Don’t have nightmares
HERE’S an eye opener!
Boffins are exploring the idea that nightmares may happen more often when a body is under immune system stress, potentially signifying deadly diseases – as we revealed yesterday.
Here KIM CARR reveals 15 facts about nightmares to keep you awake this evening…
1 Murdered someone in your dreams? Don’t worry – nightmares are rarely actually interpreting something real but are usually a sign of anxiety or trying to solve problems.
2 Practising lucid dreaming – where you learn to control your dreams – is a technique often used to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder.
3 Pregnant and new mums were found to have more intense nightmares about something happening to their baby.
4 If you scream when you think you’re having a nightmare, you’re actually awake. During the REM stage of kip – the time where we dream – our muscles are paralysed but the amygdala part of your brain, linked to fear and aggression, is active.
5 Some medications can increase the likelihood of nightmares, as well as withdrawals from drugs and alcohol.
6 About 85% of adults have nightmares at least once a year, with two to six having them every week.
7 Nightmare disorder is diagnosed when someone repeatedly wakes up fully alert with a vivid memory of nightmares on a regular basis.
8 Eating cheese before bedtime doesn’t cause nightmares. A small portion can actually boost the production of sleep-regulating tryptophan.
9 A 2020 study of an octopus in New York found it had three nightmares where it released ink, it was so spooked.
10 Dogs growl or howl in pain when having nightmares.
11 Lady Gaga suffers regular nightmares where a phantom takes her to a room containing a blonde girl with ropes tied to all four limbs, and these are pulling her apart.
12 Actress Nicole Kidman experienced nightmares while filming 2010 drama Rabbit Hole, where parents struggled to process the loss of their young son.
13 Artist Salvador Dalí was reported to have grabbed a brush and went straight to canvas after waiting up following a nightmare to capture the details.
14 Author Stephen King has turned his nightmares into plots for his books including Misery, which came to him while having a creepy dream about a woman who killed a writer, fed his remains to her pig and used his skin to bind her novel.
15 Actor Jason Segel had nightmares about being inside Dracula’s castle up to the age of 13.