This document provides 95 tips for dealing with nightmares in both children and adults. For children, it recommends techniques like having them redraw dreams with positive endings, exposure to feared stimuli, and providing comforting items in their room. For adults, it suggests changes to sleep environment and habits like avoiding screens, caffeine, and stressful activities before bed as well as relaxation techniques.

2. Crash Course In Creativity
Challenge Assumptions assignment 2
Sleep Disorders
Nightmares!
By: Creativationers Group

3. “Nightmares mean a person is
unable to put his ghosts to rest”
- Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

4. Kids’ Nightmares!

5. 1. Ask the child to make drawing from the dream. Then ask
him to redraw the dream with better ending.
2. Exposure to the fear stimulus:
e.g1: If the child dream about killing and guns, let him talk to a
policeman to break the fear.
e.g2: If the child having terrifying nightmare about fire, take
him on a trip to the fire station.
3. Read relevant stories that provide a model success in
dealing with source of fear similar to the one in the child
nightmare.
4. Provide appropriate toys and room accessories: e.g.
flashlight shaped like gun to kill monsters.

6. 5. Leave the door of the child's room open telling him that
you will hear if he called or screamed.
6. Tell the child to write a message telling the monster not to
visit him in his dreams and make him hang it on his room
door .
7. Reward the child if he wakes up for being brave.
8. Give the child a teddy bear to hug with your perfume on it.
9. Trying what causing the nightmare during the day.
10. Read for them a story with a happy ending.

7. Adults Nightmares!

8. 11. Change your bed!! Get an unusual creative one.
12. Change the colors of your wallpaper (wall paint) to more relaxing
colors (such as light blue).
13. Pleasant smell during sleep makes pleasant dreams.
14. Use a nightlight.
15. Keep your door open.
16. Add positive elements in the room.
17. Add green plants to your room.
18. Don’t sleep in a hot environment, make sure you have enough
oxygen!
19. Keep your windows open for fresh air.
20. Close all electronic gadgets (eliminate radio waves).
21. Try sleeping outdoors.
22. Take time in the morning to inhale fresh air.

9. 23. Don’t watch TV before bed.
24. Stop watching horror and action movies.
25. Don’t watch Discovery or National Geographic before bed!
26. Stop watching news especially before bed!
27. Watch something positive or funny before bed.
28. Don’t use your laptop at least an hour before bed.
29. Keep your smart phone away!
30. Don’t listen to loud music before bed.

10. 31. Choose a job that you like.
32. Work in a company that has a positive environment and culture.
33. Try to be friends with your boss!
34. Be honest with your co-workers when they annoy you!
35. Learn how to deal with job-related stress.
30. Take a vacation and relax.
31. Don’t take work home with you.
32. Don’t work during weekends!
33. Have fun with your co-workers at work.
34. Quit your job and find a better one!

11. 35. Don’t eat heavy food before bed.
36. Drink milk before bed.
37. Eat bananas for dinner.
38. Eat your dinner at least 2 hours before bed.
39. Don’t drink or eat anything that contains caffeine.
40. Don’t use sleeping pills.
41. Drink lots of water during the day.
42. Eat lots of vegetables and fruits during the day.
43. Don’t sleep hungry!
44. keep away from sugary food.

12. 45. Exercise regularly throughout the week.
46. Don’t exercise aggressively.
47. Your last exercise should be at least 1 hour before bed.
48. Walk in fresh air at least 20 minutes a day.
49. Expose yourself to enough sunlight.
50. Do breathing exercise before bed.
51. Use relaxation exercise at night.
52. Go to yoga classes.
53. Recruit a personal trainer.
54. Go to boxing classes to release stress.

13. 55. Plan your finances very well.
56. Create a savings account and an emergency account.
57. Don’t spend a lot of money on your pleasure.
58. Spend less than what you earn.
59. Quit smoking.
60. Quit drugs if you are on them.
61. Don’t drink alcohol
62. Don’t use medicines without proper prescriptions from doctors.
63. Take a warm bath an hour before bed.
64. Wear a light and pleasant perfume to bed.
65. Comb your hair softly before bed!

14. 66. Use your iPhone to get better sleep. Some Apps provide natural
sounds to help having a relax sleep and others analyze your
sleep habits by placing the phone next to you while sleeping.
67. Listen to Holy Quran before bed.
68. Recite Athkar (prayers) before bed.
69. Think about the people you love before you sleep.
70. Think happy thoughts before sleeping.
71. Remember happy moments and events in your life before
sleeping.
72. Start writing your nightmare. The novel “Dr .Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”
was based on a nightmare.
73. Write in your diary before you sleep.
74. Create a webpage or a group on any social network to share
nightmares with other and find solutions.
75. Try to re-dream the nightmare. Close your eyes, visualize the
dream happening as it did before, then try a new behavior
Repeat this with alternative actions until you reach a comfortable
scenario . This will stop the recurrence of the nightmare.

15. 76. Read Holy Quran before bed.
77. Don’t read heavy books before bed.
78. Don’t read fiction books before bed.
79. Read light and positive books until you fall asleep.
80. Write a to-do-list for the next day.
81. Go to group therapy sessions.
82. Go to a sleep disorder therapist.
83. Try professional relaxation therapy.
84. Try to resolve any childhood bad memories.
85. Treat any worries you have.

16. 86. Write a scenario of the dreams you wish you have.
87. Sleep at the same time everyday.
88. Follow Feng shui science in your bedrooms.
89. Try not to sleep alone for couple of days.
90. Wear bright comfortable pajamas.
91. Don’t wear socks to bed.
92. Sleep with your favorite blanket and bellow.
93. Be honest with yourself and with people.
94. Stay around positive people and avoid negative people.
95. Sleep on your right side.