Nightmares and a Link to
Mental Illness
I saw a very interesting article in news
from the BBC recently that says that if a child suffers from regular nightmares this might
be an early warning sign of psychotic disorders that could develop in later
life.
The study, by UK researchers said that while most
children will have nightmares from time to time, if the nightmares persist it
could be an indication of something more serious. Nightmares accompanied by what are called
‘night terrors’ were also an indication of increased risk.
Commenting
on the study, the charity YoungMinds said it was important research that may
help people detect the early signs of mental illness.
Almost
7000 people were followed up to the age of 12 and parents were regularly asked
about any sleep problems in their children.
Then at the end of the study the children were assessed for psychotic
experiences such as hallucinations, delusions and thinking their thoughts were
being controlled.
The
study showed that the majority of children had nightmares at some point, but in
37% of cases, parents reported problems with nightmares for several years in
succession. One in 10 of the children had night terrors, generally between the
ages of three and seven.
The
team at the University of Warwick said that a long-term problem with nightmares
and terrors was linked to a higher risk of mental health problems later. The findings were that around 47 in every
1,000 children had some form of psychotic experience. Those having nightmares
aged 12, it was found, were three-and-a-half times more likely to have problems
and the risk was nearly doubled by regular night terrors. One of the
researchers, Prof Dieter Wolke, told the BBC, who reported the story, that nightmares
are relatively common, as are night terrors, but that it had been observed that
if they did persist then there might be something more serious although the
relationship between sleep problems and psychosis is not clear. One theory is
that bullying or other traumatic events in childhood might cause both symptoms.
Another
alternative is that the way some children's brains are wired means the
boundaries between what is real and unreal, or sleeping and wakefulness, are
blurred. What this means that treating
the sleep issues may not prevent psychotic events.
Prof
Wolke did say that a regular routine and quality sleep were the key to tackling
nightmares and that children should have more regular sleep, avoid
anxiety-promoting films before bed and not use a computer or have other
stimulation at night.
Night terrors occur at
specific points during sleep and can be managed by briefly waking the child. Lucie
Russell, the director of campaigns at YoungMinds, said that this had been a
very important study because anything that could be done to promote early
identification of signs of mental illness was vital to help the thousands of
children that suffer. As early identification of a problem could help to lessen
the chance of problems becoming entrenched in adulthood, this study is an important
one.
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Amanda Thomas
UK Health Radio
