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Fear not a factor in half of all nightmares


Still Waters

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Nightmares have a greater emotional impact than bad dreams but fear doesn't always feature in them, a new study by scientists at the University of Montreal has found.

Although fear was the most frequently reported main emotion in nightmares and bad dreams, almost half of all disturbing dreams in the survey contained primary emotions other than fear, including anger, sadness, and frustration.

http://www.telegraph...tudy-finds.html

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I wonder where they came up with their definitions. I've never heard them before.

To me, nightmares are scary dreams. Bad dreams are ones more negative than positive.

However you define things, I'm bewildered why there had to be a scientific study to find out what emotion was key in what percentage of dreams that wake you up or not. It does absolutely nothing.

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If you got beaten, lost an object, scolded by parents for example are bad dreams. But if you got stab, fall from high height, meet a demon; those are nightmares because they trigger fear.

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Although fear was the most frequently reported main emotion in nightmares and bad dreams, almost half of all disturbing dreams in the survey contained primary emotions other than fear, including anger, sadness, and frustration.

All of these 3 are primarily related to fear, which still means fear is a primary emotion in nightmares.

Anger- Fear of failure to self-preserve the ego, leading to aggression against the attacker.

Sadness- Fear of defeat, leading to breakdown of the ego.

Frustration- Fear of loss of control, leading to passive aggression against the ego

The ego here represents the self-image, self-values and self-instincts that govern a person's behavior, consciousness and personality.

Edited by Ashyne
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Had a nightmare this morning. Woke up panicking. Didn't feel right for a while. Can't even remember what it was about, all I remember is "water" that's it.Oh, and someone screaming angrily. Not sure why... not sure at all.

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To me a nightmare is like a horror movie or a surrealistic thriller in a dream. Bad dream is like an unpleasant experience that adheres to the laws of real life normalcy.

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  • 1 month later...

i dont know anyone else's definition of nightmares vs bad dreams...but i remember these i used to have...i would be unable to move--sound familar?--and these kept on until one time i was aware--while i was in the thing--of these two individuals standing and watching me as/while i was having the cant move thing ...and i was struggling to simply to be able to move! and those two beings were watching me, exchanging comments while i was fighting to simply move. i ignored the fear that came with it, only wanting to move! ...and i kept fighting...something must have been reached as one of them made a comment to the other, and it stopped.

i've never again had that helpless feeling in dreams again...

now my dreams are different--but thats a different subject.

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I’ve experienced a few bad dreams although I wouldn’t actually label them as nightmare’s… My definition of a nightmare is when the fight or flight response is triggered during sleep hence my unconscious mind fails (or refuses) to fully understand what’s happening causing paralytic fright.

Or something like that!

Edited by Meridian O
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