Emily R.

Campuzano

Mrs.Okeefe & Mr.Crain-Davis

English IV

May 25,2017

What are nightmares? & Why do they occur?

Why I Asked This Question

The reason for asking this question for my I-Search project topic is to expand my

knowledge on nightmares and why they occur due to the rumors of existence I've heard

and due to the statements many oblivious people believe in without actual evidence to

support. The term nightmare has been defined in many ways by many people and the

reasoning of their occurrence has always been vague. Vague meaning unclear to my

understanding; often, people will say they occur because of so and so, but would be

clueless of supporting evidence. I always experience nightmares on very stressful or

emotional nights; those nightmares would keep me up for the rest of the night and I

never understood why. I would toss and turn and shut my eyes forcing myself to fall

asleep again; some nights would be a success and on others I'd have real bad bags

under my eyes. As a senior at Chicago Academy, I experience nightmares often. A

paper is due soon and I haven't started, or graduation is around the corner and I'm

unsure as to what my next destination is, or deadlines for scholarships are approaching

but I have to do all this extra credit to bring up a C to a B in one class; all these are
reasons for anxiety and an increase in stress levels. When this project was assigned, I

felt it was a great opportunity to conduct research on something that could help me

reduce the amount of nightmares I have.

What I Knew Before

To my understanding before conducting any research, I knew that nightmares were

bad dreams. These bad dreams would occur each time differently or sometimes the

same over and over again due to the experience of a tragic event maybe. Bad dreams

could either feel fictional or realistic. I am aware that high levels of stress and anxiety

allow frequent brain activity to occur during REM sleep which means the frequency of

dreams and nightmares are high too. Nightmares are terrifying dreams including

different people that you may or may not know performing frightening actions. To give a

vivid image, I would wake up from my sleep because I would dream that I jumped off of

a cliff or that I would fall on the ground after tripping over my feet. When this nightmare

happens in particular, I remember every time waking up before hitting the ground. Its

the thought of falling that scares me. This dream includes only myself and it feels very

real which awakens me. Often, nightmares are unforgettable but their are cases where

nightmares awaken you and when you wake up again after falling asleep, you can no

longer remember it. Nightmares can be weird and not make one bit of sense but

something you do know for sure is that it was scary enough to disturb and wake you.

Searching
 Before any writing was done, we were demanded to obtain as much information as

possible on the topic we selected. In my case, I have collected evidence and experience

strictly based on nightmares and the reason of their occurrences. We organized our

information on a document labeled 'Summary Source' to help students have a clearer

point of view on how to write their paper in an organized manner. Each week we were

assigned a new document to fill out in order to collect all information we wanted to

mention in our final paper. The summary sources have helped substantially with my

organization skills as well as discover credible sources to include as supporting

evidence.

The Searching

In an Etymological English Dictionary first published by Nathan Bailey in 1721, he

defined the term nightmare as a disease when a man in his sleep supposes he has a

great weight laying upon him. Bailey uses the metaphor great weight to represent

the causes of nightmares. According to the article, Nightmares and the Brain, written

by Scott Edwards, he infers that Nightmares are frightening dreams that result in

feelings of terror, fear, distress, or anxiety. Nightmares are simply dreams that cause a

strong but unpleasant emotional response (Edwards, 2017). Nightmares are more

likely to occur during the period of sleep when REM, a stage of sleep, intervals

lengthen. We dream as we emerge from REM sleep which is why images imagined

while dreaming, including the vivid, often terrifying images produced during

nightmares, are remembered. (Edwards, 2017).

 The definition of a nightmare became even clearer when reading an article,

Correlates and Treatments of Nightmares in Adults, published by Brant P. Hasler and

Anne Germain. They stated that nightmares are intensely disturbing dreams that

awaken the dreamer to a fully conscious state and generally occur in the latter half of

the sleep period. I found it interesting that that these publishers further questioned the

result of nightmares; assuming nightmares differ on two key points. First, they differ on

whether nightmare-associated emotions are limited to fear and anxiety (DSM-IV-TR)

or can include all dysphoric emotions, such as anger or despair (ICSD-II) (Hasler &

Germain, 2009). Secondly, only the DSM-IV-TR specifies a criterion that the

nightmare or resulting sleep disturbance is associated with significant distress or

impairment in waking functioning (Hasler & Germain, 2009). Hasler and Germain

questioned the result of nightmares; they wondered if nightmares were limited to

certain emotions or were a result of all uneasy emotions such as anger and despair.

