Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Bobi boam Here. Everyone has the
Speaker 1: occasional nightmare. A roughly five percent of the general population
Speaker 1: has at least one bad dream per week, and for
Speaker 1: some people, the intensity or frequency of these dreams can
Speaker 1: have a negative effect on waking life. But why do
Speaker 1: our sleeping brains inflicked us with upsetting images and scenarios? Today?
Speaker 1: Let's talk about what we know and don't know about
Speaker 1: nightmares and how to prevent them. For the article this
Speaker 1: episode is based on, Has to Work. Spoke by email
Speaker 1: with clinical psychologist and sleep expert Dr Michael Bruce. He
Speaker 1: explained nightmares typically happened during rim sleep, during the middle
Speaker 1: and later portions of the night. Because of where nightmares
Speaker 1: tend to fall in the sleep cycle, and because of
Speaker 1: the intensity of their imagery and emotions, nightmares will result
Speaker 1: in some degree of awakening. You may bolt upright in
Speaker 1: bed and have trouble returning to sleep thanks to a nightmare.
Speaker 1: We don't know exactly why nightmares happen, but Bruce says
Speaker 1: it's possible that they helped the brain quote practice, prepare,
Speaker 1: and even anticipate difficult or dangerous experiences in waking life.
Speaker 1: Sometimes such issues need attention in daylight hours. Maybe if
Speaker 1: you're dreaming about car accidents, that's an anxiety about driving
Speaker 1: that may be lessened by getting work you've been putting
Speaker 1: off done on your car, or by talking to a
Speaker 1: therapist about your fears. Bruce said, of course, it's possible
Speaker 1: that nightmares, like dreams in general, don't have a primary function,
Speaker 1: that they are a byproduct of other activities in the body,
Speaker 1: but most sleep scientists think that dreams and nightmares exist
Speaker 1: for some purpose. Certain circumstances and characteristics may make some
Speaker 1: people more prone to nightmares than others. Folklore often attributes
Speaker 1: nightmares to eating too much rich food before bedtime, but
Speaker 1: the jury is still allowed on whether this is true.
Speaker 1: One study from did find a link between eating dairy
Speaker 1: or spicy foods before bedtime and having disturbing dreams, but
Speaker 1: the study authors noted that this couldn't be proven conclusively
Speaker 1: because the data were self reported and there were a
Speaker 1: lot of other variables to consider. For instance, some of
Speaker 1: the participants were binge eaters, a practiced inter minute fasting,
Speaker 1: or may have had undiagnosed reactions to certain foods. Physical
Speaker 1: and mental health issues are more reliably linked to having nightmares.
Speaker 1: How staff works also spoke the Dr Barry Craiko, a Savannah,
Speaker 1: Georgia based internist and sleep medicine specialist. He explained that
Speaker 1: people who have been traumatized are at higher risk of nightmares,
Speaker 1: offering examples like war veterans, those who have suffered sexual
Speaker 1: or criminal salt, or those who have been in a
Speaker 1: life threatening accident. And bad dreams are more common in
Speaker 1: people who experience it's anxiety or depression, or who misuse
Speaker 1: alcohol or other drugs, and research in recent decades has
Speaker 1: shown that people who experience sleep disorders are also more
Speaker 1: likely to have nightmares. Specifically, people with undiagnosed or untreated
Speaker 1: sleep apnea are at a higher risk. People will sleep
Speaker 1: apnea stop and then start breathing again hundreds of times
Speaker 1: throughout the night. Although it's largely associated with snoring, a
Speaker 1: person doesn't have to snore to have sleep apnea. People
Speaker 1: will sleep apnea are often very tired during the day,
Speaker 1: even when they've supposedly slept all through the night. Other
Speaker 1: symptoms are gasping for air while sleeping, dry mouth or
Speaker 1: headache in the morning. Problems staying asleep, and irritability and
Speaker 1: attention issues. According to Craiko, the many misconceptions regarding sleep
Speaker 1: apnea make it tough for a person to get diagnosed,
Speaker 1: and this is a big deal because, in addition to nightmares,
Speaker 1: sleep apnea is associated with greater risk of diabetes, brain dysfunction,
Speaker 1: heart disease, and other disorders. He said, so many children
Speaker 1: have sleep apnea and they don't get diagnosed until they're
Speaker 1: fifty years old. There are so many deaths caused over
Speaker 1: the course of time by oxygen not getting to the brain.
Speaker 1: Quaco's practice helps treat mental health patients who have sleep disorders,
Speaker 1: including nightmares. He said, so many of these have undiagnosed
Speaker 1: sleep apnea. The vast majority report reducing sleep apnea by
Speaker 1: using a c PAP machine, which then appeared to decrease nightmares.
Speaker 1: A c PAP is continuous positive airway pressure therapy, a
Speaker 1: standard treatment for people with obstructive sleep apnea. The problem
Speaker 1: is that many mental health professionals, whom people typically approach
Speaker 1: for help with nightmares, aren't aware of the link. Craikko said,
Speaker 1: some people go into psychotherapy for years for PTSD and
Speaker 1: the nightmares don't go away. But if sleep apnea isn't
Speaker 1: the root cause of nightmares, other treatment options are of
Speaker 1: a ellable. One endorsed by the American Sleep Academy is
Speaker 1: image rehearsal therapy or i r T. Craiko explained how
Speaker 1: it works, quote, if you teach somebody how to picture
Speaker 1: a new version of your dream in your mind's eye
Speaker 1: while you're awake, and that has a very powerful impact
Speaker 1: over your dreams. By picturing new images, they seem to
Speaker 1: be activating and imaging system that sets into motion the
Speaker 1: process of decreasing disturbing dreams. He noted that it only
Speaker 1: takes a couple of weeks to see clear cut decreases
Speaker 1: in nightmares. A study he helped publish back in two
Speaker 1: thousand one showed dramatic results in the group that received
Speaker 1: the I r T treatment, of patients had their post
Speaker 1: traumatic stress symptoms decrease by at least one level of
Speaker 1: clinical severity. In the control group, meanwhile, of patients experienced
Speaker 1: their symptoms either not changing or worsening. Craiko notes that
Speaker 1: i r T is just as powerful as somebody useing
Speaker 1: a PTSD medication, and he notes that for many people
Speaker 1: it's not even necessary to visit a professional to engage
Speaker 1: in I r T, you can look into Imagery Rehearsal
Speaker 1: Therapy online. The lessons and workbooks are available for download
Speaker 1: for low or no cost. Today's episode is based on
Speaker 1: the article what causes Nightmares and how can You Lessen Them?
Speaker 1: On how stuff works dot Com written by A. Leah Hoyt.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership
Speaker 1: with how stuff Works dot Com, and it's produced by
Speaker 1: Tyler Clang. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit
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