Up to 8% percent of adults experience nightmares, and as uncomfortable or even terrifying as those can be, they could be serving a purpose.
A new video from New York Magazine, “The Good Side of Bad Dreams,” points out that some sleep researchers say having bad dreams is actually a helpful way to release anxiety and stresses from the real world. If theses uncomfortable waking life emotions can become less obscure – if we can basically turn them into memories in dream form, we can let them go easier.
“The things that concern us most when we’re awake continue to mess with us when we’re asleep,” the narrator explains. “Your unconscious brain takes your abstract fears and turns them into stories in the form of nightmares.”
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The video goes on to explain that when we process something like a memory, we put it in the category of something actually that happened in the past, therefore taking it out of our current mental space as something that’s presently existing.
In theory, this seems to make sense. But one thing I’d question is the fact that some people have repeat, chronic nightmares. In that case, could those actually be subconsciously reinforcing anxiety or fears? And, just because something happened in the past or occurs as a memory doesn’t mean people always let it go or truly process it.
But generally speaking, I’d say this video is pointing to something true about how our minds work and the value of our dreams.
