Sleep Well Kids

The latest research into our minds and our development as human beings has apparently revealed that nightmares cause mental disorders.

Yup, that's right. Having bad dreams and night terrors may CAUSE mental disorders. So think back, anyone have nightmares as kids? Apparently your parents missed a vital warning sign and they could have saved you from "entrenched" mental health issues by waking you up. Of course they don't actually know whether nightmares cause mental health issues or whether they are indicators of the faulty wiring that may later lead to issues. But the article framed it a little more dramatically for BBC News readers. Hate to think what the Sun would have done with it.

I don't doubt the science though. My childhood was full of nightmares I wouldn't mind having explained to me. Things I remember even now after over a decade. I have a very vivid memory of a dream where I was locked in a dungeon with skeleton's chained to the wall (cartoon style, I know they wouldn't really stay all together hanging up). But I was 4 when I had the dream and it's still there. I also got recurring dreams that progressed nightly for a few weeks. These don't make sense to me even now. Every year, usually around September, up until I was about 14, I had this set of dreams. They played out like a real-time TV series. I would be kidnapped and held in a basement, being starved and beaten about. Nothing too dark, but still scary.

But, whilst the principle seems to make a certain amount of sense. I don't think I am psychotic or suffering any type of psychosis. The way the article frames is it is that children who are going to suffer from major psychotic breaks will suffer from this. But to me, surely it could be indicitive of many conditions. If it is prrof of faulty wiring in your brain, then surely it could be applied across the board. Just because I don't have nightmares about cleaning doesn't mean they aren't linked to the same faulty wiring that lead on to my OCD.

Also, whilst it is very interesting, does it really mean anything? If we now take note of when our children get us up at night because they've had a bad dream, will it help? Will it be anything more than us knowing that there is a problem? If my mum had taken me to a doctor over my nightmares he would have laughed her out of the surgery. I don't think we have moved on enough since then as a race to be able to do anything about it. Just because it is a proven fact doesn't mean that doctors or psychologists will do anything. Medicine these days still does not believe in preventative measures if it involves them doing any work. Maybe counselling and close monitoring would save children from tortuous mental health issues in later life but a doctor won't be interested until they have the condition.

If anything, this article shows that there is a lot more knowledge than there is practice. We know so much about all these conditions, even the general public can find out loads about them. But being able to find help available for it can be near impossible.