Reflection On The Article About The Concept Of Disturbed Dreaming Disorder
The article addressed the concept of sleep disorders, more specifically nightmares. An array of emotions such as fear or rage often go hand in hand with nightmares. Despite common knowledge, a nightmare and a bad dream are not the same. A nightmare is associated with a nocturnal awakening while a bad dream does not commonly cause the dreamer to wake from sleep. Yet it still remains unclear as to why this is the case, therefore both terms are generally referred to as disturbed dreaming (DD). The occurrence of disturbed dreams varies from person to person, some experiencing it once a year, some once a week. Disturbed dreams are often followed by emotional distress that seems to be linked with stress. Researchers believe negativity or trauma can limit one’s ability to sort through a variety of emotions. As this increases, the chances of DD increases as well. DD occurrences are quite higher in women and children, yet there is no real explanation as to why.
This research is very important to real life experiences because it applies to everyone. Dreaming is a phenomenon that affects people fairly often but many wake up and simply brush it off instead of digging deeper to understand why certain dreams occur. After reading this article I can apply this knowledge to my own experiences with disturbed dreams. I can attempt to identify if certain negative or stressful events led up to the DD and then reflect on it. This research allows us to grasp the true difference between a bad dream and a nightmare and how emotional distress differentiates the two. No two people have the same dream or experience the same effects afterward therefore it can be difficult to gather solid data and information. It’s odd how often overlooked and ignored dreams are. As much emotional distress DD can bring the researchers mentioned how rare it is for the concept of nightmares to be discussed between your doctor and you or viewed as a true clinical issue. I believe this ultimately comes down to the societal shame currently in place around anything that would be considered a mental health concern.
After reading this article I find it very interesting that after extensive research there is still so much that goes unknown about DD. I believe it is very important to continue the research behind dreams. A goal would be to spread this knowledge further among the population so that everyone can learn to interpret their dreams and decide if it so commonly occurring that perhaps it is something to discuss with your doctor. I believe research should be guided down the path as to why women and children have higher rates of disturbed dreaming. Is it due to the gender norms set by society as to how a man should handle his emotions, therefore disturbed dreaming in males is underreported? It is important to take into account that the date of this article is unknown therefore statistics may have changed and new findings may have been discovered since.
