Unpleasant dream. Bad dreams: why they happen and what to do

The meaning of bad dreams often lies on the surface, and the only thing that is required of you is to be attentive to their content. We can decipher many dreams simply by relying on our intuition, and this will be almost Freudian and often to the point. Our unconscious still speaks a language close to us. But there are bad dreams, the interpretation of which requires the help of a psychologist. We offer several simple explanations why you have nightmares, what they mean and how you can get rid of them.

Salvador Dali. A dream caused by a bee flying around a pomegranate, a second before waking up

Why do I have nightmares?

Pregnant women often suffer from nightmares: this is common unfounded fears for the condition of their unborn child. In order not to worry about trifles, visit on time antenatal clinic and undergo routine ultrasounds.

Bad dreams in children
How to get rid of bad dreams

The problem of getting rid of bad dreams is close to deciphering their meaning. While the question remains open, terrible dreams will repeat, reminding you of the need for action.

If your nightmares are caused by overwork, the solution is simple: rest, take B vitamins. If the cause of overwork is sedentary work, then active rest will be beneficial.

If you dream of hospitals, sick relatives, familiar doctors, your own troubles and pain - go through preventive examination at the doctor's. Most likely your body is asking for help. It will be useful to take a general blood test, a urine test, and an ECG.

Restless dreams related to the resolution of certain issues may remind you of the need to fulfill your obligations. Even if you remember them perfectly well, but you have increased anxiety, you will be tormented by insomnia and nightmares until you have dealt with everything.

Often, talking to a loved one before going to bed helps to get rid of nightmares. In this way, you kind of sum up the results of the day, voice everything that happened and plans for the coming days. Now your unconscious should sleep peacefully. A good option Such a ritual is journaling. Writing in a diary at the end of the day is also useful for high excitability. nervous system: This will help you organize your thoughts and actions.

If you have a regularly recurring nightmare, or a series of bad dreams connected by one plot, you should seek help from a psychologist. Psychoanalysis under the guidance of an experienced specialist will help you understand yourself and get rid of nightmares.

Natalya Trokhimets

Unpleasant dreams, and often nightmares, can unsettle even the most balanced person. Waking up in a cold sweat, you want to quickly forget about what you dreamed about, but the subconscious persistently reproduces fragments of the dream for several days. Should I worry about this? What to do if you had a very bad dream? We offer readers of the site “Popular about health” useful tips how to cope with shock.

What could a bad dream mean??

Some people are skeptical about dreams in general, while others perceive them as a serious warning. For the first time, the famous psychologist Freud began to pay attention to the meaning of dreams; he also compiled one of the most popular dream books today. The attitude towards the interpretation of nightmares should not be categorical and too trusting.

Firstly, dreams, indeed, can be harbingers of unpleasant situations. However, you shouldn’t expect trouble from the very moment you wake up. First of all, you need to be able to practice self-hypnosis and set yourself up for the positive. In addition, it has long been scientifically proven that if you actively inspire something into your consciousness, then this is exactly what will happen. Then why suggest something bad? Any images in the mind have the ability to materialize and acquire shapes and forms in reality. Did you have a dream in which there is little pleasant?! After a bad dream, it’s enough to say to yourself: “This will not come true in reality!”, “Everything bad happened only in a dream, but in reality it will be the other way around.”

Secondly, a dream is very often a reflection of reality and what is happening around. A person who has everyday life something unpleasant happened, he does not stop worrying even in a state of sleep. The brain cannot completely switch off and relax, which is why very unpleasant and scary pictures appear in the consciousness of the sleeper. To avoid this, you need to take sedatives, relaxing and stabilizing the nervous system.

Thirdly, dreams can be associated with the state of health of the sleeper. Perhaps a disease is just beginning to develop or already exists. For example, if someone is suffocating in a dream, this may not mean visits from a brownie (as many people think), but problems with respiratory system.

Long labyrinths and lack of exit often lead to panic fear on the awakened one. In this case, you need to look back at your reality. Perhaps some situation has dragged on for so long that it has caused nervous exhaustion.

Falling into an abyss may not be a harbinger of trouble, but a signal that life will present an unexpected surprise (therefore, the feeling of solid ground under your feet is lost).

Losing teeth in a dream causes the most terrible experiences for many, as it is associated with tragic consequences. Parapsychologists do not advise taking such visions seriously. You need to get out of bed, wash yourself with running water and, together with it, let go of what you saw in your dream.
Experts say that indeed prophetic dreams Only a few people see it. And the majority just convince themselves that they understand dreams well and are confident that all the warnings they dreamed will come true.

