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What Causes a Nightmare?

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Peter Mark
What Causes a Nightmare?

Most wonder why they see nightmares; after all, isn’t it a childhood thing? It is not really. Recent studies have proven that 2 to 8 per cent of the adult population is plagued by nightmares. The exact reason for having scary dreams have not been found out yet. Still, sleep researchers point towards many suspects in their list. The researchers attribute many possible reasons for nightmares. These reasons can vary from physical to psychological and from person to person.


Physical ailments and diseases can be a cause of uncomfortable sleep and trigger nightmares. Use of narcotics, tranquillizers, overconsumption of alcohol, withdrawal from some medicines and so on are also cited as causes. If you feel that there is an increase in the nightmare frequency after changing a medicine, it definitely is something to talk to your doctor about.


Psychological problems can also manifest as scary dreams. Anxiety and depression, schizophrenia and so forth are the first ones on the list. Sleep deprivation, uncomfortable sleeping atmosphere, post-traumatic stress disorder or even watching a scary movie or reading a book can result in incubus. In a few, the nightmares become so frequent that it is characterized as a disease called nightmare disorder.

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Peter Mark
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