Dreams are wild. One minute you’re strolling through a field of tulips; then suddenly you’re back in middle school and worried about being late for class. What distinguishes a good dream from a bad dream can be subjective, but nightmares are a category all their own. These are vivid, disturbing dreams marked by feelings of intense fear that can impact your ability to get a good night’s sleep. In recurrent cases, they can lead to emotional regulation issues as well as mental health issues. 

What causes nightmares and other dreams? Currently, sleep experts and neuroscientists can’t explain why we dream, but many researchers believe that they’re the brain’s way of processing emotions and memories. Just like regular dreams, it’s natural to have nightmares from time to time. And it’s true that they can come from watching scary movies, but that’s not the only reason. 

Lightfully is a clinical treatment provider that specializes in evidence-based, compassionate mental health care. In this article, we’ll discuss what causes nightmares, so you can take more informed steps toward better rest.

1. Health disorders

Some people suffer from a nightmare disorder, which is classified as an REM sleep parasomnia. It’s characterized by repeated, well-remembered dreams, which cause distress and affect your daytime functioning. However, nightmares are also common for people with certain mental health conditions, such as:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder
• Schizophrenia

2. Stress

Are you worried about your office workload or a fight you had with your partner recently? These stresses of everyday life can follow you into dreamland. The content of these dreams is usually based on what’s worrying you right now, but they may cover other themes with similarly distressing feelings. Depending on your daily anxiety levels, what’s going on in your life and your ability to manage your mental health, these stress dreams can creep into nightmare territory.

3. Trauma

Nightmares are a common symptom of a traumatic event, especially for individuals diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Trauma is a deeply distressing experience that causes physical, emotional or psychological harm. The memories of this experience can affect your well-being, appearing in the form of flashbacks while you’re awake and nightmares while you sleep.

4. Sleep deprivation and insomnia

Your mental health and sleep cycle have a bidirectional relationship — each one affects the other. However, this relationship can also impact your dreams. Although it would seem like a lack of sleep would leave you feeling too tired to enter dreamland, this isn’t always the case. 

Most often, you dream during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is the last stage of your sleep cycle (the one where your eyes dart back and forth behind your lids). This stage plays a role in helping your brain consolidate and process the information it’s gathered throughout the day.

Some people with sleep disorders like insomnia don’t spend enough time in this phase. So when they can get enough rest, they may experience what’s called REM rebound. This is when the body compensates for sleep loss by increasing the time you spend in this phase. During REM rebound, you’re likely to experience more vivid dreams and nightmares because you’re spending more time in that particular state.

5. Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone that your body naturally produces to regulate your sleep-wake cycle. Many people take supplemental melatonin to help them sleep better at night and can do so without issues. However, some people find that it causes more vivid dreams and nightmares. If this describes your experience with melatonin, talk to your provider. They may be able to offer other sleep aids and solutions to help you rest more peacefully.

6. Prescription and nonprescription medications

Nightmares are a side effect of several common medications. Not everyone who takes them will start to have bad dreams, but it’s important to be aware of this potential complication if you have sleep issues. For instance, here are some types of medications that may trigger nightmares:

• Antidepressants
• Antipsychotics
• Beta-blockers
• Medicine for Parkinson’s disease
• Nicotine replacements
• Semaglutide injections

Nightmares can also be a short-term side effect of withdrawing from some medications. Before taking a new product, talk to your provider about how it might affect you during the night, especially if you’re worried about it impacting your dreams.

Seek help for distressing sleep issues

If you’re experiencing recurrent nightmares that disrupt your sleep and affect your well-being, reach out to the professionals at Lightfully. We offer empathetic, data-driven mental health care that treats the whole person. We can help you figure out what’s behind your sleep issues, whether it’s a mental health condition, medication or unprocessed trauma, and help you find your way back to a more peaceful rest.

Start your journey toward personalized mental health care today. Connect with our Admissions Concierge Team and discover a treatment plan built just for you.