How to cope with depression after poor sleep?

Psychologists recommend using in simple ways to free the mind from negative thoughts and expecting something terrible. In the morning after a nightmare, you can write the essence of your dream on a piece of paper. You need to write everything down in detail, with details that you want to remember as accurately as possible. After this, burn the paper, throw away the ashes or wash off with water. This technique allows you to get rid of bad thoughts, and the subconscious is tuned to the fact that the dream has no meaning.

In the morning, getting out of bed, go straight to open window and greet the new day with a smile. Psychologists strongly recommend doing this in order to tune the subconscious to the good.

It is worth paying attention to when exactly nightmares occur. For example, on a full moon they most often appear in dreams, especially for weather-dependent and impressionable people. They represent only a projection of personal fears and experiences and mean nothing.

Why bad dreams are useful?

Indeed, psychologists say that the state experienced at night does not allow you to relax throughout the entire next day. And this helps many people avoid unpleasant situations due to maximum composure and concentration.

You can always analyze creepy footage from your own dream and try to get as much information as possible from the details. Perhaps there were some numbers or dates in the background of the general creepy footage. These are the ones you need to pay attention to, abstracting from fear.

Had a bad dream? Don't set yourself up for dramatic events! They shouldn't happen! This is just self-knowledge and a way to penetrate the secrets of the subconscious, which can sometimes produce unimaginably interesting information.

If nightmares are tormented regularly and very often, you can read a prayer before going to bed, for example, “Our Father.” A glass of warm milk, tea with mint and lemon balm wouldn't hurt either. Before going to bed, no bad thoughts - be sure to fall asleep in a good mood.

Dreams are not always pleasant. Sometimes nightmares occur every night and cause you to wake up in a state of extreme anxiety and fear. In fact, bad dreams indicate changes in our consciousness and are related to certain events.

Why do I have nightmares?

Both adults and children have terrible dreams. In most cases, this phenomenon is considered normal. In children, nightmares are a consequence of the restructuring of the body and the strong sensitivity of the psyche to the outside world. Women are more likely than men to have unpleasant dreams due to increased emotionality and sensitivity. It has been proven that nightmares are most common creative people with a rich imagination. This is due to their natural emotionality and developed imagination.

If you often have bad dreams, this indicates the influence of certain factors, including:

  1. Overwork. Emotional stress, too busy day, elevated physical activity– all this can affect the functioning of the body. If he does not get proper rest, he begins to work himself into overdrive. This causes a disorder at the mental level, and, as a result, nightmares occur.
  2. Poor nutrition. Eating heavy meals and overeating keep your brain active at night. Caffeine consumption has a particularly negative effect on the functioning of the nervous system. Harmful products excite brain cells and cause unpleasant dreams in our minds.
  3. Alcohol and drugs. People suffering from alcohol or drug addiction, often have nightmares due to the fact that harmful substances affects brain cells.
  4. Pregnancy. Changes hormonal levels cause excessive impressionability of a woman, because she worries about the upcoming birth and development of the child.
  5. Taking medications. Often, the use of antidepressants and barbiturates causes sleep problems, namely, it causes terrible visions. And, conversely, the effect of drug withdrawal is that you will constantly have bad dreams.
  6. Diseases. Many pathologies cause nightmares. These could be injuries, flu, kidney, liver and vascular diseases, neurosis, snoring and apnea.
  7. Discomfort during sleep. Stuffy room, hard bed, bright light and bad smell indoors can provoke bad visions.
  8. Negative emotions. Situations experienced during the day, quarrels, resentments and hatred - all this can be experienced again in your nightmare. Against the backdrop of unfavorable situations, the subconscious processes the information received and sends a similar dream. Emotional traumas from childhood can be a source of nightmares in adulthood.
  9. Phobias. Hidden and obvious fears haunt a person even in his sleep, especially if he is very fixated on his phobias.

Many people believe that dreams are a signal and a warning. Scientists have proven their connection with real events in the future, upcoming changes, and serious problems in life.

