WHEN BAD DREAMS MAY SIGNAL A SLEEP DISORDER

It’s no secret that nightmares can be a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But sometimes bad dreams can suggest other medical conditions that interfere with daily life, says Dr Zadra. Here are a few common sleep disorders that a sleep specialist or therapist can help with:

Nightmare disorder This involves repeated occurrences of deeply disturbing dreams or nightmares, usually involving threats to survival, safety or integrity. These dreams typically wake the person up, are well remembered straight after, bring on daytime distress and may cause someone to avoid sleep at night. REM sleep behaviour disorder

(RBD) During RBD, people act out their dreams by punching or kicking, shouting or cursing. Normally during REM sleep, there’s usually a high degree of muscle paralysis, but people with RBD gradually lose that and have a higher risk of eventually developing certain neurological conditions, which is why it’s important to see a sleep disorder specialist. Trauma-associated sleep disorder

(TASD) This occurs when someone may have vivid dreams of a past trauma, says Dr Krakow. “These are re-enactment-type dreams for which treatment by a sleep specialist often provides considerable benefit.”

Obstructive sleep apnoea This is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which a person’s breathing repeatedly stops, then restarts. It’s also associated with nightmares and disturbing dreams. “Using a CPAP machine can improve sleep apnoea and bad dreams,” Dr Krakow says, as can other treatments.