Before going further into the nature of Nightmares, It is important to have somewhat of an understanding for the functions of dreams. The current dream theory basically states that dreams play a role in our memory consolidation, as well as bringing up different themes or problems from ones waking life. These dream experiences are away to subconsciously program and or bring to light different questions, problems or concerns the dreamer may have. There many varying interpretations of exactly is going on in our dreams and where the messages arise out of, but typically it is agreed upon that many connections are made within our dreams between images, experiences, our thoughts and emotions. Also, a good metaphor for dream functioning in regards to mood regulation is as our "emotional thermostat". Our dreams work to regulate and even out our emotional moods, much like a reset button, our dreams work to re-establish the range of a person’s mood. For more of an in depth explanation for the functioning of dreams check out (web sight for Dreams).
It is important to know the level of participation and importance in the dreams of someone to fully determine the nature of one’s nightmares. Earlier it was noted that each person has a unique construct for their dreams and its experience and the role they play in life. With Nightmare sufferers, we find that the mood state is often disrupted within sleep but we can now understand why the Nightmares come and how to better regulate mood to minimize the recurrence of nightmares.
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