Many of us went through the experience of disturbing dreams and nightmares during sleep, but in most cases these nightmares occur at long intervals, but in some patients disturbing dreams occur frequently, which may negatively affect the dreamer''s life and his psyche, and it is medically possible to divide the disturbing dreams into two parts, a section that occurs during a stage Rapid eye movement, which is known as a nightmare, and the other part occurs during the third and fourth stage of sleep (deep sleep) and is medically known as sleep horror, and the first type is characterized by that it usually occurs at the end of sleep (the last two hours of sleep) and usually the patient remembers the details of the dream and this is the common type. The second type is characterized by a sudden awakening from a deep sleep, accompanied by intense feelings of fear and panic, an increase in heartbeat and rapid breathing, and the patient does not usually remember the details of the dream, and this type occurs in the first third of sleep.
And nightmares occur frequently in children, but not continuously, as 20 - 50% of them suffer. Children from the age of 5-10 years sometimes have nightmares, and a study we conducted on primary school students in Riyadh showed that 5% Of children suffer from nightmares almost continuously, and recurrent nightmares may affect children''s activity during the day, and the nightmares usually decrease as the child ages, and it is recommended to encourage children to recount and mention the nightmares they see in their dreams for parents and therapists, as studies have shown that just narrating disturbing dreams Parents help her disappearance.
As for adults, nightmares occur much less often and are usually a result of stress and psychological tension or as a result of traumatic accidents, and you usually need to see specialists to get treatment.
Dr. Ahmed Salem Bahamam
Consultant chest diseases and sleep disorders
