Nightmares are strange, aren’t they? You get into bed, shut your eyes and then in what feels like a couple of seconds, you can be fighting off creepy crawlies or find yourself in a social situation in your PJ’s. The fact that nightmares are so strange and terrifying is also what makes them so bloomin’ bizarre. I mean, why does your brain want to scare you?
The truth of the matter is your brain isn’t trying to petrify you deliberately. In fact, nightmares and dreams are probably just a result of your brain processing information from your day, along with things like memories and emotions.
With all this in mind, Mattressman wondered if there were any positive sides to a scary night’s sleep, so we took to the Internet to find out. Here’s what we learnt:
A study conducted in 2015 found that people who experienced nightmares at least twice a week provided more creative answers to a word association quiz than those who slept peacefully.
As we said before, dreams and nightmares are often a result of your brain’s mental archiving, where things like recent experiences, fears and worries are filed away in the colossal library that is your mind. Recalling your nightmare when you wake up can turn these abstract worries into memories and can help you to work through your problems, as your brain is better at processing memories than vague thoughts and feelings.
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is one of the most important stages of a good night’s kip, and it’s when most dreams and nightmares happen. During REM sleep, the flow of blood to the brain also decreases and is redirected to the rest of the body, helping muscles and organs to recuperate. The next time that you’re being chased in your sleep by a gaggle of clowns, keep running and remember that you’re actually giving your body an all-over workout!
Threat simulation theory suggests that nightmares are a defence mechanism. The idea is that nightmares provide a safe place to solve problems and prepare for threatening situations, giving you a better chance of survival if you encounter them in the waking world.
Right, so those are the upsides of bad dreams. The Mattressman team hopes that the next time you wake up from a nightmare, you remember that you’re probably a little bit fitter, saner and better prepared for the future because of it.
