I Always Get Nightmares When I Take A Nap

Why do I always have nightmares when I nap but not when I sleep at night?

I usually get a pretty good bit of sleep at night. Usually 7-8 hours. I was never able to nap as a younger kid.. I couldn't nap until about the age of 12 and I am now 15. And between all of the school things, cheerleading, and dancing I do, I get tired. It is now summer so I won't be napping as much but still.. Whenever I take a nap It always leads to horrible or depressing dreams and I wake up crying or screaming.. But at night, I never have dreams, or if I do, I can never remember them whenever I wake up. I never eat right before I take a nap, my mom said that could cause the dreams? But it's obviously the cause. I know the obvious answer, stop taking naps. But I'm just wondering your thoughts on why I only have terrible nightmares when I take naps?
Thanks..

Why do i always have nightmares when i take a nap during the day? I never have nightmares at night though.?

It may be because you only actually remember having a dream/nightmare during a certain stage of sleep. You are only aware of any dreaming while you are in the first 2 stages of sleep. Deep sleep which is more likely to occur during a full night's sleep instead of a quick nap, may have a lot of dream activity. But you just won't remember it. In other words, you probably dream a lot more than you realize you do. Is there something in your life causing you a great deal of stress?

Whenever i take a nap i have a nightmare and?

Make sure you're not too hot when you go to sleep, especially if you're napping in the afternoon when it's already warmer to begin with. Every time I sleep with heavy blankets or a comforter over me, I end up having strange nightmares, and wake up feeling extremely overheated.

Hope this helps!

Nightmares while napping?

Sickness can cause nightmares, so can issues you're having in real life; so clear those up.

Other then that, since they're vivid; I would suggest keeping a 'Dream Journal' basically, just get a blank notebook and document your dreams, whats happening in them, what you eat and drink before bed (important, can cause serious nightmares), the time you had them, the intensity and when you woke up.

This can help you properly control your dreams and eliminate what's causing the nightmares.

Why do I get nightmares when i nap but not at night when i sleep?

I am 19 years old and in good health. If that even matters.

I get these horrible dreams every time I decide to nap at my own house. If I nap at my girlfriends house, then I don't get them. All of these dreams involve me about to die whether it's from a car crash, being shot, or like today...not able to breath. On the days when I "can't breath" or "die" I always wake up gasping for breath. Sometimes i realize i am dreaming while asleep, but can't wake myself up and the dream continues on, but is worse because I am struggling to wake myself up.

I have heard it's because I don't fully get into REM, but there has to some other reason for it.

I would just stop taking them, but I can't because if i did, then I would never be able to get through my day. I have class in the morning, then my nap, then lifting, then class again at night. If anyone has any advice that would be awesome.

Nightmares when napping, but not sleeping for the night?

Your taking a nap and your brain knows it, so you never go into REM for too long, you go in and out because you want to wake up and finish the day, well the brain starts recalling then your imagination does the rest.
That's how I was able to see it.
I have more dreams when napping than when I go to bed at night.