Prone to neuroticism and the elderly: the German scientists conducted a study and found out who often dream bad dreams.
German scientists have identified the causes of frequent occurrence in some people nightmares, which sometimes takes a lot of physical and mental strength.
the Diagnosis of “nightmares” characterized by frequent waking up usually in the REM sleep (REM, rapid eye movement), accompanied by a sensation of fear, and other emotions, such as anger, disgust, grief, etc.
And though the nightmares occasionally experiencing a considerable percentage of the population, this diagnosis is made only in those cases where the disease causes prolonged suffering.
the Third edition of the International classification of sleep disorders describes several possible options for how nightmares affect a person’s daily life. This unpleasant memories, “flashbacks”, which are like in the workplace, the fear to fall asleep for fear they would have nightmares, mood disturbances.
to understand the nature of nightmares, scientists led by Michael Cradle of the Central Institute of mental health (Germany) drew attention to a number of confounding factors.
“the Purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of socio-demographic parameters, frequency of occurrence of nightmares and nervousness on the global harm from nightmares,” write the authors of the work published in the journal Sleep Science.
In study 2 492 men and women aged 17 to 93 years old were asked to fill in a special questionnaire to assess the suffering caused nightmares, and the frequency of their appearances in adult life and in childhood. At the same time for nightmares in the questionnaire were given the following definition:
With the help of another questionnaire in parallel revealed the severity five personality traits — neuroticism, friendliness, extroversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness (integrity).
analysis of the results showed that about 9% of the respondents have nightmares about once a week, and 18% faced them with such frequency in childhood. With more than a quarter (27%) of those who suffer from nightmares, said that I see recurring nightmares, the plot of which is associated with the events of real life.
it turned Out that such features as neuroticism, were most associated with a high frequency of nightmares and frequency of recurring nightmares, while openness to experience and conscientiousness showed the lowest correlation.
call the Neuroticism personality trait characterized by emotional instability, anxiety, low self-esteem and a high sense of guilt, and sometimes autonomic disorders. Neuroticism — a tendency to negative experiences, to getting into inadequate situation and lack of adaptive character. Three major empirically derived components of neuroticism are anxiety, irritability, insecurity and emotionality. Neuroticism is the strongest predictor of the development of all common mental disorders.
This phenomenon, scientists have proposed a possible explanation, citing previous research which showed that people of the older generation, I found the Second world war, often dreams of military topics.
“overall, the results of the present study clearly show that suffering from nightmares due not only to their frequency but also with other factors such as neuroticism, the repetition of horrific scenes, age, and gender,” the scientists write in their study.
In the mode of self-isolation in which the inhabitants of many countries due pandemic coronavirus, people often have nightmares, watching the scientists.
People often dream of bright, strange, and often terrible dreams, in which there is concern for the lives of loved ones. In dreams people often experience anxiety, leaving home and being on the deserted streets, closed shops, meeting with potentially infected people.
“In my dream I called an Uber, but instead came the hearse”, — napisla on Twitter Sarah Shachner with the hashtag #pandemicdreams with which people from different countries share their unusual dreams.
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