Is it normal to dream every night, and what about nightmares?
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS
Everyone dreams every night through REM sleep; remembering depends mostly on when you wake. Vivid dreaming after alcohol, stress, new medicines or sleep deprivation is REM rebounding, not an omen.
Occasional nightmares are universal. The pattern that deserves help: recurring nightmares that poison sleep or replay trauma, for which specific effective therapy exists, imagery rehearsal among them.
Acting dreams out physically, punching, leaping from bed, especially in older adults, is worth a sleep clinic visit in its own right.
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