Nightmare disorder

Also known as dream anxiety disorder characterized by frequent nightmares.
Nightmares, which often portray the individual in a situation that jeopardizes their life or personal safety, usually occur during the REM sleep.
Though most people have experienced at least one nightmare during their life, subjects with nightmare disorder experience them with a greater frequency.
Nightmare disorders are included in the group of parasomnias

Nightmare disorders can be confused with sleep terror disorders.
After a sleep terror episode, the patient wakes up with more dramatic symptoms than with a nightmare disorder, such as screaming and crying.
In sleep terror disorders, they don't remember the reason of the fear, while in nightmare disorder, they remembers it by details.
Sleep terrors usually occur during NREM Sleep Nightmare disorder usually occur during the REM sleep.

Bad dreams have less emotional intense.
Nightmares contain more scenes of aggression than bad dreams and more unhappy endings.
Nightmares have more fear than with bad dreams.

During the nightmare, the sleeper may scream and yell out things.
He is often awakened by these threatening, frightening dreams and can often vividly remember their experience.
Upon awakening, the sleeper is usually alert and oriented within their surroundings, but may have an increased heart rate and symptoms of anxiety, like sweating.
They may have trouble falling back to sleep for fear they will experience another nightmare.
Nightmares have deep effect on everyday tasks
Recurring episodes of awakening while recalling the intensely disturbing dream manifestations which usually result from fear or anxiety, but can also be triggered by anger, sadness, disgust, and other dysphoric emotions.

Fear is the most frequent emotion associated with nightmares, even if other emotions such as sadness, anger, and confusion can also be present.
Presence of frequent nightmares that imply danger for the person and impact mood in a negative way is needed.
When waking up from nightmares, the person behaves in an alert way.
The disorder has to have a significant impact on the patient's personal, social or professional functioning, in areas like mood, sleep, cognition, behaviour, fatigue, family and occupation.

50- 70% of the cases for PTSD,
17.5% for depression,
18.3% for insomnia,
16.7% for schizophrenia
49% for borderline personality disorder
Sleep disorders such as night terrors, chronic insomnia and sleep-disordered breathing

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