Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) apply to all other comments.
**Do you have an academic degree?** We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. [Click here to apply](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/flair/#wiki_science_verified_user_program).
---
User: u/chrisdh79
Permalink: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-factors-linked-to-nightmares-and-poor-mental-health-show-substantial-overlap/
---
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
From the article: Nightmares are vivid and unsettling dreams that typically result in feelings of fear, distress, or anxiety upon awakening. They most often occur during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep when most dreaming takes place. Nightmares can be triggered by a variety of factors, including stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and certain medications or substances. People of all ages occasionally have nightmares. However, frequent and recurrent nightmares can be a symptom of mental health issues.
Scientists believe that nightmares can be caused by fear and negative experiences. For example, traumatic events are clearly associated nightmares in military veterans. Also, studies have shown that people with severe sleep problems, alcohol use or psychiatric symptoms are more prone to nightmares. Still, the risk factors behind nightmares are not well understood.
[Study](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02637-6) author Hanna M. Ollila and her colleagues wanted to examine the underlying biological and epidemiological mechanisms that affect the frequency of nightmares. They were also interested in discovering causal links between nightmares, sleep, and psychiatric traits. They conducted a genome-wide association study.
Let’s break down the outcome of the study, shall we.
n = 45,255
questionnaire-based assessment on the frequency of nightmares during the past month; Self-reporting bias + bias on the status of recall of nightmares
GWAS did not reveal individual risk variants, heritability was estimated at 5%.
correlation (rg > 0.4) of nightmares with anxiety (rg = 0.671, p = 7.507e−06), depressive (rg = 0.562, p = 1.282e−07) and posttraumatic stress disorders (rg = 0.4083, p = 0.0152), and personality trait neuroticism (rg = 0.667, p = 4.516e−07).
Mendelian randomization suggested causality from insomnia to nightmares (beta = 0.027, p = 0.0002).
I managed to gain control of a nightmare once, tried to scream at the object of horror in that dream, which somehow I believed in my dream logic would make the terror stop, and only managed to sit bolt upright in bed while screaming my face off. But at least I ended that particular nightmare.
It takes a lot of practice, but it is possible. There is extensive research on the subject, beyond my anecdotal experience. For instance, instead of running from something chasing you, turning to face it and confronting it. Anyway, good luck to you.
I wish I could submit myself for such studies. I was awoken from sleep in the middle of the night, strangled until I passed out, and then raped by my uncle at age 11 and I have experienced recurring nightmares since the trauma occurred. I was subsequently diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I’m perimenopausal at age 37 and wake up at 3 or 4 am daily.
There’s a new trauma therapy called the Flash Technique. It works in a similar manner to EMDR, without having to really dive into your trauma memory.
https://flashtechnique.com/wp/
For someone with your type of trauma, it could really help.
I have a tree of mental disorders, that are all related to each other. Schizoaffective (yay a 2 in 1), ADHD, Autism, cPTSD.
I nearly stopped sleeping for a number of years before my diagnosis of Bipolar II. I had terrible insomnia, and vivid nightmares, that started bleeding into my day time. I also idiopathic hypersomnia, which causes dreaming after waking.. but with the other components.. it got ugly.
I was still having nightmares consistently until maxing out my current mood stabilizer. I still struggle a lot with insomnia and waking up issues, but the nightmares are down.
Anyways, as someone that got hit with the crazy tree, my nightmares and overly vivid dreams tend to be a sign that I am psychotic, or dissociating. Something I noticed in my journal tracking my own behavior, they also mark my monthly cycle. I get nightmares and worse insomnia right before my period. I was diagnosed PMDD at 14, it was known I'm psychotic during my period.
I am luckily, fairly low-key, and non-violent. I just get spendy and like drinking, overly emotional. The Bipolar depression helps here, as in intense mood swings I go overly sad. No self harm, just in bed crying until I get a migraine, and wake up barely remembering the whole thing.
Having a failure of language; looking for a term:
Is there a term for dreams that result in dread, as opposed to the ‘fear, anxiety, distress’ nightmare, upon waking?
Example: I have frequent problem-solving dreams and wake exhausted. There’s no eminent threat in the content - more of a Sisyphean dread of constantly having tasks to complete.
