Emotional impact of nightmares 'rarely due to fear,' study shows

Many of us have woken up in a sweat in the middle of the night as a result of a nightmare. And those are the dreams that tend to stick with us. Now, new research suggests that nightmares are more likely to impact us emotionally through feelings of sadness, confusion and guilt, rather than fear.

This is according to a study recently published in the journal Sleep.

Dreams are defined as a series of involuntary images, thoughts and sensations that take place in a person's mind during sleep.

According to the study researchers from the University of Montreal in Canada, including Geneviève Robert and Antonio Zadra, exactly why we dream is still unknown.

But the investigators say that in the scientific community, belief holds that everyone dreams, and that these dreams usually take place during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep that most people experience three to five times a night.

The problem with nightmares

According to the researchers, around 5-6% of the population report having nightmares. And for some people, these nightmares can lead to problems.

"Nightmares are not a disease in themselves but can be a problem for the individual who anticipates them or who is greatly distressed by their nightmares," explains Zadra.

"People who have frequent nightmares may fear falling asleep and being plunged into their worst dreams. Some nightmares are repeated every night. People who are awakened by their nightmares cannot get back to sleep, which creates artificial insomnia."

Nightmares can be triggered by traumatic events in everyday life. For example, the researchers say that returning soldiers often report seeing the scenes that caused their injuries in their dreams.

They note that alcohol or psychotropic drug consumption or withdrawal may also trigger frequent or intense nightmares.

Bad dreams vs. nightmares

For their study, the researchers wanted to determine the differences between bad dreams and nightmares, as the majority of people classify these as being the same type of intensity.

To do this, they asked 572 volunteers to keep a written record of all the dreams they remembered for between 2 and 5 consecutive weeks.