Physiological and psychological factors play a major role in our dreams. One of Sigmund Freud's theories is that dreams have their origin in a person's life. If you suffer from nightmares and dreams that make you wake up with a bad feeling, understanding this origin helps you to deal with the bad dreams.

 

Dreams are characterised by the fact that they disappear quickly after waking up. Certain details that were important during the dream dissolve into nothingness, but the bad feeling can linger for a long time. The first step to clarifying the origin of a bad dream is to understand and retain these details.
If you wake up after a bad dream with a feeling of fear or nervousness, you are no longer able to interpret this fear after just a few seconds because the content of the dream disappears. It helps to write down important details of a nightmare quickly so that you don't forget them. These details can help to clarify the cause.

Interpreting and analysing the content of a bad dream can find the reasons that led to the nightmare. This content may have been stimulated by recent events or worries or even lead back to childhood or a traumatic memory.
By reading through the details of the dream later, the nature of the fear may become clearer and the themes of the dream can be analysed.

According to Freud, a dream consists of conscious and subconscious wishes. The subconscious expresses hidden feelings, while the conscious tries to distract from the true content of the feeling. With the help of the notes, you can try to make connections between the dream and reality through free association. Nothing should be excluded or condemned. By unearthing the meaning of a nightmare, hidden feelings are brought to the surface, reducing the likelihood of the nightmare recurring.

Many dream researchers believe that a nightmare is not necessarily linked to specific events in a person's life, but is triggered by brain activity. They attribute little or no psychological significance to the content of the dream. According to this theory, a nightmare can have both a physical and a psychological cause.
You can try to change your habits to prevent bad dreams. For example, you should not go to bed on a very full or very empty stomach, and it is best to have your last meal two hours before going to bed.
Relax before going to bed and think about nice things. Maybe fall asleep to some calm music.
Do not watch television or work on the computer for at least half an hour before going to sleep, as the radiation from the monitor can stimulate the brain and lead to excessive brain activity during sleep.

It often helps to talk to your partner or a friend about nightmares and address the fears that arise. An outsider can often see the meaning and cause of the fears more objectively. Talking openly about the fears also helps with dealing with the dream and the fear of the next nightmare.