Why do we get nightmares?

Have you ever wondered why we get nightmares? How about what they actually mean? Or if there’s anything you can do to stop them? In this article, we’ll be exploring the reasons behind nightmares and what they might mean. We’ll also get an answer for why we sometimes wake up from a dream with a cold sweat. 

So, why do we have nightmares? 

According to Psych Central, the most common reason for nightmares is that our brains are processing information that we don’t consciously realize we’ve taken in during the day. Nightmares can be caused by:

-A recent traumatic event

-A current situation that causes you anxiety or fear (like a big test, job interview, etc.)

-Something you’ve seen or heard (like a scary movie)

When we sleep, our brain processes information it hasn’t yet processed. This can include things we saw and heard during the day as well as previous days. Because of this, nightmares are often caused by something traumatic or stressful in your life. While they may be hard to remember after waking up, the content of your nightmares is actually very telling. 

If you have a lot of bad dreams and can’t remember them afterwards, this may be because your brain wants to protect you from what it’s seeing or hearing during sleep. So while you don’t consciously remember your nightmares, they are still recorded by your brain. This is why it’s important to keep a dream journal so that you can look back at them later on.

As for why we wake up with a cold sweat, it’s because our bodies react to danger in the same way every time we have a nightmare. When this happens, your heart pumps faster and harder so that blood can get through to vital organs quickly if necessary. This causes sweating, because our body is trying to cool itself down after having its temperature raised by adrenaline (the chemical released when we’re afraid).

So why do our hearts pump fast when we’re dreaming? According to Psych Central, “When we dream, our brains activate the same areas that would be activated if we were actually experiencing the event. So when we are dreaming about something scary, our hearts race because our brain thinks we are in danger.” This is why so many people wake up from a dream with their heart pounding and their blankets soaked in sweat.

Nightmares are also (or could be) known as disorders. According to the Mayo Clinic, “You’re more likely to have a nightmare in the second half of your night. Nightmares may occur rarely or more frequently, even several times a night. Episodes are generally brief, but they cause you to awaken, and returning to sleep can be difficult.” Most of the time this is the reason why people wake up late or look tired when they wake up. 

I asked eighth grade student Matthew Fernandez what he thinks about nightmares. He said, “They’re very scary and I used to wet the bed because of that. The monster was like six feet tall and he looked like LeBron James. It made me sleep with my parents for about two weeks because I was scared of the monster. I thought it was going to come out of my closet.”