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

你曾經因惱人事物而做奇怪的夢，讓你翻來覆去無法入眠嗎？

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.

你知道的，像是夢到你被電視中所播報的病毒感染生病了，或是被你的老闆活吞！

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

不要擔心，這些可怕的景象其實正在幫助你的心理健康。

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

研究顯示，我們清醒時最擔心的事情，會持續在睡夢中纏著我們。

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

你沒有意識的大腦會將你抽象的恐懼轉化成故事，變成你的惡夢。

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

當你做惡夢，醒來後，你會記得這個惡夢，就彷彿真的發生過一樣。

Even if it was totally unrealistic.

即使它是完全不真實的。

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

換句話說，惡夢像是工廠，你的恐懼會被轉化成記憶。

Here's where things get interesting.

這裡就是事情變有趣的地方。

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

人類處理記憶會比處理一些生活周遭模糊的焦慮更容易一些。

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

一段記憶可能會讓你不舒服，但你的大腦會覺得這段記憶已經發生了。

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

因此，會轉變為現在你不需要去恐慌的一些事。

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

這就對了，惡夢其實可以幫助你離恐懼遠一點。

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

別因為怕做惡夢而不敢去睡覺，因為這可能會讓你真的陷入麻煩。

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

研究者指出，失眠和心理障礙的發展有很大的關係。

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

你需要惡夢來幫助你處理生活周遭的負面事物。

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

所以，讓我們花一點時間來感謝我們那邪惡的夜晚幻想。

Without them, waking life would be the real nightmare.

沒有惡夢，現實人生才會是惡夢。