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  • The Science of Us Sleep Institute presents "The Good side of bad dreams."

  • Do you find yourself tossing and turning at night, plagued by weird nightmares about stuff that's been worrying you?

  • You know, like a dream where you catch a disease that's been in the news, or where your boss is literally eating you alive.

  • Don't worry, those terrible visions are actually helping your mental health.

  • Research shows that the things that concern us most while we are awake, continue to mess with us when we sleep.

  • Your unconscious brain takes your abstract fears and turns them into stories in the form of nightmares.

  • When you experience a nightmare, you wake up, and remember it like something that really happened to you.

  • Even if it was totally unrealistic.

  • In other words, nightmares are sort of like factories that turn your fears into memories.

  • Here's where things get interesting.

  • Memories are easier for the human mind to deal with than vague anxieties about the world around us.

  • A memory might make you feel bad, but your brain thinks of it is something in the past.

  • And therefore, something you don't need to panic about in the present.

  • That's right, nightmares actually help distance you from your fears.

  • And don't let dread of bad dreams keep you from going to sleep, because that can land you in real trouble.

  • Researchers have found that sleep deprivation correlates strongly to the development of mental disorders.

  • You need bad dreams to help you process all the bad stuff in the world around you.

  • So, let's all take a moment to thank our evil nighttime visions.

  • Without them, waking life would be the real nightmare.

The Science of Us Sleep Institute presents "The Good side of bad dreams."

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