is considered a factor.
Nightmares, on the other hand, are a. autonomic parasomnia, meaning its cause is in the autonomic nervous system.
http://sks.sirs.com/webapp/article?artno=0000095373&type=ART