SLEEP SUNDAY – LETS TALK ABOUT SLEEPING AND NIGHTMARES…

According to an article in Waay TV a combination of stress, and the pandemic more people are suffering from nightmares, experts say.

The problem started about a year ago, not long after lockdowns began around the world. Frontline workers were hard hit — a June 2020 study of 100 Chinese nurses found 45% experienced nightmares, along with varying degrees of anxiety and depression.

But nightmares have continued as quarantines and lockdowns stretched on, experts say. One reason: an increase in “night owls.”People are going to bed later and watching screen for longer periods.

The article goes on to explain that sleeping in allows more time for a deeper stage of sleep called rapid eye movement, or REM, when the body consolidates and stores memories and restores the body.

A long stretch of REM occurs in the latter part of the night, typically just before you wake up, said clinical psychologist and sleep specialist Michael Breus, author of “Good Night: The Sleep Doctor’s 4-Week Program to Better Sleep and Better Health.”

Add in the worry, anxiety and stress of the pandemic, Breus said, and you have the perfect recipe for nightmares.

So, a combination of all we have gone through over the last twelve months is probably the reason for your nightmare. “When you’re getting more REM during stressful times, you get more REM nightmares. They are calling this phenomenon ‘quaradreaming’.

Source : Waay TV