What Causes Nightmare?
A nightmare is a dream of what we might call a vigorous kind. A nightmare is caused by a feeling of intense fear, horror, anxiety or the inability to escape from some great danger. A nightmare is the result of either an irregular flow of blood to the brain or by a stomach that is not in proper condition.
The name for this kind of a dream comes from the words night and mare. The latter word in one of its several meanings indicates an incubus or evil vision, and a dream of an evil vision involving fear or horror came to be termed a mare. Since they occurred generally at night, since most people sleep at night, they became known as nightmares. Nightmares are more common to children than grown-up people because children are more apt to have an uneven flow of blood to the brain and also are more apt to eat the things which put the stomach in a state of unrest which causes nightmares. Grown-up people are more likely to have learned to avoid the abuses of the stomach which are apt to produce nightmares.