Nightmare Disorder

Posted on June 16, 2009 in Latest News

A nightmare disorder is marked by repeated awakenings from sleep due to frightening dreams. The patient can recall the dreams vividly and the dreams are usually associated with threats to security, survival and self-esteem. Upon waking up from the nightmare, the patients may find it difficult to fall asleep again. Thus a nightmare disorder can put a person at extreme stress, which can affect his/her daily activities and social life.

Symptoms of Nightmare Disorder:
Following are the symptoms of nightmare disoder:

What Causes Nightmare Disorder?
Nightmare disorder is caused due to a stressful event in one’s life. Half of the cases of this disorder are reported in children below age 10. However, children tend to outgrow this disorder. Two-thirds of the cases having this disorder are under the age 20. Adults who get this disorder may have the symptoms for many years.

Treatment of Nightmare Disorder:

A person with nightmare disorder can consult a sleep specialist who would be able to recommend a good counselor, psychotherapist  or a psychologist to treat this disorder. The therapist would analyze the patient to rule out other disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to treat this disorder.

Comments

Leave a Reply