A
nightmare is an unpleasant
dreamDreams are a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is known as...
. Nightmares cause a strong unpleasant emotional response from the sleeper, typically
fearFear is an emotional response to a threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that fear is one of a small set of basic or...
or
horrorHorror may refer to:* the emotional states of horror and terror*Horror , by Cannae*Horror comics in the United States, 1947–1954*Horror *Horror and terror, two techniques in Gothic literature and film...
. The dream may contain a situation of extreme danger, or sensations of pain, bad events, falling, drowning, being raped, becoming disabled, losing loved ones, encountering unpleasant creatures or beings, being murdered, caught, attacked, being chased, eaten, squashed, stuck or burned, becoming diseased, frozen, trapped, decrepit, or otherwise facing death. Such dreams can be related to
physicalPhysical can mean any of the following things below:* Any entities which are composed of matter and/or energy, as well as the physical properties of those entities; and not merely items of thought or belief....
causes such as a high fever or being face-down on a pillow during sleep, or psychological ones such as
psychological traumaPsychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event. When that trauma leads to posttraumatic stress disorder, damage may involve physical changes inside the brain and to brain chemistry, which damage the person's ability to adequately cope with...
or
stressStress is a biological term for the consequences of the failure of a human or animal to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats to the organism, whether actual or imagined....
in the sleeper's life, or can have no apparent cause. If a person has experienced a psychologically traumatic situation in life—for example, a person who may have been captured and tortured—the experience may come back to haunt them in their nightmares. Sleepers may waken in a state of distress and be unable to get back to sleep for some time. Eating before bed, which triggers an increase in the body's metabolism and brain activity, is another potential stimulus for nightmares.
Occasional nightmares are commonplace, but recurrent nightmares can interfere with
sleepSleep is a naturally recurring state of relatively suspended sensory and motor activity, characterized by total or partial unconsciousness and the inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and it is more easily...
and may cause people to seek medical help. A recently proposed treatment consists of
imagery rehearsal. This approach appears to reduce the effects of nightmares and other symptoms in acute stress disorder and
post-traumatic stress disorderPosttraumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to one or more traumatic events that threatened or caused great physical harm....
.
Historic use of term
Nightmare was the original term for the state later known as
waking dream (cf.
Mary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
and Frankenstein's Genesis), and more currently as
sleep paralysisSleep paralysis is a condition that may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occur during REM sleep. When considered to be a disease, isolated sleep...
, associated with rapid eye movement (
REMRapid eye movement sleep is a normal stage of sleep characterised by the rapid movement of the eyes. REM sleep is classified into two categories: tonic and phasic...
) sleep. The original definition was codified by Dr Johnson in his
A Dictionary of the English LanguagePublished on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language....
. Such nightmares were widely considered to be the work of
demonIn religion, folklore, and mythology a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as a malevolent spirit. In Christian terms demons are generally understood as fallen angels, formerly of God. A demon is frequently depicted as a force that may be conjured and insecurely controlled...
s and more specifically
incubiAn incubus is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them, according to a number of mythological and legendary traditions. Its female counterpart is the succubus. An incubus may pursue sexual relations with a woman in order...
, which were thought to sit on the chests of sleepers. In
Old EnglishOld English , also called Anglo-Saxon, is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary...
the name for these beings was
mare or
mære (from a
proto-GermanicProto-Germanic , or Common Germanic, as it is sometimes known, is the unattested, reconstructed common ancestor of all the Germanic languages such as modern English, Dutch, Afrikaans, German, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, and Swedish...
*marōn, cf. Old Norse
maraA mare or nightmare is a spirit or goblin in Germanic folklore which rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on bad dreams . The mare is attested as early as in the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century, but the belief itself is likely to be considerably older...
), hence comes the
mare part in
nightmare. The word might be etymologically cognate to Hellenic /Marōn/ (in the
OdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon. Indeed it is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of...
) and
SanskritSanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India. It is also declared as a classical language by the government of India....
/
MāraIn Buddhism, Māra is the demon who tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be his daughters. In Buddhist cosmology, Mara personifies unskillfulness, the "death" of the spiritual life...
/ .
Folk belief in Newfoundland, South Carolina and Georgia describe the negative figure of the
HagA hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as Hansel and Gretel. Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as the Morrígan or...
who leaves her physical body at night, and sits on the chest of her victim. The victim usually wakes with a feeling of terror, has difficulty breathing because of a perceived heavy invisible weight on his or her chest, and is unable to move i.e., experiences
sleep paralysisSleep paralysis is a condition that may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occur during REM sleep. When considered to be a disease, isolated sleep...