The meaning of dreams

Usually nightmares not caused external stimuli, carry useful information which talks about mental state a person, his fears, health, and also warns of danger. This can be seen in the most common dreams:

  • Fire. If you dream of a fire with sad consequences, this may be a sign that a person is careless in handling fire. In this case, you need to be careful and not let your guard down.
  • Fall. Almost everyone has experienced the feeling of a sudden and strange fall from a height. It could be a balcony, a roof, a tree or an airplane. Such dreams are explained by internal anxiety, instability in life, and severe overwork.
  • Flight. There is some truth in the fact that a child who flies in his sleep grows. Often, such dreams visit the subconscious at the moment of active growth of body cells, saturating them with oxygen.
  • Tooth loss. Dental decay symbolizes a person’s hidden problems, namely fears of other people and lack of self-confidence.
  • Chase. Pursuit in a dream usually leaves an unpleasant aftertaste in the morning, and sometimes the chase evokes a feeling of exciting adventure. Such dreams are associated with regret about lost time and opportunities. A person often runs from himself, from his character.
  • Dead. Dreams with dead people cause particular anxiety and fear. Even an adult is frightened by dreams in which he spoke with a deceased relative. Psychologists assure that such a nightmare does not carry any negative aspects, and only speaks of the thoughts of the sleeper, who is thinking about the deceased. Some even believe that in this way the dead protect the living.

How to get rid of nightmares

If eerie dreams do not occur to a person too often, you can use the following methods to eliminate night fears:

  1. Cleansing the subconscious. Before going to bed, you should try to clear your mind of negativity.
  2. Rest. You need to get more rest to avoid overwork. In some cases, active rest and taking vitamins will be required.
  3. Examination of the body. It would not be a bad idea to undergo a preventive examination with a doctor and pass general tests blood, urine. This is especially true when dreams are associated with a hospital, doctors, or sick relatives.
  4. Fulfillment of obligations. Often, to escape from nightmares, you just need to solve a certain issue and complete your plans. Then increased anxiety will stop bothering you at night.

As for children's nightmares, here you need to spend time with your child, discussing with him his dreams and the events of the day. It is important to create favorable conditions before bedtime and reinforce a sense of security. The meaning of nightmares can be easily deciphered by yourself. You need to be more attentive to their content and use your intuition.

Often, negative visions in a dream are only a consequence of the emotions experienced during the day. Despite this, you need to know what to do if you have bad dreams every day. After all, they can be a sign of a serious illness.

Frequent awakenings in a panic state require a visit to a specialist. Sometimes you may need to consult a psychologist or sleep specialist. Don't be shy to ask for help, otherwise nightmares can lead to mental disorders.

To get rid of terrible visions, you should take into account some tips:

  • It is necessary to normalize the day and night routine.
  • Before going to bed, you need to create the most comfortable conditions for rest.
  • It is necessary to get rid of bad habits.
  • You should not overeat before bed and it is better not to take sleeping pills.
  • Stressful situations should be avoided.
  • You can keep a diary in which you should record the emotions and dreams you experience.
  • You can't watch horror movies before bed. It is better to limit viewing of films of this genre during the day.
  • You can practice meditation and relaxation before bed.
  • It is recommended to take relaxing baths in the evening.

Living in harmony with the world around you, believing in yourself and your strengths, you can easily cope with bad dreams. Indeed, in most cases, their cause lies in ourselves.

Many people are tormented from time to time by questions: “What to do if you have a negative dream? How can we prevent it from coming to fruition in real life?” Knowledgeable people They assure that nothing irreparable or fatal can happen in dreams, so any bad dream can be “cancelled” if desired.

Bad sleep means your worries and restless thoughts

It is necessary to understand that prophetic and bad dreams are two different things. Dreams are most often a reflection of events that happened not so long ago, or are associated with obsessive, restless thoughts. Anxieties are deposited in our subconscious and manifest themselves in the form of nightmares. But it’s quite difficult to figure out what kind of dream the person had this time. Therefore, it is better to immediately take measures so that the negative dream does not come true.

Firstly, do not panic when you see a bad dream. However, nightmares can really frighten a person, especially if there are creatures from other worlds in the dream. People often dream that they are trying with all their might to escape from danger, but they don’t seem to move. There is a strong heaviness in the legs, and the voice seems to disappear completely. Those dreams are also frightening in which a person is attacked by wild or, or the dreamer does not have enough air and fear comes in a new wave.

Horror in a dream

Having experienced horror in a dream, people begin to worry about events in their real life, for the consequences of such a vision. To regain peace of mind and protect yourself from bad sleep, you need to say early in the morning, before even getting out of bed: “Where night goes, sleep goes”. You need to say these words three times. Afterwards, you need to say the same expressions through the open window, and then go to the bathroom and wash your face three times with cool tap water. Next, bring your hands under the running water and repeat the same words three times. You should not tell anyone the details of your nightmare and the dream will not come true.

