If it is completely normal to have nightmares when you are going through a difficult life event or a trauma, these bad dreams can cause discomfort in everyday life that can even go as far as anxiety or depression. Before getting there, there are solutions.
Become the scriptwriter of his nightmares
Waking up in a state of panic after a painful nightmare that prevents you from falling back to sleep and has consequences in your daily life may be a sign that the “digestion” of a difficult life event is not happening. Derived from Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (CBT), Mental Imagery Repetition Therapy (RIM) has been proven to reduce the frequency of nightmares and associated symptoms by approximately 70%.
This approach consists of reworking the dream scenario for 30 minutes at 1 hour and then reviewing it every evening for 5 minutes before bedtime. For this, the imagination is limitless, you can for example replace the characters, the negative elements, the atmosphere or the scenes with a positive story.
Other Methods to Treat Nightmares
If CBT can be very useful for working on sleep and falling asleep, thanks to visualization, in some cases we can also use EMDR, a technique of desensitization by eye movements, in particular when a trauma is in play.
As far as medication is concerned, sleeping pills are not recommended because of the modification of the structure of sleep that they cause and which can increase nightmares. If the nightmares are repetitive and ruining your life, it is best to consult a sleep specialist.
Find out more: “Nightmare Healing Manual” by Benjamin Putois.