How to stop stress dreams, how to sleep peacefully, how to sleep balanced Do we even have the power to consciously influence what we dream about? Anxiety and stress are part and parcel of our everyday hectic life, it would be difficult to find a person in today’s fast-paced world who does not experience varying degrees of stress in their daily life. Finding effective stress management techniques should be a priority in every individual’s life, as excessive stress, inadequate management of stress can lead to mental and physical complaints, which can lead to a rather poor quality of life.
What is a stress dream and what causes it?
When you’re regularly plagued by stress dreams every night, you know how enervated, sleep-deprived and groggy you wake up the next day.
The question then arises, why do I have stressful dreams every night? According to clinical psychologists, when we fail to process stressful emotions during the day, we have stressful dreams at night.
Stressful events, situations and happenings in real life can also cause distressful sleep and stressful dreams. This could be a fight, a disturbing negative experience, a humiliating situation, a frightening medical result and so on.
A stressful dream, like most dreams, is associated with the REM sleep stage, when the brain is very intensely active, essentially processing the whole day’s events. Many people assume that a stress dream and a nightmare are one and the same, when in fact the nature of the two is completely different.
A nightmare is usually experienced as frightening and threatening, which is why we often wake up from a nightmare feeling terrified. Stressful dreams are mainly related to real, everyday experiences and events that we dream about, so we tend to wake up with stomach cramps and anxiety,” say experts.
During a stressful dream, we experience what we fear, what we are anxious about, what we are afraid of, we experience the feelings almost as real, even though we are „only” dreaming while we sleep.
How does biofeedback help people reduce stress?
A stressful lifestyle can have many negative consequences. Constant restlessness and tension can lead to concentration problems, which in turn can lead to reduced performance, and restless sleep and stressful dreams can lead to fatigue and exhaustion.
In the long run, constant stress can lead to anxiety, depression, stomach problems, migraines and later even other physical symptoms.
When the body senses danger, for example in a stressful situation, it prepares to escape and survive. That’s why the autonomic nervous system is activated, our muscles tense, our breathing quickens, our palms start to sweat or our heartbeat increases. We don’t even notice these things, because they happen involuntarily in response to a stressful situation.
Technological advances of the 21st century, such as the QUEX S biofeedback device, allow us to consciously influence our body’s response to stress at the very first manifestation of stress, at the physiological level.
Biofeedback therapy with the QUEX S device gives us a tool to manage stress, to reduce stress, without taking medication and without side effects.
Biofeedback therapy is an effective stress management technique that can be applied to anyone, regardless of age or gender, and can help you learn to manage stressful situations much better.
Our body can function in a more balanced and harmonious way, which means that biofeedback also works against stressful dreams, as effective stress management during the day also contributes to a restful sleep at night.
In biofeedback therapy, the biofeedback device uses sensors attached to the patient’s body to measure electrophysiological signals from the body that deviate from a balanced state when stressed.
The modern medical therapy device measures the signals, displays them on a screen, analyses them and, with the help of special software and the biofeedback therapist, teaches the patient to regulate the physiology of his or her own body.
The biofeedback therapy is always individualised and the number of biofeedback sessions required to achieve visible, noticeable and effective stress management is determined.
Techniques to manage stressful dreams
Biofeedback can be a big trump card in stress management, but there are other practices and techniques to combat stressful dreams that can improve effectiveness.
- Avoid caffeinated drinks, coffee, tea, energy drinks in the afternoon and evening.
- take regular exercise, and if you can’t fit in more, at least take an evening walk in the fresh air.
- Try to establish a daily routine, including bedtime. Getting up and going to bed at the same time every day can be a good start against stress! In between, try to get at least 7 hours of sleep!
- before going to bed, take a hot bath, a nice shower to relax your muscles!
- before going to bed, sip a lemongrass tea and avoid foods that are hard to digest, and snacking in bed!
- avoid watching TV, using smart devices and phones for at least 1 hour before bedtime. Instead, read, write in a diary, organise your thoughts, look for the positive events in your day!
- Listen to relaxing music and tunes before falling asleep. Relaxing music can reduce heart rate, stress and anxiety.
Biofeedback device for stress management
The biofeedback device uses various biofeedback techniques to treat stress, including techniques to balance brain waves, restore heart function and pulse. With the help of biofeedback devices, it is possible to learn the correct posture to avoid muscular tension and the resulting pain.
The latest biofeedback devices, such as the QUEX S, can also be used to perform guided meditation, which helps the patient’s body to regenerate and rebalance.
Biofeedback therapy gives us an excellent opportunity to correct stress-related complaints and symptoms with the help of our mind.
And if we manage stress, anxiety and everyday nervousness well, we can avoid stressful dreams, and our nights can become relaxing and peaceful, and our waking hours can be energetic and positive!