How to Overcome Nightmares

    Nightmares are very common not only among children but also many adults tend to suffer from them as well. Nightmares represent anticipated threats. Some nightmares are based on past negative events that we have experienced and we fear they might re-occur. Other nightmares are based on negative experiences that happened to other people that we know or that we saw on TV or in the movies.. Sometimes it is very easy for us to identify the threat that brought up the nightmares and sometimes it is unconscious.

    Nightmares are like imaginary stories or movies that we create while sleeping. Most imaginary stories and movies have to stages:

• During the first part, the hero encounters a threatening situation. While being exposed to the threat in the story, we usually identify with the hero and as a result, we are scared as the level of our stress hormone increases.

• During the second part, the hero overcomes the threat, and we relax as the level of our stress hormone reduces.

    I suggest to people to relate to their nightmare as if it is a movie, that they directed only its first part. Unfortunately, they are only directing the part in which the hero encounters a severe problem. Since they did not know how to help their hero over come the problem, they wake up being frightened. While waking up, they should finish directing the movie by visualizing the hero overcoming the threat by applying human power (an action movie) or super human power (science fiction movie). For more details, please read the chapter "What's Good About Fantasizing? The Healing Power of Visualization."

    Parents could apply the above techniques with their children, whenever they experience bad dreams. Very young children, enjoy fantasizing that the heroes of their dreams overcome the frightening situations, by applying super-human power. It is recommended to direct older children to imagine that the heroes of their dreams overcame the frightening situations by applying human power, unless the only way to do it is by applying super-human power.