克服成人噩梦，获得更好睡眠的7种方法

克服成人噩梦，获得更好睡眠的7种方法

We leave behind our fears of monsters under the bed as we say goodbye to our childhoods, but one can follow us into adulthood and loom over our heads.

当我们告别童年时代时，我们把对床底的怪物的恐惧抛在脑后，但是有一个怪物会随着我们进入成年，并在我们的脑海中浮现。

Nightmares are more common in childhood, but anywhere from 50% to 85% of adults report having occasional nightmares.

噩梦在童年时期更常见，但50%到85%的成年人偶尔会做噩梦。

Almost everyone can experience nightmares — and especially during the pandemic.

几乎每个人都可能经历噩梦——尤其是在流行病期间。

"With a combination of additional stress and safer-at-home orders, more people are struggling with nightmares," said Jennifer Martin, a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's board of directors.

加州大学洛杉矶分校大卫格芬医学院的医学教授、美国睡眠医学学会董事会成员詹妮弗·马丁说:“由于额外的压力和呆在家更安全的命令的双重作用下，越来越多的人都在与噩梦作斗争。”

If your days are filled with online school for the children, social distancing, masks and a daily death toll, isn't it no wonder adults are having nightmares at night?

如果你的日子里充斥着孩子们上网课、(保持)社交距离、戴口罩和每日死亡人数，成年人晚上做噩梦难道不奇怪吗?

"Dreams do usually incorporate things that happened during the day, leading some researchers to hypothesize that dreams and rapid eye movement sleep is essential for memory consolidation and cognitive rejuvenation," said Joshua Tal, a sleep and health psychologist based in Manhattan.

来自曼哈顿的睡眠和健康心理学家约书亚·塔尔说:“梦通常包含白天发生的事情，这导致一些研究人员假设，梦和快速眼动睡眠对记忆巩固和认知恢复至关重要。”

Nightmares are what the American Academy of Sleep Medicine call "vivid, realistic and disturbing dreams typically involving threats to survival or security, which often evoke emotions of anxiety, fear or terror."

美国睡眠医学学会称噩梦为“生动的、现实的、令人不安的梦，通常涉及对生存或安全的威胁，经常引发焦虑、恐惧或恐怖的情绪。”

Trying out these 10 steps could help you ease your nightmares and improve your sleep and quality of life.

试试这些10种步骤，可以帮助你缓解你的噩梦,改善你的睡眠和生活质量。

1. Establish a sleep routine

建立睡眠规律

Create a nighttime routine to improve the quality of your sleep and reduce nightmares.

制定一个夜间计划来提高你的睡眠质量，减少噩梦。

Nightmares, Martin said, occur during rapid eye movement sleep, the phase during which our muscles relax and we dream. Waking up during REM sleep enables recollection of the dream and resulting distress.

马丁说，噩梦发生在快速眼动睡眠期间，这是我们肌肉放松和做梦的阶段。在快速眼动睡眠中醒来可以回忆起梦和由此产生的痛苦。

"One of the most effective ways to treat nightmare problems in adults is actually to get them sleeping more soundly (so) they wake up less often," Martin said.

马丁说:“治疗成人噩梦问题最有效的方法之一就是让他们睡得更沉，这样他们就不会经常醒来。”

A healthy sleep routine begets sound sleep. Develop one by exercising, setting regular sleep and waking times, ensuring your room is dark and cool, avoiding stimulating beverages after midafternoon and engaging in relaxing activities.

健康的睡眠规律能带来良好的睡眠。可以通过锻炼、设定有规律的睡眠和睡醒时间、确保你的房间黑暗凉爽、避免在下午三点左右喝刺激性饮料以及从事放松活动来培养这种能力。

2. Cut back on alcohol

减少饮酒

Alcoholic beverages can induce restlessness and awakenings throughout the night — potentially helping you remember nightmares, Martin said.

酒精饮料会导致整晚的不安和醒来——这可能有助于你记住噩梦，马丁说。

"A lot of people use alcohol as a way to wind down and feel sleepy at the end of the day, but it's really not the right solution," she added. Instead, try herbal teas and other beverages conducive to sleep.

她补充说:“很多人把酒精作为放松的方式，在一天结束时感到困倦，但这真的不是正确的解决办法。”相反，尝试花草茶和其他有助于睡眠的饮料。

3. Don't eat before bed

睡觉前不要吃东西

Avoid snacking before bed to prevent spiking your metabolism and activating your brain.

睡觉前不要吃零食，以免加快新陈代谢，激活大脑。

Snacking can boost metabolism, which causes your brain to be more active and could lead to nightmares, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

根据美国国家睡眠基金会的数据,零食可以促进新陈代谢,使你的大脑更活跃,可能会导致噩梦。

4. Review your medications

检查你的药物

Some medications can prompt nightmares by interrupting REM sleep.

有些药物会打断快速眼动睡眠，从而引发噩梦。

Melatonin, while a popular sleep aid, influences our circadian rhythm that regulates REM sleep, and can lead to more or fewer nightmares. If you want to take melatonin for better sleep, work with a sleep specialist to ensure you're taking it at the right time and not compounding the problem, Martin said.

褪黑激素虽然是一种很受欢迎的助眠剂，但它会影响我们的昼夜节律，从而调节快速眼动睡眠，并可能导致噩梦增多或减少。马丁说，如果你想通过服用褪黑激素来提高睡眠质量，请咨询睡眠专家，确保你是在正确的时间服用褪黑激素，而不会使问题恶化。

5. Practice stress-relieving activities

练习减压活动

Progressive muscle relaxation — tensing muscle groups as you inhale and relaxing them as you exhale — has been effective for reducing nightmares.

渐进式肌肉放松——吸气时绷紧肌肉群，呼气时放松肌肉群——对减少噩梦很有效。

6. Journal your worries

记下你的烦恼

Journaling can help you release your anxieties.

写日记可以帮助你释放焦虑。

Write down your worries to get them all out ahead of time, lest they rear their disquieting heads at night. Journaling can be helpful for alleviating nightmares and stress in general, Tal said.

写下你担心的事情，提前把它们都说出来，以免它们在晚上产生不安的情绪。总的说来，写日记有助于减轻噩梦和压力，塔尔说。

7. Don't watch or read scary content before bed

睡觉前不要看或读恐怖的内容

Images from any exciting or disturbing content you watched before bed can appear in your dreams.

睡觉前看的任何令人兴奋或不安的内容都会出现在你的梦中。

During the pandemic, our everyday lives are looking pretty scary, too. "Reading the news media and then hopping into bed is more likely to trigger disturbing and upsetting dreams than looking through pictures from your last vacation with your family," she added.

在大流行期间，我们的日常生活看起来也相当可怕。她补充说:“浏览新闻媒体然后跳到床上比浏览上次和家人度假时的照片更容易引发令人不安的梦。”