Diagnosis Dictionary

Nightmares (Causes)

You wake up with your heart pounding, and maybe even with a shout. Isolated nightmares are normal, but when dreams resulting in extreme terror or anxiety recur often they can become a debilitating sleep disorder.
  • Anxiety or stress is the most common: In 60 percent of cases, a major life event precedes the onset of nightmares
  • Illness with a fever
  • Death of a loved one (bereavement)
  • Adverse reaction to or side effect of a drug
  • Recent withdrawal from a drug such as sleeping pills
  • Effect of alcohol or excessive alcohol consumption
  • Abrupt alcohol withdrawal
  • Breathing disorder in sleep (sleep apnea)
  • Sleep disorders (narcolepsy, sleep terror disorder)
  • Inherited tendency toward nightmares
Next: Treatments

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