Processing Recent Experiences

Ecclesiastes 5:3 . . .a dream comes when there are many cares . . .

Dreams can be influenced by our experiences, sights, emotions, worries. and conscious thoughts during the previous day or so.

The more we let things disturb or excite us during our waking moments, the more they are likely to torment us as we sleep. Some things – such as movies with violence, sex or horror – we can avoid exposing ourselves to. Even for unavoidable things, we can lower the extent to which we dwell on them or get emotional about them. For example, the more effectively we practice the following, the more pleasant our sleep is likely to be.

Proverbs 3: 21,22,24 My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you . . . when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.

Ephesians 4:26 . . . Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

Philippians 4:8 . . . whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

If daily events affect our dreams, we can expect that the more we devote our waking moments to thinking about and conversing with God, the more the good Lord is likely to feature in our dreams.

What makes it particularly important to do all we can to avoid looking at or fantasizing about anything that is borderline is that dreams are likely to seize what we do when awake and push things still further. This is just one possible factor affecting our dreams, so not all undesirable dreams will be eliminated by doing our best to control what we expose ourselves to during our waking moments but I believe it can eliminate some of them by this approach.

Fevers, Medications, Sleeping Pills, etc

Not surprisingly, nightmares are more common during a crisis or after a traumatic event. In this section, however, we’ll consider the possible influence of much less emotionally charged factors.

Ecclesiastes 5:12 The sleep of a labourer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.

Could this be hinting that lack of exercise and/or overeating can be a cause of unsettling dreams? Certainly there are modern claims along this line. For example, it is thought that by raising one’s metabolism and brain activity, eating just before sleeping increases the likelihood of nightmares. Or maybe a connection between bad dreams and late night snacks is due to digestive problems. Some studies have shown a link between stomach problems and dreams involving fear, anxiety or pain. There is also a little evidence that an Atkins high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet significantly increases bad dreams (Details The Atkins Diet and Bad Dreams

In 2007, a physician who had recorded his sleep history for 66 years and had been on the Atkins diet for eight weeks, reported that bad dreams had increased from about once a month before the diet to every night and even during naps. He persisted with the diet because he felt the physical benefits outweighed this unpleasant side effect. He became aware of the following study, but whether it subconsciously affected him, I do not know.

In 2006, Australian sleep researcher Chin Moi Chow of the University of Sydney, studied fifteen normal sleepers for four consecutive days (to establish a baseline, they were on a conventional diet for the first day). She found that moving from a conventional diet to an Atkins diet quickly produced a two-and-a-half fold increase in the number of dreams recalled. Most of the dreams were unpleasant, but not nightmares. The change of diet was associated with the volunteers sleeping more deeply but waking more frequently.).

(It has been asserted Effect of Chocolate on Dreams.

The claim – in which increased sexual content is considered desirable – is made to seem scientific by reference to certain chemicals in chocolate that in theory might affect both sexuality and dreams. However, in this entire section of my webpage about the effect on dreams of food, herbs, medications, etc, I have not had time to investigate how much scientific research has been devoted to substantiating the claims. I suspect that most of the claims are highly speculative and therefore unreliable. I mention them solely on the remote chance that they might alert you to something that turns out to be of significance to you. Just pray that the Lord highlights to you anything you should seriously consider.)

that chocolate can increase the sexual content in dreams. The British Cheese Board funded a study to try to debunk the belief that cheese can cause nightmares. Although volunteers did not report an increase in what researchers defined as actual nightmares, Stilton cheese was found to increase bizarre and vivid dreams. If this connection turns out to be genuine and not some freak result, I would not be surprised if many other foods affect dreaming. Probably the effect would vary from person to person.

Fevers have long been believed to be associated with bad dreams. Laboratory tests suggest that frightening dreams can be triggered by loud noises. In fact, there is a vast array of factors claimed to affect bad dreams. I stress that I have not investigated these claims to ascertain how likely they are to be true but would you humour me for a minute as I indulge my sometimes-dangerous addiction to common sense? My thoughts might only be worth common cents but I’ll let you decide.

There are obviously a huge number of factors affecting how soundly we sleep. If we do not sleep at all, we certainly will have no dreams, pleasant or unpleasant. And if our sleep is shallow or fitful it will affect the length of our dreams and whether we will remember them. Dream recall is of major importance. Almost all of us have far more dreams than we remember. It is claimed that some people regularly plagued by bad dreams have consciously or unconsciously willed themselves not to recall the dreams. Some dream researchers believe that regardless of whether it is done deliberately, immediately forgetting bad dreams is highly undesirable because it is has the effect of even more deeply burying problems that desperately need conscious examination by the dreamer.

We are more likely to dream after five or six hours sleep. This is true even if we wake up after that time and do not go back to sleep for an hour or so.

A low dopamine level in the brain might be a factor in bad dreams. It has been claimed that extra vitamin B might help correct this.

Suggested herbal remedies for bad dreams include chamomile, peppermint, caraway seed, anise and Echinacea. Lavender is also thought to be helpful. In fact, a very long list of herbs and also vitamins, minerals and amino acids are each claimed to affect dreaming, dream recall, or lucid dreaming.

For some people, drugs (whether prescribed or illicit) or alcohol, or the abrupt withdrawal of either, can apparently cause bad dreams.

Although the specific effect varies from person to person, many medications come with warnings that they may cause drowsiness. Anything that deepens your sleep has the potential to prolong an unpleasant dream. The deeper your sleep, the more terrifying or disturbing a dream must become before being sufficient to wake you and so end the dream. On the other hand, most dreams are quickly forgotten, and if you had two identical dreams (i.e. if remaining asleep did not cause the dream to escalate) and you woke immediately after just one of the dreams, it is the one you woke up straight after is the one most likely to be remembered. A further complicating factor is that a forgotten dream could be a wasted opportunity for healing or personal growth or avoidance of future problems.

As a last resort, doctors can prescribe medication that actually reduces the amount of what is known as REM sleep – that part of the sleep cycle in which most of our dreams occur. However, researchers – for this job a sadistic streak would help – have prevented people from dreaming by waking them every time they enter REM sleep. They found that this increased the frequency with which attempted dreams occur, suggesting that our minds have a strong need to dream. REM deprivation (being denied that type of sleep in which dreams usually occur) can have a wide range of undesirable consequences.

Obviously, one needs to consider medical implication before dabbling with medications, whether herbal or otherwise. Just because something is a herb does not mean it is without risks. If “natural cures” had no effect there would be no point in taking them. However, if your dreams have changed of late, consider whether there has been any change in what you put into your body.

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