Nightmare
A nightmare is a dream of particular intensity and with content that the sleeper finds disturbing. They are usually associated with rapid-eye movement (REM) periods of sleep, and may be accompanied by physical movements.Up to about the eighteenth century, nightmares were often considered to be the work of demons, which were thought to sit on the chests of sleepers. Various forms of magic and spiritual possession were also advanced as causes. In nineteenth century Europe, the vagaries of diet were thought to be responsible. For example, a character in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens attributes the ghost he sees to "... an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato..." In a similar vein, the Household Cyclopedia of 1881 offers the following advice about nightmares:
- "Great attention is to be paid to regularity and choice of diet. Intemperance of every kind is hurtful, but nothing is more productive of this disease than drinking bad wine. Of eatables those which are most prejudicial are all fat and greasy meats and pastry... Moderate exercise contributes in a superior degree to promote the digestion of food and prevent flatulence; those, however, who are necessarily confined to a sedentary occupation, should particularly avoid applying themselves to study or bodily labor immediately after eating... Going to bed before the usual hour is a frequent cause of night-mare, as it either occasions the patient to sleep too long or to lie long awake in the night. Passing a whole night or part of a night without rest likewise gives birth to the disease, as it occasions the patient, on the succeeding night, to sleep too soundly. Indulging in sleep too late in the morning, is an almost certain method to bring on the paroxysm, and the more frequently it returns, the greater strength it acquires; the propensity to sleep at this time is almost irresistible."
In modern times, nightmares are thought to relate either to physiological causes, such as a high fever, or to psychological ones, such as unusual trauma or stress in the sleeper's life. The occasional body movements seen in nightmares may have a use in awakening the sleeper, thus helping to avoid the frighening dream-situation.
References and external links:
- Anch, A.M., & Browman, C.P., & Mitler, M.M., & Walsh, J.K. (1988). Sleep: A scientific perspective. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
I lay long and listened to the
I awoke with the dawn, and, dressing, looked out of the window,
of the Lower Town. A bell was calling to prayers in the Jesuit
garrison. Soldiers and stragglers passed down the street near by,
eyes, eager for crumbs that a well.html">well-fed soldier might cast aside.
of the army there was abundance, with revelry and dissipation.
Presently I drew to the trap-door.html">door of my loft, and, raising it
opened the door of the room.html">room.html">room.html">room.html">room where Labrouk's body.html">body lay. Candles
in chairs near by. I could see Labrouk's face.html">face plainly in the
yet unshaven and unkempt, too. Here was work for Voban's shears and
saw in the half-light the widowed wife.
"Madame," said I in a whisper, "I too weep with you. I pray for
sincerely. She passed into the room, and the two watchers, after
door, called one back, and, pointing to the body, whispered
the room, stood looking at the face of the dead man for a moment,
Then she stepped about the room, moving a chair and sweeping up a
remembered me, she asked me to enter the room. Then she bolted the
and said, "Were it not well to have Voban the barber?"
"I have sent for him and for Gabord," she replied. "Gabord was
him in prison because of the marriage.html">marriage of Mademoiselle Duvarney, but
shall go to it this morning as I have always gone. There is a
all that happens. It is your last look at the lady, and I will give
"Her marriage is to be set aside by the bishop to-day--in the
she will be happier so."
"Madame," said I, "I am a heretic, but I listened when.
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