A cure for Nightmares?

Question

My husband has bad dreams/nightmares almost every night, actually he will even have more than one in a night. Although it has recently been really bad, other times he does have these dreams pretty often. None of them are re-occuring specifically. I just don't know what to do to help him. The dreams really effect his mood throughout the day too. Any advice to help him sleep and dream better?

My husband doesn't watch, read, do anything scary. He has been a bit low on sleep lately, but not too badly.

He doesn't tell me about his dreams because he just wants to forget it usually, but they always deal with me, my son, or all of us dying. Sometimes it is funny things like zombies killing us, while other times it will be my husband dying and his realization of leaving us behind.

Answer 1

First of all, you have to find out what kind of bad dreams or nightmares he has. You have to understand first before you can give a cure. If it is about some burden he has, share with him. If it is about stress at work, try to find a way to relieve it.

Actually, day time experience caused nightmare, but it will affect the next day if he can't get it over from night time dreams.

I suggest you have him talked to you about the nightmare, understand it first, then see what bothers him.

As far as method, many will say milk can help. Ask him to drink some before sleep. But that only help temporarily.

Answer 2

Cure For Nightmares

Answer 3

There are many options he can take.

1)Herbal treatment. Look it up on the web, but there are herbs out there he can take that will relax his muscles and mood enough that he wont have nightmares.

2)Medicinal Treatment. He can take sleeping pills that will knock him out all night long.

3)Alcohol. Drinking alcohol actually prevents a person from dreaming when sleeping.

4)Having sexual intercourse before sleep can relax him enough and put him in a good enough mood that it will enhance happier dreams.

5)Eating the right foods. Make sure he doesnt eat anything high in fat throughout the day or right before bed because these are leading causes to bad dreams.

6)Cold weather. Statistically speaking, nightmares occur most often when its cold in the room.

Good luck.

Answer 4

well a trick i have learned so as not to have more than one nightmare a night is when your husband wakes up: sit up and turn your pillow over. i heard that its enough to wake you up from the nightmare, but then you will be able to fall back asleep.

as for the nightmares, there must be something that is triggering these. it might not neccesarily be scary movies, etc. it could be something he eats or some subconcious feeling.

you may need to seek professional help if this continues to persist.

good luck.

Answer 5

Is your husband a soldier who recently returned from Iraq? If so, he could be having post-traumatic stress disorder.

Is he under a lot of pressure from work? He could be shouldering more responsibility than he can emotionally handle.

If you want to help him, suggest that he write down the pressures he is dealing with before he goes to bed, because they will still be there when he gets up in the morning. Writing them down has a way of transferring the guilt associated with whatever is stressing him out so much.

Maybe he should talk to his doctor about this.

Answer 6

Meditation before go to bed, works like a magic. I witnessed many people freed from the nightmares. Yet I'm thinking, can any wife persuade her husband to do something.....?

Answer 7

Is he ex-military or has he witnessed a traumatic event? He could have PTSD. How does he act during the day? Is he otherwise fine mentally? I might suggest that your husband talk to you about this problem, or get counseling if they're really bothering him. You need to find the root of the problem so he can sleep well again.

Answer 8

Have you tried falling asleep to music?
Another asker asked if music can affect dreams, and the answer I gave was yes, music can affect dreams! Why not try having the radio or CD player on low at night as you fall asleep?
It doesn't have to be one of those cheesy 'ocean sounds' or muzak cd's, either. I myself like to fall asleep to swing/Big Band music - as it was what my dad played every night on AM radio while camping when I was a kid (And we camped a lot!) So when I listen to swing/Big Band music, I'm always reminded of those camping trips. Maybe you could put together a tape or cd of songs you really like and play it at low volume and fall asleep to it. Music enhances the mood, happy music will inspire happy feelings, sad music will inspire sad feelings, play what makes him feel happy and try going to sleep to that every night.
Also, nightmares tend to be about control issues and mostly everything out of control. I'm guessing your husband is under a lot of stress right now that he is internalizing rather than dealing with it. I know it is probably impossible, but try to get him to open up and find out what is bugging him. You might want to try scheduling 'dates' just for the two of you, where you do things you did when you first got together, and use that time to talk about things without distractions. During those talks, try not to judge him too harshly. I also recommend practicing forgiveness. At first it sounds weird, but a lot of anger and frustration stems from being unable to forgive the small stuff. By forgiving and letting go of the little things that everyone does, it changes the things you stress about. By changing and controlling your reactions to stupid little problems and letting them go, you change your level of stress and relax more.
Tell your husband he can't control what happens around him, but he can control himself. Is he feeling weak? Encourage him to work out and gain strength! Is he overweight? Encourage him to take control over what he eats and lose weight! Does he feel helpless? Encourage him to help others! By taking control over himself, he will have better armor to defend himself and take control over his nightmares.
It takes some time but is always worth the effort.
Good luck!

Answer 9

Dream content is often dependent on the last things we were thinking of before going to sleep. One of the worst things to do is looking at TV in bed. It´s better to read a book with uplifting thoughts than watch the violence that passes for drama on the goggle box.

Answer 10

try to find the root of the nightmares. was there something traumatic that happened to him recently or in the past? could you tell us some of the nightmares? we will try to help you.