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Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Bobi boam Here. Everyone has the

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Speaker 1: occasional nightmare. A roughly five percent of the general population

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Speaker 1: has at least one bad dream per week, and for

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Speaker 1: some people, the intensity or frequency of these dreams can

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Speaker 1: have a negative effect on waking life. But why do

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Speaker 1: our sleeping brains inflicked us with upsetting images and scenarios? Today?

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Speaker 1: Let's talk about what we know and don't know about

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Speaker 1: nightmares and how to prevent them. For the article this

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Speaker 1: episode is based on, Has to Work. Spoke by email

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Speaker 1: with clinical psychologist and sleep expert Dr Michael Bruce. He

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Speaker 1: explained nightmares typically happened during rim sleep, during the middle

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Speaker 1: and later portions of the night. Because of where nightmares

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Speaker 1: tend to fall in the sleep cycle, and because of

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Speaker 1: the intensity of their imagery and emotions, nightmares will result

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Speaker 1: in some degree of awakening. You may bolt upright in

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Speaker 1: bed and have trouble returning to sleep thanks to a nightmare.

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Speaker 1: We don't know exactly why nightmares happen, but Bruce says

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Speaker 1: it's possible that they helped the brain quote practice, prepare,

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Speaker 1: and even anticipate difficult or dangerous experiences in waking life.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes such issues need attention in daylight hours. Maybe if

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Speaker 1: you're dreaming about car accidents, that's an anxiety about driving

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Speaker 1: that may be lessened by getting work you've been putting

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Speaker 1: off done on your car, or by talking to a

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Speaker 1: therapist about your fears. Bruce said, of course, it's possible

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Speaker 1: that nightmares, like dreams in general, don't have a primary function,

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Speaker 1: that they are a byproduct of other activities in the body,

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Speaker 1: but most sleep scientists think that dreams and nightmares exist

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Speaker 1: for some purpose. Certain circumstances and characteristics may make some

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Speaker 1: people more prone to nightmares than others. Folklore often attributes

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Speaker 1: nightmares to eating too much rich food before bedtime, but

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Speaker 1: the jury is still allowed on whether this is true.

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Speaker 1: One study from did find a link between eating dairy

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Speaker 1: or spicy foods before bedtime and having disturbing dreams, but

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Speaker 1: the study authors noted that this couldn't be proven conclusively

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Speaker 1: because the data were self reported and there were a

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Speaker 1: lot of other variables to consider. For instance, some of

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Speaker 1: the participants were binge eaters, a practiced inter minute fasting,

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Speaker 1: or may have had undiagnosed reactions to certain foods. Physical

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Speaker 1: and mental health issues are more reliably linked to having nightmares.

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Speaker 1: How staff works also spoke the Dr Barry Craiko, a Savannah,

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Speaker 1: Georgia based internist and sleep medicine specialist. He explained that

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Speaker 1: people who have been traumatized are at higher risk of nightmares,

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Speaker 1: offering examples like war veterans, those who have suffered sexual

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Speaker 1: or criminal salt, or those who have been in a

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Speaker 1: life threatening accident. And bad dreams are more common in

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Speaker 1: people who experience it's anxiety or depression, or who misuse

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Speaker 1: alcohol or other drugs, and research in recent decades has

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Speaker 1: shown that people who experience sleep disorders are also more

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Speaker 1: likely to have nightmares. Specifically, people with undiagnosed or untreated

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Speaker 1: sleep apnea are at a higher risk. People will sleep

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Speaker 1: apnea stop and then start breathing again hundreds of times

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Speaker 1: throughout the night. Although it's largely associated with snoring, a

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Speaker 1: person doesn't have to snore to have sleep apnea. People

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Speaker 1: will sleep apnea are often very tired during the day,

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Speaker 1: even when they've supposedly slept all through the night. Other

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Speaker 1: symptoms are gasping for air while sleeping, dry mouth or

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Speaker 1: headache in the morning. Problems staying asleep, and irritability and

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Speaker 1: attention issues. According to Craiko, the many misconceptions regarding sleep

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Speaker 1: apnea make it tough for a person to get diagnosed,

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Speaker 1: and this is a big deal because, in addition to nightmares,

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Speaker 1: sleep apnea is associated with greater risk of diabetes, brain dysfunction,

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Speaker 1: heart disease, and other disorders. He said, so many children

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Speaker 1: have sleep apnea and they don't get diagnosed until they're

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Speaker 1: fifty years old. There are so many deaths caused over

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Speaker 1: the course of time by oxygen not getting to the brain.

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Speaker 1: Quaco's practice helps treat mental health patients who have sleep disorders,

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Speaker 1: including nightmares. He said, so many of these have undiagnosed

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Speaker 1: sleep apnea. The vast majority report reducing sleep apnea by

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Speaker 1: using a c PAP machine, which then appeared to decrease nightmares.

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Speaker 1: A c PAP is continuous positive airway pressure therapy, a

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Speaker 1: standard treatment for people with obstructive sleep apnea. The problem

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Speaker 1: is that many mental health professionals, whom people typically approach

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Speaker 1: for help with nightmares, aren't aware of the link. Craikko said,

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Speaker 1: some people go into psychotherapy for years for PTSD and

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Speaker 1: the nightmares don't go away. But if sleep apnea isn't

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Speaker 1: the root cause of nightmares, other treatment options are of

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Speaker 1: a ellable. One endorsed by the American Sleep Academy is

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Speaker 1: image rehearsal therapy or i r T. Craiko explained how

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Speaker 1: it works, quote, if you teach somebody how to picture

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Speaker 1: a new version of your dream in your mind's eye

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Speaker 1: while you're awake, and that has a very powerful impact

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Speaker 1: over your dreams. By picturing new images, they seem to

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Speaker 1: be activating and imaging system that sets into motion the

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Speaker 1: process of decreasing disturbing dreams. He noted that it only

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Speaker 1: takes a couple of weeks to see clear cut decreases

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Speaker 1: in nightmares. A study he helped publish back in two

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Speaker 1: thousand one showed dramatic results in the group that received

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Speaker 1: the I r T treatment, of patients had their post

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Speaker 1: traumatic stress symptoms decrease by at least one level of

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Speaker 1: clinical severity. In the control group, meanwhile, of patients experienced

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Speaker 1: their symptoms either not changing or worsening. Craiko notes that

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Speaker 1: i r T is just as powerful as somebody useing

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Speaker 1: a PTSD medication, and he notes that for many people

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Speaker 1: it's not even necessary to visit a professional to engage

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Speaker 1: in I r T, you can look into Imagery Rehearsal

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Speaker 1: Therapy online. The lessons and workbooks are available for download

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Speaker 1: for low or no cost. Today's episode is based on

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Speaker 1: the article what causes Nightmares and how can You Lessen Them?

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Speaker 1: On how stuff works dot Com written by A. Leah Hoyt.

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Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership

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Speaker 1: with how stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by

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Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit

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