Is the Bad-Dream Boogeyman Following You Around?
July 26, 2000 -- Most everyone has experienced nightmares or bad dreams ranging from being chased by something scary to standing naked in public. What researchers in Montreal have found is that these nighttime dramas happen more often than previously thought, and their impact may be greater than suspected.
The Association for the Study of Dreams (ASD) says the dreamer may feel any number of disturbing emotions in a nightmare, such as anger, guilt, sadness, or depression, but the most common feelings are fear and anxiety.
While nightmare themes may vary widely from person to person, the ASD says probably the most common theme is being chased. Adults are commonly chased by an unknown male figure, whereas an animal or some fantasy figure commonly chases children.
In a Montreal study -- which appeared in the July edition of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology -- a nightmare was defined as a scary dream that caused the person to wake up as it occurred. A bad dream, on the other hand, meant the person remembered his frightening dream but didn't wake up as a result. But there's an even greater difference between the two. "Nightmares adversely effect well-being more than bad dreams do," Antonio Zadra, PhD, psychologist and professor at the University of Montreal, tells WebMD.
Zadra says that although bad dreams and nighmares happen more frequently, memories of bad dreams and nightmares fade away over time. To prove this, Zadra and his team of researchers recruited over 80 students majoring in the arts, science, and engineering who were asked to recall how many bad dreams and nighmares they'd had over the previous month, and also the previous year. They were also given daily dream logs to record their dreams of all types during the four-week study.
More than 80% of the students reported having at least one bad dream over the four weeks of the study. During the month prior to the study, only 69% reported having a bad dream. The number of bad dreams reported for the previous year was also significantly lower.
Although nearly half the students reported having a nightmare during the four-week study, only 33% recalled having one during the month prior to the study. Again, the one-year totals were even lower than the one-month totals.
Is the Bad-Dream Boogeyman Following You Around?
July 26, 2000 -- Most everyone has experienced nightmares or bad dreams ranging from being chased by something scary to standing naked in public. What researchers in Montreal have found is that these nighttime dramas happen more often than previously thought, and their impact may be greater than suspected.
The Association for the Study of Dreams (ASD) says the dreamer may feel any number of disturbing emotions in a nightmare, such as anger, guilt, sadness, or depression, but the most common feelings are fear and anxiety.
While nightmare themes may vary widely from person to person, the ASD says probably the most common theme is being chased. Adults are commonly chased by an unknown male figure, whereas an animal or some fantasy figure commonly chases children.
In a Montreal study -- which appeared in the July edition of the Journal of Abnormal Psychology -- a nightmare was defined as a scary dream that caused the person to wake up as it occurred. A bad dream, on the other hand, meant the person remembered his frightening dream but didn't wake up as a result. But there's an even greater difference between the two. "Nightmares adversely effect well-being more than bad dreams do," Antonio Zadra, PhD, psychologist and professor at the University of Montreal, tells WebMD.
Zadra says that although bad dreams and nighmares happen more frequently, memories of bad dreams and nightmares fade away over time. To prove this, Zadra and his team of researchers recruited over 80 students majoring in the arts, science, and engineering who were asked to recall how many bad dreams and nighmares they'd had over the previous month, and also the previous year. They were also given daily dream logs to record their dreams of all types during the four-week study.
More than 80% of the students reported having at least one bad dream over the four weeks of the study. During the month prior to the study, only 69% reported having a bad dream. The number of bad dreams reported for the previous year was also significantly lower.
Although nearly half the students reported having a nightmare during the four-week study, only 33% recalled having one during the month prior to the study. Again, the one-year totals were even lower than the one-month totals.
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