You run as fast as your legs will take you. Something chases behind you. You’re too scared to look back. You know it’s close.. You find a place to hide, quickly jumping in. The cover of the hiding spot is stuck.. You cover your mouth to silence your heavy breathing.. You’re finally safe from the Creature, or so you thought.. Its bright glowing eyes spot you, it rushes towards you before you can react. Finally, you wake up in a cold sweat, your heart beat practically jumping out of your chest, it was all a nightmare. 

In the article “Nightmares and the Brain” it states “ Nightmares can arise for a number of reasons—stress, anxiety, irregular sleep, medications, mental health disorders […] post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” 

Nightmares often happen during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, when the brain is highly active.  About 60 to 90 minutes after you fall asleep, the brain often misfires or experiences a disruption in its normal processing which can also cause nightmares.

Nightmares can be categorized as idiopathic, recurrent, or post-traumatic. Idiopathic nightmares are nightmares 

not caused by PTSD and often stem from anxiety or depression. Recurrent are dreams that repeat over a long period. And lastly, post-traumatic dreams are nightmares directly linked to a traumatic event and can occur across all sleep stages, sometimes mirroring the trauma with high realism. 

Senior Danilea LaRose states, “When I wake up from a nightmare I feel like it was happening in real life. Like my body has been shaken and my blood becomes like a smoothie. My head throbs and I feel like the world is spinning. I feel my heart pound through all of my veins and I’m shaking like a wet dog.” 

In the article “Nightmares” it writes about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) nightmares, stating, “ […] they more commonly do when the individual is experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, of which “re-experiencing,” or flashbacks, is a common symptom. These involuntary recollections are often experienced as nightmares and they can be highly distressing.” 

Jim Raines, a veteran with many deployments, added to that statement. “I have very vivid dreams of when I was in battle. I saw horrible things happen to good people during some of the deployments I was on. Sometimes when I think about back then it’s almost as if I am still there, not in major ways but the small things like the smells, sounds, and feeling. I have these dreams of when I was out there with my people. In these dreams the most prominent thing I can remember are those basic senses and it hits me in such strong ways that when I wake up I feel a panic.”

 Nightmare disorder is often described as having recurring nightmares that ruin your sleep. There are 4 main treatments, Medical treatment, Stress or anxiety treatment, Imagery rehearsal therapy, and Medication. You can also try to establish a regular, relaxing routine before bedtime. 

A lot of people will wake up in a cold sweat from their nightmares, but some people always find a positive way to see it, or fix it. Some wake up from their nightmares and re-write the ending to something more positive.