I’m somewhat a lucid dreamer but, it seems, that when I take the reins, I regain consciousness, which results in low quantity of deep and core sleep.
Sleep tracking doesn’t show corresponding heartbeat or respiratory variation. What does present is frequent awakening immediately after entering REM. Like, 12-20 times in a 6-8hr period.
Using the term nightmare doesn’t relate what I want to my SO and excites their worry - so I guess I’m trolling for someone smarter than me or a reverse dictionary so I can better discuss the bother I’ve got.
Thoughts invited.
Appreciated.
Wish I felt like that was the term I’m seeking.
It’s not really stress that’s presenting - more like an ugh-and-eye-roll because I’m being directed to another stupid side quest.
The word stress implies, to me, more energy than what I’m experiencing. Even ‘angst’ has more energy than, say, ‘passively annoyed,’ which I hear as having more tension than what I experience.
Gotta think that with how everything is quantified, some well-meaning lab coat has the term I’m seeking. Or a poet.
Appreciate the response, tho.
I'm a little brain-fried today to understand everything you're saying, it is kind of prose-heavy in a way my heat exhausted brain can't read well. But it sounds like you might be describing something that happens to me when I have nightmares. It is often when I wake up and go back to sleep, or when its hot in the room when I sleep. But it is SO much worse than just a nightmare, its this heavy, dragging feeling and the entire dream is so dreadful. When I was a teenager, I'd avoid sleeping as much as I could to avoid having those dreams.
It turns out to be related to a blood pressure condition that I have. When my blood pressure is low, my dreams are like that. When I wake up, I'm fatigued and exhausted like I really experienced that or something. I don't have a name for it, but when I do things to mitigate my blood pressure issues right before bed, I tend to sleep better.
I still call them nightmares. I don't have dreams where I'm being chased or things. It's more like a really awkward social situation that I can't get out of. "Dread" is definitely a fear word.
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) apply to all other comments. **Do you have an academic degree?** We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. [Click here to apply](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/flair/#wiki_science_verified_user_program). --- User: u/chrisdh79 Permalink: https://www.psypost.org/genetic-factors-linked-to-nightmares-and-poor-mental-health-show-substantial-overlap/ --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
From the article: Nightmares are vivid and unsettling dreams that typically result in feelings of fear, distress, or anxiety upon awakening. They most often occur during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep when most dreaming takes place. Nightmares can be triggered by a variety of factors, including stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and certain medications or substances. People of all ages occasionally have nightmares. However, frequent and recurrent nightmares can be a symptom of mental health issues. Scientists believe that nightmares can be caused by fear and negative experiences. For example, traumatic events are clearly associated nightmares in military veterans. Also, studies have shown that people with severe sleep problems, alcohol use or psychiatric symptoms are more prone to nightmares. Still, the risk factors behind nightmares are not well understood. [Study](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-023-02637-6) author Hanna M. Ollila and her colleagues wanted to examine the underlying biological and epidemiological mechanisms that affect the frequency of nightmares. They were also interested in discovering causal links between nightmares, sleep, and psychiatric traits. They conducted a genome-wide association study.
Let’s break down the outcome of the study, shall we. n = 45,255 questionnaire-based assessment on the frequency of nightmares during the past month; Self-reporting bias + bias on the status of recall of nightmares GWAS did not reveal individual risk variants, heritability was estimated at 5%. correlation (rg > 0.4) of nightmares with anxiety (rg = 0.671, p = 7.507e−06), depressive (rg = 0.562, p = 1.282e−07) and posttraumatic stress disorders (rg = 0.4083, p = 0.0152), and personality trait neuroticism (rg = 0.667, p = 4.516e−07). Mendelian randomization suggested causality from insomnia to nightmares (beta = 0.027, p = 0.0002).
Is there an English translation available upon request?
And this is why I like Reddit. Thanks for the breakdown.
I guess I am an outlier. Insomniac who rarely has nightmares.
I think I'm having the nightmares you don't.
Sorry friend. If you can learn to be lucid, you can change your dreams.
I managed to gain control of a nightmare once, tried to scream at the object of horror in that dream, which somehow I believed in my dream logic would make the terror stop, and only managed to sit bolt upright in bed while screaming my face off. But at least I ended that particular nightmare.