Controlling and preventing bad dreams

You can also learn the ability to control your own night visions. This great way, in order to independently cope with the situation in a dream and turn luck in your favor. Having awakened from the fear you have experienced, you need to roll over to the other side, read the “Our Father,” close your eyes and try to resume sleep, imagining how you defeat your opponent.

Bad dreams can not only be spoken, but also prevented. To do this, you should create around your sleeping place a special protective aura in the form of a magic circle. A small one-way round mirror will help in the ritual. You need to stand near the head of the bed and read the spell, turning around yourself three times clockwise and holding the mirror so that the walls of the room are reflected in it. The words of the conspiracy sound like this:
“Fear is not fear, I’m not afraid of shaggy sleep.
There is a wall around my bed from heaven to earth, and from earth to sky.
I’ll lie down, lock myself up, I’m not afraid of anyone.”
After such a ceremony disturbing dreams should not visit a person.

Rituals after bad dreams

If it is better for people who believe in God to read a prayer in order to protect themselves from the dream becoming reality, then atheists can resort to help ordinary water from the tap. The most simple method is to rinse your hands and face in running water. As soon as you wake up from the fear you experienced in a dream, go to the bathroom and do these simple manipulations. Do not try to wipe the drops of water with a towel - let all the bad things drain and dry along with them.

Fire is also a good helper in the fight against bad dreams. Describe nightmare in great detail on a piece of paper and then burn it.


Fire for ritual

Everything bad will leave your thoughts along with the ashes.
This technique helps calm the excessive beating of the heart, relieves fear and balances. You can also turn your pillowcase inside out to prevent bad dreams from returning.
Consequences negative dream will not manifest themselves in real life if, in the morning, without getting out of bed and without looking out the windows, you proclaim:
“Let the good rise again, and let the bad crack in half.”

There is an opinion among experienced people that if a bad vision is not described to anyone, then it will not come true and will lose its evil powers. It is especially important not to talk to people about your dreams until lunchtime. You can only turn to those who are good at interpreting dreams for help.

A cup or glass of holy water will help protect a person from obsessive nightmares, but if this is not available, then clean tap water will do. It should be left near the bed of a sleeping person so that the water absorbs negative energy and negative experiences. Under no circumstances should you wash your face with this water or use it for drinking. It must be poured out in the morning and replaced with fresh one in the evening.


Dream adjustment

Correcting dreams of bad dreams

Sometimes you can correct your dreams. You should start training any night. For example, if you dreamed of a black cat, try to imagine that you are holding a can of white paint and a brush. Imagine that you are repainting a furry animal in white. The problems should pass.
If in a dream you seem to have fallen from a great height into an abyss, then imagine that two large wings have opened behind your back. With this development of events, in real life you will have the opportunity to circumvent any troubles and find an original solution to the problem. In scary dreams, try to destroy everything unpleasant moments and images - tear to shreds, burn, bury or explode, change everything negative to positive.

There is one more important point: after a nightmare, you should not expect similar events to occur in real life. Thoughts are material and negativity is very easily attracted to a person. If the dreamer has a dream with the same content over and over again, it is necessary to remember and write down all the details of the dream. Thus, all experiences will be transferred to paper. These manipulations will help create protection from possible troubles.

Each of us has probably had at least a few bad dreams. unpleasant times in your life. Sometimes we don't pay attention to them, sometimes they upset us.

From time to time they make us seriously worry and get nervous, especially if we dream about something concerning our loved ones. Let's try to figure out together why we have bad dreams.

Reasons

As a rule, disturbing, unpleasant, bad dreams occur at night for several reasons.

1. This could be general fatigue or severe fatigue. In this case, the overloaded brain simply tries to get rid of the accumulated negativity and expresses it through nightmares.

If this is your case, then don’t bother special attention on the content of dreams. It’s better to think about how to rest and what to do to get your body out of dangerous condition stress.

2. Also bad dreams often dreamed of by nervous and anxious people. When you are very worried about everything that happens in your daily life ordinary life and take any troubles to heart, then it is quite possible that you will soon be waiting for the night with anxiety. This is a serious problem that certainly requires a solution.

3. Sometimes disturbing dreams are symptoms of nervous disorders. When bad dreams occur constantly, without any apparent reason, it is better to think about contacting a doctor or psychologist.

