Spooky nightmares, it appears, are more than just a way of your brain giving you a fright; they may also be killing you.
Studying almost 200,000 people over a period of about 19 years showed that people who regularly had nightmares were over than three times more likely to die before the age of seventy. The study took 183,012 adults aged 26 to 86 and 2,429 8 to 10-year-olds and questioned them on the frequency of nightmares.
The study performed by UK Dementia Research and Imperial College London had shocking results. Not only did people who regularly had nightmares have a much higher risk of death before 70, but they also aged faster. This contributed to the likelihood of an earlier death.
Why Nightmares Kill You
The study found that having bad dreams led to a higher chance of an early death. But when you look at the science of a bad dream, it starts to make a bit more sense. “Our sleeping brains cannot distinguish dreams from reality. That’s why nightmares often wake us up sweating, gasping for breath, and with our hearts pounding. Because our fight-or-flight response has been triggered,” the leader of the study said.
So, our bodies and minds become stressed in a similar way they would in a waking experience. The stress of a nightmare is killing us in and out of the dream. “Nightmares lead to prolonged elevations of cortisol, a stress hormone closely linked to faster cellular aging,” he explained.
Additionally, a lot of the cell repair and restoration we undergo is done at night. Having regular nightmares stops this process, or stunts it. This leads to significantly faster aging as our bodies are unable to heal themselves.
The lowered quality of sleep brought on by nightmares increases the chance of an early death. “The combined effects of chronic stress and disrupted sleep likely contribute to the accelerated aging of our cells and bodies.”
If you suffer from bad nightmares, there are ways to deal with them before they kill you. A healthier lifestyle and a hygienic sleeping environment will often be a quick fix. But treatment for things like anxiety and depression may also be needed.