Bad Dreams, Disturbed Sleep

 

A good night’s sleep, so essential to rest your body and mind, and restore ‘energy” and vitality, is becoming a casualty for many these days.

Last week a 58 year old lady complained that she woke up with a startle in the middle of the night dreaming of “drugs”, something she had never been exposed to all her life. Another reported a nightmare in which he felt someone was “strangulating” him by tightening something around his neck, till he woke up feeling choked! Yet another reported dreaming that he was in an ICU of a hospital with PPE draped figures surrounding his bed while he was being prepared to be hooked to a ventilator.

Bad dreams can be disturbing to say the least. One wakes up with a startle or in sweat, feeling disturbed and uneasy, and feeling drained. The mood in the morning is usually uneasy and snappy. Creative thinking has usually gone for a toss…postponed to yet another day when one feels more cheerful and positive. 

Several factors could be contributing to “bad dreams” and “restless” sleep.

1.      The thoughts and feelings that engage the ”conscious” mind before you fall asleep, especially if they are intense, often impact what the unconscious mind throws up as dreams during sleep.

Watching an “intense” TV program or a movie depicting heinous crime or cruelty, in the late evening before sleep could be a culprit. A heated argument the previous evening could do just do that too.

Experts therefore advise switching off electronic devices and turning your mind to calmer positive thoughts for an hour before sleeping as a preparation for good quality of sleep.

2.      Physical conditions matter too. If the bed is uncomfortable, room is stuffy or hot, or there is too much light or noise…the sleep quality suffers.

3.      Late night heavy dinners are often a cause of disturbed sleep, especially for “refluxers”, that is those with GERD. Light early dinners have been shown to enhance the quality of sleep.

4.      If a person with diabetes wakes up in the night with bad dreams and in sweat, a dangerously low blood sugar could be the cause. A blood sugar test at that time helps pick up episodes of “nocturnal hypoglycemia”.

5.      Patients with hypertension could often complain of throbbing headaches associated with bad dreams when they wake up. A quick BP check could help resolve the matter.

6.      Several medications are known to disturb sleep or cause bad dreams, some Beta blockers for example. Check with your doctor, or read the drug pamphlet if you are having problems.

7.      Calming the mind and feeding it with pleasant calming thoughts before sleeping is a good idea. For readers, a few pages of PG Wodehouse could be therapeutic.

8.      Music lovers have quite a choice these days. Apple music or You Tube provides a wide range of soothing “music for sleep” that we and our dogs enjoy best.

A good bit of sleep research has focused on quality of sleep and dreams, and have gone on to study the effect on our performance and mood the next day, and in our lives. It is time to pay attention to your sleep!