Diagnosis, when carried out in a timely manner, will help not only get rid of the nightmares that haunt you at night, but also select therapy.

4. A bad dream may well occur by accident, or under the influence of a horror movie you watched. In this case, the nightmare occurs only once and does not bring much alarm.

5. Bad dreams of a random nature are also possible. You shouldn't pay attention to them at all. And even if it seems to you that the nightmare has come true, don’t be too upset.

So, the main causes of nightmares:

  • Extreme fatigue.
  • General anxiety.
  • Prolonged stress.
  • Nervous disorders.
  • Impressions experienced during the day.
  • Accident.

What to do if you have a nightmare

But still, what to do if you had a bad dream? First of all, you need to calm down and try to convince yourself that absolutely nothing bad happened.

This can be quite difficult to do if you dreamed of something bad concerning your dear, close people or, especially, your child. Prayer often helps calm your nerves and stop worrying.

If you had a scary dream and woke up immediately after it, try to calm down. To do this, you can drink warm milk or sweet tea. If you are susceptible anxiety states, or in case the nightmare is too scary, you can take a sedative.

If you have a bad dream, many people begin to worry that it will come true. Some dreams actually come true, but then the nightmare is an impression of events occurring in reality.

Bad dreams in children

Every child at one time or another experiences nightmares for the very first time. scary dreams. This alarming phenomenon does not always indicate any problems. There is no need to worry too much about this.

Bad dreams in a child around three years of age may even be beneficial. They help the baby cope with the abundance of emotions and impressions received during the day. If you had a bad dream, that's normal. It is unlikely that you will ever be able to say that it has come true.

But it happens that bad dreams in a child can serve as an indicator serious problems. Such dreams may be a reflection of conflicts within the family or with peers, general anxiety and impressionability. Parents should pay attention to this.

If your child has nightmares every night for a long time, you should contact a child psychologist for competent advice.

You can calm a child frightened by a bad dream in a variety of simple ways. It could be funny song, and a favorite fairy tale, and a prayer. If you are teaching your baby to pray, then prayer will help best.

Periodic nightmares small child may stop if before bedtime you make sure that nothing in the room scares the baby, that he is not in nervous state. It helps to leave a dim light in the room at night, such as a night light.

Most often, a child does not remember bad dreams. Therefore, when bedtime comes, there is no need to remind your child about the possibility of having a bad dream. Otherwise, the baby may begin to worry, and then he will most likely see him. There are practically no cases for a child’s bad nightmare to come true.

Pregnancy and bad dreams

Many expectant mothers have bad dreams during pregnancy. This happens especially often if pregnancy is not going well. In this case, bad dreams are most likely caused by the woman’s experiences. She worries about the child all day, and cannot stop worrying in her sleep.

Pregnant women should avoid stress and hassle in every possible way. If expectant mother constantly afraid that the nightmare will come true, this can serve as a new cause of bad dreams.

Sometimes bad dreams occur during pregnancy without any real reason at all. It’s just that anxiety finds just such a way out. But it's better not to ignore them. Try to convince your subconscious that this is just a nightmare and nothing more.

It’s a dream, so be it. You never know what someone dreams about. Apply various techniques to calm your nerves before bed. Night is coming, let's get started. This can be meditation or prayer, whichever is closer to you. Prayer greatly helps a believer. It gives a feeling of security.

During pregnancy, taking sedatives is not recommended. Many of them are prohibited for pregnant women. Therefore, try not to pay attention to bad dreams. In general, there are not so many cases of a nightmare coming true. So choose: meditation or prayer.

And more positive emotions. Watch good films, read positive books. Walk more, spend time on fresh air, it's better to walk every day.

In order to unpleasant dream did not come true, you need to understand how a terrible dream differs from a prophetic dream. An ordinary nightmare is poorly remembered, and generally devoid of logic. But prophetic dream usually well remembered and presented in the form of a complete plot. According to legend, in order to prevent a nightmare from coming true, you need to tell someone about it during the day.

During pregnancy, having seen a nightmare, you can wake up without getting out of bed and say: “What I saw in a dream, I will not see in reality.” Remember that pregnant women are impressionable, and daily prayer and the company of loved ones can help you at such a time.

The approaching night should not frighten you. Set yourself up for pleasant thoughts about your future child. Dream what you will teach him when he grows up, what he will become. Believe that everything will definitely be fine. Author: Olga Ivanova