A nightmare is a very distressing or frightening dream that usually forces at least partial awakening. The dreamer may feel any number of disturbing emotions in a nightmare, such as anger, guilt, sadness, or depression, but the most common feelings are fear and anxiety. Nightmare themes vary widely from person to person and from time to time for any one person, but the most common theme is being chased. Adults are commonly chased by an unknown male figure, whereas children are usually being chased by an animal or a fantasy figure.

Nightmares and Night Terrors

Nightmares are very different from night terrors.

• Nightmares tend to occur late in the sleep cycle and are usually not accompanied by screaming or moving. The dream may be elaborate and intense, and the dreamer realizes soon after waking that he's had a dream.
• Night terrors, on the other hand, occur during deep sleep and may be accompanied by loud screaming and thrashing about. The sleeper is hard to awaken and may not remember much more than an overwhelming feeling or a single scene. Children who have night terrors also have a tendency to sleepwalk and/or wet their beds.

Your Very Own Nightmare

In previous times, nightmares were considered to be signs of devil or demon possession, or a mark of evil. Despite their bad reputation, nightmares are no different from other dreams. In fact, what constitutes a "nightmare" varies from person to person and from dream to dream.

The meaning of dreams is largely symbolic and contextual, so what's frightening for one person can be harmless—or even funny—for another. "Anything that's scary is considered a nightmare, but it's still [only] a dream," says psychoanalyst Lauren Lawrence, author of several books on dreams, including Dream Keys to the Future.

A Sign of Anxiety

Ernest Hartmann, MD, is author of Dreams and Nightmares: The New Theory on the Origin and Meaning of Dreams, professor of psychiatry at Tufts University and director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts. He says that what's happening chemically and neurologically in the dreamer's body is the same as what occurs during more pleasant dreams. "Nightmares are just long, anxiety-provoking dreams," he says. "Almost everyone has an occasional nightmare."

Lawrence adds that anxiety themes represent one of the largest categories of dreams. From cinematic violence with dropping bombs and exploding buildings, to being chased by unseen evil, to showing up at school and being faced with an exam you didn't study for, anxiety nightmares, says Lawrence, are messages from your unconscious regarding some unresolved conflict or trauma in your waking life.

A Chance for Resolution

"To me, all dreams are good. The more ferocious or terrifying a dream is, the better it is because it teaches you something," says Lawrence. She explains that by striving to decode the messages in your nightmare, you can uncover areas in your conscious life that may need attention. Then, by addressing those areas, you can "banish" the nightmare. "The problem is not the dream," she says. "Fix the life problem and the dream won't come back."

Dr. Hartmann has a similar view. He believes that unresolved emotional issues in the conscious life—even dating back to childhood—can result in dreams. In his book, he explains, "If we speak in terms of problem solving, we dream about problems that have not been adequately solved—solved in a total or emotional sense." When an issue is worked out and understood, it ceases to make a major appearance in our nightmares.

Ways to Find Meaning

There are several ways people can work out the meaning of their nightmares.