what does it mean if you have nightmares constantly?
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For example, anxiety and depression can cause adult nightmares. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also commonly causes people to experience chronic, recurrent nightmares. Nightmares in adults can be caused by certain sleep disorders. These include sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome.
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Nightmares are one of the 17 symptoms of PTSD. For example, a study comparing Vietnam Veterans to civilians showed that 52% of combat Veterans with PTSD had nightmares fairly often. Only 3% of the civilians in the study reported that same level of nightmares. Other research has found even higher rates of nightmares.
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Sometimes nightmares are part of a child's reaction to trauma — such as a natural disaster, accident, or injury. For some kids, especially those with a good imagination, reading scary books or watching scary movies or TV shows just before bedtime can inspire nightmares.
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Most teens have nightmares on occasion. But frequent nightmares can disrupt sleep patterns by waking someone during the night. The most common triggers for more frequent nightmares are emotional, such as stress or anxiety. Other things that can trigger them include certain medicines, and consuming drugs or alcohol.
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But nightmares come in all shapes and sizes, Nielsen says. In some instances, a bad dream's setting or events may be innocent, but the emotions the dreamer feels are ones of terror, disgust or distress, he explains. For that reason, when nightmares are frequent and distressing, they can cause real health trouble.
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Normally, vivid dreams are nothing to worry about. Sometimes they may only affect you during a certain part of your life. But negative vivid dreams, especially if they last for weeks or months, can be emotionally disturbing and disruptive to your sleep.
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Traumatic experience. Finally, your violent dreams might be rooted in trauma. In other words, your dreams can contain contents that reflect your violent past: “Violence can occur in someone's dreams because they have been exposed to violence in their childhood: watching dad hit mom in a drunken rage, etc.
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In your case, your issue is most likely caused by exactly what you think — stress. Other issues that can cause more vivid dreams are sleep deprivation, use of alcohol or illicit drugs and certain medications.
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“A snake within a nightmare is a very good indication that your subconscious feels there is a toxic person in your life that is an immediate threat, meaning their toxic behavior has reached a point where your subconscious has had it and needs to slap you into attention,” Loewenberg says.
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Stress. Stress and traumatic events can lead to vivid dreams. Researchers believe that this is due to the role that dreaming plays in memory and processing emotions. People who experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have bad vivid dreams than people who do not.
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Disturbing dreams often tell us that there are unresolved issues; your subconscious is like a pit bull who won't let any difficult memory or feeling go until it's resolved. I wouldn't be too concerned if the dream you is acting in a way that you would never do in real life.
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There can be a number of psychological triggers that cause nightmares in adults. For example, anxiety and depression can cause adult nightmares. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also commonly causes people to experience chronic, recurrent nightmares. Nightmares in adults can be caused by certain sleep disorders.
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Vivid and frequent stress dreams are usually red flags for real life stress and the role it's playing on your body. If you're constantly waking up panicking in a cold sweat over a dream, it's time to get your thoughts and stress in order.
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— Eris Morn. Nightmares are apparitions created by the Pyramids using the power of the Darkness, manifesting as past figures and enemies to exploit the worst fears of Guardians and other beings.
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To dream that you are scared indicates that you are experiencing feelings of self-doubt, incompetence, and lack of control in your waking life. ... Anger often masquerades as fear, so also consider issues about which you are angry about in your waking life.
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Since a dream is made by your subconscious mind, it could indicate your thoughts, feelings or desires. In many cases, a dream shows that you are focusing on something for one reason or another. If you keep dreaming about the same person every night, it may be because you are concerned about them or worried.
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Nightmares. A nightmare is a disturbing dream. Nightmares can cause physical symptoms in the body and may cause a person to wake up with a racing heart. They might also experience sweating and shaking.