Skip to Content

6 Creepy Things You Never Knew About Your Nightmares

by Katie Kretschmer
Creepy nightmare factspinterest
Lightspring/Shutterstock

You wake in the night, rattled, heart pounding, with a vivid memory of a scary dream. Everyone has nightmares once in a while (if you have them frequently, it could be a sleep disorder), but adults tend to have them less than children.

What causes them? Was it that late snack of Nona's special meatballs? Maybe. Eating something spicy or rich before bed can induce nightmares in some people. So can watching a scary movie before turning out the lights. We don't really know; there's a great deal researchers just don't understand about nightmares. Theories abound about what function they serve, but there's no consensus. And it's hard to study them because they're so subjective, so personal and so fleeting. But for all we don't understand, there are some things we do know that might surprise you. (Looking to take back control of your health? Prevention has smart answers—get 2 FREE gifts when you subscribe today.)

They aren't literal.

Creepy trees
Nomad Soul/Shutterstock

Researchers agree that most nightmares are caused by anxiety—but they are rarely a literal interpretation of what's bothering us. A small study by researchers at Tufts University looked at dreams and nightmares after the 9/11 attacks; their theory was that the events produced at least some level of trauma to everyone in the United States. While all the subjects (none of whom were directly affected by the attacks) reported a marked increase in intense or vivid dreams and nightmares, none of them dreamed specifically about the Twin Towers, the planes or even about tall buildings falling, despite the images being played over and over on TV.

MORE: 10 Silent Signals You're Way Too Stressed

No one will hear you scream.

Screaming in nightmares
Phloxii/Shutterstock

Because you can't scream (or move, for that matter) when you're having a nightmare. All that tossing and turning you see in the movies? Hollywood has it wrong. "During dream sleep—the REM stage—all our muscles are paralyzed, except for our eye muscles and the ones we use for breathing," says Aneesa Das, MD, an assistant professor of internal medicine specializing in sleep medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. "Once you are sitting up and screaming, you are already aroused and coming out of dream sleep," she says. That's one reason why we remember our nightmares more clearly than other types of dreams, she says. "You wake up right out of the nightmare, so your recall is better," compared to non-scary dreams, which don't wake you up. (Here are 7 crazy things that happen when you sleep.)

Women have more nightmares than men.

Woman having nightmares
Eggeegg/Shutterstock

Well, maybe. AJ Marsden, PhD, assistant professor of human services and psychology at Beacon College in Leesburg, FL, cites research done in England that found women have more nightmares than men. "This might be correlated to the finding that women also have more issues with anxiety, and nightmares are often a reflection of our worries and anxieties," she says. "Women usually report more emotionally intense nightmares than men, centering on fear, loss and confusion." 

But the key word here is "report." "Adolescent and adult females report and talk about nightmares more than males," according to Das. It is possible that men are less willing to report nightmares, or that they downplay their dreams' intensity. Marsden and Das both say that to a certain extent, it can be a matter of perception: One person's terrifying nightmare could be another person's wacky dream.

MORE: Are You Bummed Out...Or Depressed?

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Nightmares are practice for the real thing.

Dealing with intense emotions
Mita Stock Images/Shutterstock

Although there are many theories about why we dream—they are a reflection of our unconscious mind, they are a way our brain keeps busy while our bodies rest—Marsden says that a theory getting more support lately is the idea that dreams are the brain's way of trying to solve problems or deal with intense emotions. "A nightmare may be our brain's way of preparing us for a particular fearful situation," she says, explaining that having scary dreams about someone breaking into your home could be your mind either preparing you for dealing with the situation, or helping you to feel less afraid. In a 2007 study published in the journal Sleep, researchers found that both postpartum and pregnant women experienced dreams and nightmares involving their infants, while postpartum women had more intense nightmares about something happening to the baby. "Such behaviors," noted researchers, "may reflect a mother's state of maternal vigilance; they may even serve a functional role in her infant caregiving." Or, they posited, these intense dreams may be the result of severe sleep disruption—something any new mother can relate to. (Learn what your most common dreams say about you.)

You can control your nightmares.

Control your nightmares
Lassedesignen/Shutterstock

"But it takes a lot of practice," says Marsden. Called "lucid dreaming," it's where you know you are dreaming and can control the direction of the dream. "Some people can start to control their dreams, but as soon as they realize they are dreaming, they usually wake up." With nightmares, the practice is particularly interesting, says Das, and there is increasing research now in using the technique to help people with PTSD, who frequently suffer from nightmares. "The thinking is that by teaching them to control their nightmares, they can begin to work through their trauma," she says.

MORE: 7 Reasons You're Tired All The Time

There's something scarier than a nightmare.

Night terrors in children
Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock

Night terrors, although uncommon in adults, are probably more terrifying for parents than for kids who have them. For starters, a child will be screaming, usually with their eyes wide open. "With night terrors, parents usually cannot wake their child," says Marsden. Versus with a nightmare, "a parent can wake their child, and the child remembers the scary dream they were having and can talk about it easily," she says. With night terrors, when the child does wake up, they have no memory of the episode. 

Marsden explains that a key difference between nightmares and night terrors is that they occur during different times of the sleep cycle, which explains why you can scream during them. While most dreaming occurs during REM sleep, night terrors occur during stage 4 sleep, which is the deepest stage. Marsden says it seems they happen because children are having trouble transitioning from this deep sleep stage to REM sleep.

Watch Next
 
preview for Prevention Watch Next
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Anxiety

the kelly clarkson show season 5

Gisele Bündchen Discusses ‘Severe‘ Panic Attacks

negative thinking, placebo effect, expectations, overthinking, stress, the thinker statue multiplied by mirrors, mind games, doubt, self esteem

Simple Ways to Stop the ‘Nocebo Effect’

green food does the body good

The Very Best Foods to Help Ease Anxiety

jennifer grey the hollywood reporter 2022 power 100 women in entertainment presented by lifetime red carpet arrivals

Jennifer Grey Opens Up About ‘Bad’ Anxiety

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below