On November 9, 1984, director Wes Craven unleashed a horror that would haunt the dreams (and nightmares) of horror fans for the next 40 years. In Nightmare on Elm Streeta generation of moviegoers met Freddy Krueger, a terrifying serial killer who haunted teenagers through their dreams.
Now, four decades after the classic film first hit our screens, is there any truth to the idea that Does dying in a dream mean dying in real life?
Experts say that while you can’t possibly meet a gory end in your sleep, nightmares really could trigger serious health complications.
During a nightmare, our bodies and brains go into a frenzy of activity as we live out whatever horrible scenario our minds have imagined. In some rare cases, that intense night fear could actually kill you in your sleep, causing a heart attackexplains the Daily Mail.
Scientists warn that the greatest danger associated with nightmares It comes from the loss of a valuable dream.
Whether it’s having to take a test you didn’t prepare for or being chased by a clawed killer, almost everyone has experienced a nightmare. at some point in our lives.
On a very simple level, a nightmare is simply a particularly distressing dream in which we experience a high level of negative emotionsuch as fear, disgust or disappointment.
People usually start having nightmares when They are about three or four years old and begin to experience them less frequently as they grow older.
It’s not exactly clear what triggers nightmares on a physiological level, but the professor Tiina Paunioa sleep expert at the University of Helsinki, reveals that nightmares are probably related to parts of our brain associated with stress.
When we sleep, activity levels of norepinephrine, a brain chemical involved in our response to ‘fight or flight’, They are usually low.
But during a nightmare, we see norepinephrine levels increase in the amygdala and brain. locus coeruleus, brain regions associated with fear, anxiety and anger.
Although the physiological origins of nightmares can be mysterious, their psychological causes are very well studied.
Professor Paunio says: “Nightmares often occur under emotional stress, so acute life stress is a risk factor. Lifestyle, in particular alcohol consumption, is another well-known risk factor for nightmares.”
Additionally, nightmares can be triggered by witnessing something frightening or traumatic. That might explain why many of the cast members of Nightmare on Elm Street reported having experienced nightmares after filming particularly scary scenes.
If you have ever had a nightmare that It involved your own death, then you know the experience can be absolutely terrifying and genuinely disturbing.
Some experts suggest that this fear could be so powerful that it literally scares you to death. When you are afraid, your body goes into a state of flight or fear and releases an avalanche of chemicals, including adrenaline and cortisol.
While a dose of adrenaline could save your life if you had to flee from a supernatural killer, this chemical is toxic for our organs in large doses.
When adrenaline comes into contact with the receptors on the muscle cells of the heart, it initiates a chemical reaction which tells the heart to contract.
If a massive dose of adrenaline arrives, that signal will not go out and the heart will not be able to relax, leading to a fatal abnormal rhythm.
Paunio says, “In general, the health risks of nightmares are usually indirect and are related to the causal factors that cause them.”
“In vulnerable individuals, for example those with heart disease, nightmares can indirectly contribute to deathalthough this is rare,” he concludes.
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