According to new research by the University of Montreal, violence, threats, death and health concerns are the most common reasons we see nightmares. The study showed that the nightmares cause more emotional damage compared to bad dreams. However, it was something that was not expected. Contrary to what we thought until now, the fear is not the dominant emotion that causes a nightmare. In fact, absent from most bad dreaming, and from 1/3 of nightmares. The emotions we experience after a nightmare is sadness, confusion, guilt or disgust.
Regarding the gender, the study showed that men see nightmares with natural disasters and wars, unlike women, whose nightmares are usually associated with interpersonal conflicts. The findings emerged after analyzing almost 10,000 dreams, of which 253 were nightmares and bad dreams just 431. Psychologists researchers, Genevieve Robert and Antonio Zadra, said: Death, concerns about our health and external threats are the most common issues of our nightmares, but it would be wrong to say that this characterizes all nightmares.
Sometimes, the sense of threat or an ominous atmosphere is enough to wake us up. There incident whereby someone woke up terrified, because he saw an owl sitting on a branch. They also underlined that people who often see nightmares, are afraid to sleep, and thus often suffer from insomnia.
By Nicole P.
