A 37-year-old member asked:
What could be a cause of constant nightmares?
3 doctor answers • 12 doctors weighed in

Dr. Pamela Pappasanswered
Psychiatry 43 years experience
Nightmares: Several possibilities -- among them, being on medications that are associated with nightmares, such as narcotics, antidepressants, and some antihypertensives. Drug and alcohol withdrawal can cause it. Also nightmares can certainly come with ptsd, anxiety, and depression. Sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome can lead to nightmares as well. See your doctor for help with this problem.
5.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago

Dr. Beverly Dexteranswered
Clinical Psychology 26 years experience
No More Nightmares: Dreams that wake you up may be a symptom of unresolved trauma, or ongoing chronic stress. Think of it as a scratch on a vinyl record--it keeps skipping and repeating disturbing material that wakes you up. With the skill of Planned Dream Intervention you can learn how to sleep through your dreams. More from this provider.
2.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago

Dr. Ricardo Fontillasanswered
Child Psychiatry 38 years experience
Lots of things: If its a child, could be discord in the family, or allowing your child to view stupid movies like "chucky" or medications. Does the person have recall of the dreams? Some worry themselves into problems that they replay when they sleep. No recall of a dream (s) could be a night terror.
5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years agoMerged
Similar questions
A 37-year-old member asked:
Why causes someone to constantly keep having nightmares ?
2 doctor answers • 9 doctors weighed in

Dr. Edward Kuhnleyanswered
Child Psychiatry 46 years experience
Stress/worries: Recurrent nightmares reflect stress/worries. Review your life, list your stressors, & seek solutions. Use strategies including talking with a trusted person, develop self calming skills, and eliminate unnecessary stresses. Review your internal dialogue as what we tell ourselves affects our stress/dreams. Develop a positive internal dialogue. Rewrite nightmares with positive ending-take charge.
5.5k viewsReviewed Jun 12, 2021

Dr. Darrell Herrington commented
Family Medicine 35 years experience
Review current and additional medication options with your doctor, as this can be both the cause and the control of this syndrome.
Nov 20, 2012
A 46-year-old member asked:
What causes nightmares?
2 doctor answers • 8 doctors weighed in

Dr. Jonathan Nehreranswered
Child Psychiatry 37 years experience
Nightmares = dreams: Ightmares are simply dreams. In the theoretical aveerage person who sleeps 8 hrs a night you have 4 rem or sleep cycles. Rem or rapid eye movement is the deepest stage of sleep when we dream. Although each cycle is about the same we spend more time in rem in the last two cycles so we often rembers dreams or nightmares from the early morning. It is not clear why we dream any specific topic.
5.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Last updated Apr 13, 2016
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