Bad dreams may cause us to wake in a cold sweat in the night, but it’s not something you would bother mentioning to your doctor. Or should you?
Scientists believe that recurring nightmares could provide vital clues about health and even warning signs about impending illness — sometimes years before symptoms appear.
Last month, researchers found regular nightmares in childhood could be an early warning sign of psychotic disorders later in life. The study, published in the journal Sleep, tracked 6,800 children and found those having frequent nightmares (two to three times a week) between the ages of two and seven were three-and-a-half times more likely to have a psychotic experience, such as hallucinations or hearing voices, as a teenager.
The researchers said frequent nightmares could indicate children are facing emotional trauma, such as abuse or bullying, in waking life. They said use of violent video games and computers near bedtime may also play a part.
It’s thought we may experience terrifying threats in our nightmares to practise handling them in waking life, explains Patrick McNamara, associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School.
But nightmares may also indicate an underlying physical problem that is disrupting our sleep as we dream. We only dream during the stage known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. We experience REM, a very light sleep, on average four to five times a night, Daily Mail informs.
