nightmares bergen county

Parasomnia: Nightmares in Adults

GalleryJudy Gurfein Leave a comment

Parasomnia: Nightmares in Adults

By Lynette Rivas

Nightmares are supposed to diminish as you grow up, right? While this is true for most of the population, it is not the case for some individuals. Research shows that between 2% and 8% of the adult population experiences frequent and distressing nightmares, otherwise known as parasomnia.

Nightmares are realistic and vividly disturbing dreams that awaken you from sleep. They most often occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is when most dreaming takes place, and occur closer to morning hours. Nightmares may include:

  • Vivid and upsetting dreams
  • Dreams involving threats to safety
  • Being awoken from the dream
  • Feeling anxious, scared, or sad as a result from the dream
  • Not being able to fall back to sleep due to the dream

For adults, nightmares are often spontaneous, but for some, there may be an underlying issue that can be used to explain these dreams. Nightmares can be triggered by stress, trauma, sleep deprivation, substance abuse, medications, or by simply watching a scary movie. Although nightmares occur occasionally compared to normal dreams, they are considered a disorder if they:

  • Occur frequently
  • Cause major distress throughout the day, such as anxiety or fear
  • Cause problems with concentration or memory
  • Cause daytime sleepiness

If these symptoms are occurring, then it is time to consult a doctor about possible treatments. The doctor will determine if the solution is through treatments and medication, or will give a referral to a psychologist or psychotherapist. Debilitating and frequent nightmares, or parasomnia, is a serious condition that can alter an individual’s life, so it is important to seek help if they occur.

If you or someone you know is experiencing debilitating/frequent nightmares please contact our psychotherapy offices in New York or New Jersey to talk to one of our licensed professional psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, or psychotherapists at Arista Counseling & Psychotherapy. Contact our Paramus, NJ or Manhattan, NY offices respectively at (201) 368-3700 or (212) 722-1920 to set up an appointment. For more information, please visit https://www.counselingpsychotherapynjny.com/

Sources:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nightmare-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20353515

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/nightmares-in-adults#:~:text=Nightmares%20in%20adults%20can%20be,to%20have%20the%20condition%20themselves.

https://iconscout.com/illustration/nocturnal-panic-attack-5222908

Why Do We Dream?

GalleryJudy Gurfein Leave a comment

By: Stephanie Osuba

Dreams are one of the phenomena of the human experience in that we are still not sure why they happen. One proposed explanation is that is how the brain is able to process all the emotions, information, and memories that happened throughout the day; day-residue. In fact, there are numerous researches that indicate that most of our dream content is heavily influenced by our conscious state. Most of the characters in dreams are recognizable by name and autobiographical memories such as dreaming of pregnancy and birth while pregnant are just a few examples. However, this doesn’t always immediately happen. Sometimes there is a dream lag where something that happened a week prior comes up in a dream. This could be an important aspect of memory consolidation.

Dreams also allow us to confront things that are beyond our capability when awake. Cases in which people that are born paralyzed dream of running and swimming, deaf people reporting hearing, and other phenomena further prove that dreams can be a sort of virtual reality that promotes survival and growth. Dreaming can also be an outlet in which people who have experienced trauma and grief can come to terms with and process their emotions. These experiences are often replayed in dreams and manifest in a number of different ways (e.g. nightmares with PTSD and receiving messages from a dead family member with the bereaved).

Some common dream subjects include:

  • School (studying or test taking)
  • Flying
  • Falling
  • Being chased
  • Sexual fantasies
  • Being late
  • Dreaming of someone dead being alive and vice versa
  • Being physically attacked

Source: Breus, M. J., Ph.D. (n.d.). Why We Dream What We Dream. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sleep-newzzz/201501/why-we-dream-what-we-dream 

If you or someone you know needs help regarding sleep and dreams, please contact our psychotherapy offices in New York or New Jersey to talk to one of our licensed professional psychologists, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, or psychotherapists at Arista Counseling & Psychotherapy. Contact our Paramus, NJ or Manhattan, NY offices respectively, at (201) 368-3700 or (212) 722-1920 to set up an appointment. For more information, please visit http://www.counselingpsychotherapynjny.com/.