5 tips for restless sleep: This is how you can describe your nightmares

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“Alcohol triggers nightmares,” says Albrecht Vorster, 38, a sleep researcher at Inselspital Bern. He advises those who frequently wake up at night from disturbing dreams to abstain completely from alcohol for three weeks. “In many cases, this can lead to an improvement in the condition.” Alcohol disrupts our natural sleep rhythm. It allows the respiratory tract muscles to relax and, as a result, to snore more. If there are short pauses in breathing, we continue to alternate between deep and light sleep. This leads to restless sleep.

“If we maintain rituals before we go to sleep, it gives us safety and security,” says Vorster. “We have a feeling that everything is going according to plan.” Even simple habits such as brushing teeth, breathing air, reading a book help to unwind and relax in the evening. This also reduces the chances of having nightmares at night.

Nightmares often repeat themselves. Although they are not always the same, Vorster says. “But the same motifs come up again and again.” He recommends writing down a nightmare you have repeatedly seen in detail. In step two, you rewrite it and give it a happy ending. This new version of the nightmare is read and repeated over and over in the waking state until it is internalized after a few weeks. Vorster: “This is how you can reinterpret dreams.” In sleep research, this method is called “Imaging Rehearsal Therapy” (IRT). “The results are usually very good. At some point, we can’t help but imagine the nightmare in the new variant. But then it’s not a nightmare anymore.”

According to Vorster, the fourth factor for deep, uninterrupted sleep is adequate sleep pressure. That means you need to stay awake long enough before bedtime—about twelve hours, according to Vorster. A siesta like in Spain, where many people take a long nap in the afternoon, isn’t a hindrance for people who don’t have trouble sleeping, however: “I would advise people who have frequent nightmares to give up their noon or afternoon nap.”

We all have nightmares. But thanks to them, we become aware of them only when we wake up. This happens more slowly if we sleep at regular hours, Vorster says. For this reason, everyone who has nightmares should first analyze their sleep habits. It may be helpful to keep a diary that the affected people write down every day for two weeks when they go to bed and when they get up in the morning. Then it’s about changing habits. “In two-thirds of cases, nightmares can be reduced by regular bedtimes.”