Further into their research, they came to a conclusion that nightmares were a result of

all dysphoric emotions. They have studied that people who have experienced a tragic

event resulting in extreme negative emotions such as envy, hate, anger, or sadness

have experienced frequent nightmares during REM sleep. For example, surviving a

car crash with your mother but unfortunately she didnt make it; that survivor will most

likely dream those seconds before her death and relive the accident during a short

period of time in REM sleep.

In a video called Why Do We Get Nightmares? created by the DNews Channel

releases detailed and terrifying experiences people go through that lead individuals
 with trauma and weight, referring back to baileys definition of weight, on their

shoulders. That trauma most likely wake them up in the middle of the night. They

relive the moment of horrible experience during REM sleep and wake up because it

felt realistic and frightening. It explains that people who have been in trauma situations

such as War or Car crashes can lead to disturbing images that happened in real life.

Five percent of people receive non-stop nightmares and this is caused by taking

antidepressants (DNews 2013). This video gave me a better understanding of one of

many results of nightmares. I understand that nightmares can occur because of

experienced tragedies.

For me to get more questions answered for my I-search project. I was given the

unity to ask others what they think nightmares are and why they occur. These answers

are yet to be finished but so far in the questionnaire a good amount of my peers have

helped me to get these answers in and ready for my paper. In my Survey I asked

questions to help get a better study to what ages are more vulnerable to nightmares

and to add on to what the definition is as well as what age group is most likely to

receive the most nightmares. For example, One of the questions are Do you

experience nightmares frequently? The studies show different results but mainly seem

to be replied as every once in awhile.

In the next film i have used for my source search, I was able to see the

experience other individuals go through when experiencing nightmares. This

documentary I watched was presented by Netflix and the film was called The

Nightmare.In the interviews you get a very deep and honest explained image as to
what was going on through the individual's mind. People were able to reenact the

situation at hand. This resource helped me by giving me an eye opening image on other

terrifying nightmare experiences with other individuals as well as what the nightmares

are able to do to the mind and body.

For an experiencing part of my project, I was able to get in contact with a close

family friend who works at the Jesse Brown VA Hospital on Damen Ave. When meeting

with this close family friend I was able to get a deeper meaning to what parts of the

body are affected when a nightmare occurs. He explained to me that when a terrifying

image occurs it's most likely to affect the eyes. This is called a REM, the eye movement

is the first thing to be controlled when a nightmare occurs because the brain actively

continues to move causing the eyeballs to keep in rapid circulation. Learning that the

brain and eyes are affected during a night terror helps me to understand that when a

realistic dream happens crying is the first action to take place in your sleep.

In my next source written by Blackmore,Susan.I learned that emotions play a

huge role in the nightmare occurrences. It goes on to explain more on what parts of the

brain are affected such as the Limbic System. It states The Limbic System in the

midbrain which deals with emotions in both waking and dreaming, This includes the

amygdala which is associated with fear and is especially active during dreams. (Susan

Blackmore) This source was short but super credible in helpin me know more on which

parts of the brain is active when sleeping and as well as being specific on the parts of

the brain specifically is affected with nightmares.

 In my next reading source published by Psychology Today, I learned the different

symptoms which are stated to Being orientated and alert instantly upon awakening

(Psychology today 2017) as well as Experiencing distress or impairment of

occupational, social and/or other important areas of functioning. (Psychology today

2017) This understanding on the disorder of nightmares helps me to know what

frequently occurs from an individual who experiences night terrors. The website also

informs me on the common people who experience these night terrors These

individuals are children and adolescents. It states about 50 percent of adults

experience occasional nightmares, women more often than men (Psychology today

2017). Nightmares are a disorder in which some cases do not need to be treated but for

other cases that occur frequently are recommended to seek help. Seeking for help may

help you to address the stress as well as getting prescribed medication to help you deal

with the troubles of sleep and anxiety. It states to go to bed at a set time each night and

get u at the same time each morning(Psychology today 2017).This may help in some

cases because being on a sleep schedule can help you stop or slow down the stress

that you have as well as the nightmares that may seem to play over and over in your

head.