. This nightmare experience is described as being "hag-ridden" in the
GullahThe Gullah are African Americans who live in the Low Country region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands...
lore. The "Old Hag" was a nightmare spirit in British and also Anglophone North American folklore.
Various forms of
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
and
spiritual possessionSpirit possession is paranormal, supernatural, psychological and/or superstitious spirits, gods, demons/daemons , animas, ET's or other disincarnate or extraterrestrial entities taking control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in health and behavior...
were also advanced as causes. In nineteenth century
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, the vagaries of diet were thought to be responsible. For example, in
Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens FRSA , pen-name "Boz", was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era and one of the most popular of all time. He created some of literature's most memorable characters. His novels and short stories have never gone out of print...
's
A Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens about a curmudgeon and his secular conversion and redemption after being visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve...
,
Ebenezer ScroogeEbenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight fisted, greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which engender happiness...
attributes the
ghostA ghost has been defined as the disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person, although in popular usage the term refers only to the apparition of such a person...
he sees to "... an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato..." In a similar vein, the
Household CyclopediaThe Household Cyclopedia was an American 1881 guide to housekeeping....
(1881) offers the following advice about nightmares:
- "Great attention is to be paid to regularity and choice of diet. Intemperance of every kind is hurtful, but nothing is more productive of this disease than drinking bad wine. Of eatables those which are most prejudicial are all fat and greasy meats and pastry... Moderate exercise contributes in a superior degree to promote the digestion of food and prevent flatulence; those, however, who are necessarily confined to a sedentary occupation, should particularly avoid applying themselves to study or bodily labor immediately after eating... Going to bed before the usual hour is a frequent cause of night-mare, as it either occasions the patient to sleep too long or to lie long awake in the night. Passing a whole night or part of a night without rest likewise gives birth to the disease, as it occasions the patient, on the succeeding night, to sleep too soundly. Indulging in sleep too late in the morning, is an almost certain method to bring on the paroxysm, and the more frequently it returns, the greater strength it acquires; the propensity to sleep at this time is almost irresistible."
Medical investigation
Studies of dreams have found that about three quarters of dream content or emotions are negative.
One definition of "nightmare" is a dream which causes one to wake up in the middle of the sleep cycle and experience a negative emotion, such as fear. This type of event occurs on average once per month. They are not common in children under 5, more common in young children (25% experiencing a nightmare at least once per week), most common in adolescents, and less common in adults (dropping in frequency about one-third from age 25 to 55).
Fearfulness in waking life is correlated with the incidence of nightmares.
See also
- Sleep disorder
A sleep disorder is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning...
- False awakening
A false awakening is an event in which someone dreams they have awoken from sleep. This illusion of having awakened is very convincing to the person. After a false awakening, people will often dream of performing daily morning rituals, believing they have truly awakened...
- Night terror
A night terror, also known as a sleep terror or pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from slow-wave sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming...
- Sleep paralysis
Sleep paralysis is a condition that may occur in normal subjects or be associated with narcolepsy, cataplexy, and hypnagogic hallucinations. The pathophysiology of this condition is closely related to the normal hypotonia that occur during REM sleep. When considered to be a disease, isolated sleep...
- Mara (folklore)
A mare or nightmare is a spirit or goblin in Germanic folklore which rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on bad dreams . The mare is attested as early as in the Norse Ynglinga saga from the 13th century, but the belief itself is likely to be considerably older...
- Hag
A hag is a wizened old woman, or a kind of fairy or goddess having the appearance of such a woman, often found in folklore and children's tales such as Hansel and Gretel. Hags are often seen as malevolent, but may also be one of the chosen forms of shapeshifting deities, such as the Morrígan or...
- Nocnitsa
The Nocnitsa, or "Night Hag", in Polish mythology, is a nightmare spirit that also goes by the name Krisky or Plaksy. The Nocnitsa is also present in Russian, Serbian and Slovakian folklore. She is known to torment children at night, and mothers in some regions will place a knife in their...
- The Nightmare
The Nightmare is a 1781 oil painting by Anglo-Swiss artist Henry Fuseli . Since its creation, it has remained Fuseli's best-known work. With its first exhibition in 1782 at the Royal Academy of London, the image became famous; an engraved version was widely distributed and the painting was parodied...
- Lucid dream
- Glossary of Traumatology
External links