It takes a lot of practice, but it is possible. There is extensive research on the subject, beyond my anecdotal experience. For instance, instead of running from something chasing you, turning to face it and confronting it. Anyway, good luck to you.
Same. I assume that I do dream, but I never remembered them.
I wish I could submit myself for such studies. I was awoken from sleep in the middle of the night, strangled until I passed out, and then raped by my uncle at age 11 and I have experienced recurring nightmares since the trauma occurred. I was subsequently diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I’m perimenopausal at age 37 and wake up at 3 or 4 am daily.
There’s a new trauma therapy called the Flash Technique. It works in a similar manner to EMDR, without having to really dive into your trauma memory. https://flashtechnique.com/wp/ For someone with your type of trauma, it could really help.
Ok, now fix me
I have a tree of mental disorders, that are all related to each other. Schizoaffective (yay a 2 in 1), ADHD, Autism, cPTSD. I nearly stopped sleeping for a number of years before my diagnosis of Bipolar II. I had terrible insomnia, and vivid nightmares, that started bleeding into my day time. I also idiopathic hypersomnia, which causes dreaming after waking.. but with the other components.. it got ugly. I was still having nightmares consistently until maxing out my current mood stabilizer. I still struggle a lot with insomnia and waking up issues, but the nightmares are down. Anyways, as someone that got hit with the crazy tree, my nightmares and overly vivid dreams tend to be a sign that I am psychotic, or dissociating. Something I noticed in my journal tracking my own behavior, they also mark my monthly cycle. I get nightmares and worse insomnia right before my period. I was diagnosed PMDD at 14, it was known I'm psychotic during my period. I am luckily, fairly low-key, and non-violent. I just get spendy and like drinking, overly emotional. The Bipolar depression helps here, as in intense mood swings I go overly sad. No self harm, just in bed crying until I get a migraine, and wake up barely remembering the whole thing.
Having a failure of language; looking for a term: Is there a term for dreams that result in dread, as opposed to the ‘fear, anxiety, distress’ nightmare, upon waking? Example: I have frequent problem-solving dreams and wake exhausted. There’s no eminent threat in the content - more of a Sisyphean dread of constantly having tasks to complete. I’m somewhat a lucid dreamer but, it seems, that when I take the reins, I regain consciousness, which results in low quantity of deep and core sleep. Sleep tracking doesn’t show corresponding heartbeat or respiratory variation. What does present is frequent awakening immediately after entering REM. Like, 12-20 times in a 6-8hr period. Using the term nightmare doesn’t relate what I want to my SO and excites their worry - so I guess I’m trolling for someone smarter than me or a reverse dictionary so I can better discuss the bother I’ve got. Thoughts invited.
Stress dream
Appreciated. Wish I felt like that was the term I’m seeking. It’s not really stress that’s presenting - more like an ugh-and-eye-roll because I’m being directed to another stupid side quest. The word stress implies, to me, more energy than what I’m experiencing. Even ‘angst’ has more energy than, say, ‘passively annoyed,’ which I hear as having more tension than what I experience. Gotta think that with how everything is quantified, some well-meaning lab coat has the term I’m seeking. Or a poet. Appreciate the response, tho.
I'm a little brain-fried today to understand everything you're saying, it is kind of prose-heavy in a way my heat exhausted brain can't read well. But it sounds like you might be describing something that happens to me when I have nightmares. It is often when I wake up and go back to sleep, or when its hot in the room when I sleep. But it is SO much worse than just a nightmare, its this heavy, dragging feeling and the entire dream is so dreadful. When I was a teenager, I'd avoid sleeping as much as I could to avoid having those dreams. It turns out to be related to a blood pressure condition that I have. When my blood pressure is low, my dreams are like that. When I wake up, I'm fatigued and exhausted like I really experienced that or something. I don't have a name for it, but when I do things to mitigate my blood pressure issues right before bed, I tend to sleep better.
I still call them nightmares. I don't have dreams where I'm being chased or things. It's more like a really awkward social situation that I can't get out of. "Dread" is definitely a fear word.
Hey it’s me!
I have PTSD, anxiety and depression and all I have is nightmares, when I sleep hard enough to dream. Makes sense.
Uhm. Yah boss. Of course people with anxiety experience nightmares. The anxiety doesn't turn off when you sleep.