This source above was a very helpful source in my search,I feel this source was

very descriptive when discussing the causes, treatments and even the vulnerability in

which occurs more between children and adolescents. Other sources I feel helped

explain information but not provide specific reasoning or bullets point to backup the

information stated.This source also provide to have studies shown for example 1
percent of adults who experience frequent nightmares should seek help if leads to sleep

avoidance.. (Lyness D'Arcy 2013).

In my final source search I used a source I feel would explain a lot for both

students and parents. This source is Kidshealth.org and it goes on to explain when

nightmares often happen. It states Nightmares---like most dreams-- occur during the

stages of sleep when the brain is very active and sorting through the current

experiences and new information for learning and memory (Lyness D'Arcy 2013).This

quote I feel is very helpful because it explains to me and the audience that nightmares

,mainly have a timing in which they occur and the reasoning for the occurrence of these

terrifying images.It also states When kids awaken from a nightmare, Its images are still

fresh and can seem real (Lyness D'Arcy 2013)meaning that due to the fact that children

seem more vulnerable to nightmares,when these nightmares do occur the dreams leave

behind a visual that seems so real to the child as they awaken from their sleep but as

for adolescents due to our brain functioning our mind quickly eases the dreams to be

known to us as non-realistic.

What I Learned

When doing this I-Search project I feel that my two questions in which have been

asked have helped me to get a better understanding as to why nightmares occur? and

what are nightmare? I learned that from my search nightmares are terrifying images that

may or may not be realistic.These images only occur because of terrifying experiences

you have faced in real life as well as your emotional state of mind.The common

nightmares occur mainly in children and in women but men rarely seem to experience
these terrifying images. I learned as well that your brain is always active in sleep but

due to this activity your eye movement is constantly in a circular motion causing your

first reaction to be from your eyes. This is called REM, which is the circular motion in the

eyes caused by the brain in these night terrors. I have also learned that kids seem to be

more vulnerable as well as terrified because of how realistic these dreams are and how

slowly they go away in their mind. Their state of mind is a lot more difficult to explain

than adults because of their development. Children frequently are seemed to be taken

care of by loved one to help get the terrifying images to go away but as for adults they

seek help from others and doctors to be prescribed medicine for sleeping purposes.

What I still want to know

What I still would like to know is why do our bodies react the way they do when a

nightmare occurs or even do nightmares generally play a role in life? These questions I

still would like to further research into because these are questions that may help to

give me a deeper understanding as to what the answer may truly be. It'll be a better way

for me to expand my knowledge on nightmares and their role in life.

 Work Cited

Blackmore , Susan. What Is Happening When We Dream? What Is Happening

When We Dream, Science Focus , 14 March 2014,

www.sciencefocus.com/qa/which-part-brain-generates-dreams. Accessed 30

May 2017.

DNews Channel. Why Do We Get Nightmares? YouTube, YouTube, 6 July

2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKgbdUmZnnM. Accessed 7 May 2017.

https://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/The-Nightmare

Edwards, Scott. Nightmares and the Brain. Nightmares and the Brain |

Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute, 2017,

neuro.hms.harvard.edu/harvard-mahoney-neuroscience-institute/brain-newsletter

/and-brain-series/nightmares-and-brain. Accessed 1 May 2017

https://goo.gl/forms/TXPQedBlxo5SB0a62

Hasler, Brant, and Anne Germain. Correlates and Treatments of Nightmares in

Adults.Sleep Medicine Clinics, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2009,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2806673/. Accessed 4 May 2017

Jesse Brown Va Hospital

Lyness, D'Arcy, editor. Nightmares. KidsHealth, The Nemours Foundation, July

2013, kidshealth.org/en/parents/nightmare.html. Accessed 30 May 2017.

 Nightmares. Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 8 May 2017,

www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/nightmares. Accessed 30 May 2017.