Can Jet Lag Cause Nightmares? (Helpful Content!)

Understanding exactly how your dreams work, and why you might have lots of dreams on one night compared to few dreams on another, is key to helping to minimize them.

Knowing why you appear to dream more at certain times is in fact simpler than you might think.

Let’s find out more.

Can jet lag lead to nightmares?

Jet lag can definitely lead to nightmares.

It’s important to understand precisely how “nightmares” work, though, to understand exactly what is going on.

While there is still a great deal we don’t know or understand about dreaming, we do know that the intensity or vividness of our dreams or nightmares is dependent upon how restful our sleep is.

Sleep takes you through several cycles each night, with REM sleep being the deepest part of the cycle.

This is where most dreaming tends to happen.

When our sleep is not very restful, and we are more disturbed and not sleeping as deeply, we tend to be more aware of the dreams that are going on.

Thus, we can feel we have had more dreams or nightmares on such a night.

On the inverse, being so tired that we fall into such a deep sleep that REM sleep is even deeper than usual can also intensify dreams and nightmares.

Jet lag has a very profound effect on what are called your circadian rhythms.

This is essentially your internal clock which helps your body keep track of time.

When that is disturbed by crossing through time zones, it can have all sorts of effects.

When you are jet lagged, then, you are sleeping differently to how you ordinarily would.

This can lead to nightmares.

It’s worth mentioning, though, that “nightmares” are of course different for each person.

What might be just a vivid dream for you could be a nightmare for another person.

Whether your jet lag causes you to have vivid dreams or nightmares is likely dependent on some other stress you have in your life.

Can you stop these nightmares, then?

How can you stop nightmares from jet lag?

There are some things you can do to curb the jet lag nightmares and dreams, but for the most part you’ll just have to see it through.

It starts with trying to get as much sleep as you can on the plane.

If you can sleep on the plane properly, you might be able to bypass the jet lag entirely.

This can certainly be difficult, so take an eye mask and ear plugs.

Once you’re already suffering with the jet lag, though, all you can do is work to treat the symptoms.

Stay hydrated to counteract the effects of the stale air from the cabin.

Try to eat healthy foods like fruit and veg where possible.

Other than that, you’re just going to have to wait it out.

It shouldn’t last more than a day or so, so it won’t be as bad as you’re thinking.

If you’ve not travelled yet and are worried about future jet lag, then this is your best opportunity to curb the jet lag.

Give yourself the best chance of getting a good night’s sleep on the plane and drink plenty of water.

What exactly does jet lag do to your brain, then?

What does jet lag do to your brain?

There have been studies into this question and we can see that jet lag does some rather profound things to your brain.

One study used MRI to show that jet lag causes atrophy of the temporal lobe, as well as spatial cognitive deficits.

This was a result of chronic, serious jet lag repeated over time—but even acute jet lag has still been shown to have profound effects.

Decreased brain function in the anterior nodes of the DMN was one result of short-term jet lag.

This may all sound rather complex and impenetrable, but for your purposes, you only need to understand just how profoundly jet lag affects your brain on a physiological level.

How long does it take to recover from jet lag?

Luckily, it usually only takes a day or so to recover from jet lag.

There are obviously varying degrees of jet lag and sometimes it will take longer, but usually no more than 36 hours, really.

Of course, there is also the question of chronic jet lag, which can apparently have permanent neurological effects.

It can depend on how many time zones you’ve crossed.

Some might more cautiously say that you’ll need a day to recover for each time zone crossed.

No amount of sleeping on planes will be enough to fully negate the jet lag, but it’s your best shot at a speedy recovery.

Jet lag has a pretty profound impact on our brains and mental state, then.

It’s not an experience that the human brain should be wired to accommodate at all, if you think about it.

There’s a very high chance it will lead to nightmares or at the very least vivid dreams.

There’s not a great deal you can do other than just see it through—but it shouldn’t take you much time to recover.

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