Cliff Richard singing, disastrous wedding days and being chased by Godzilla are just a few examples of the terrifying nightmares experienced by more than a million unfortunate Brits that have a bad dream every night. More than one in five Brits have had a scary snooze in the last week alone.
Sleeping in a tent and eating chocolate are among the more bizarre reasons suggested by Brits for having nightmares. However, over half (52%) of those that experience nightmares believe their dreams are largely due to stress
1. Stress (52%)
2. Watching scary films (27%)
3. Guilty conscience (16%)
4. Reading a scary book (15%)
5. Too little sleep (14%)
Anecdotal evidence from over 2,000 Brits questioned in the sleep study by Travelodge revealed a wide range of bizarre bad dream themes. These include being shouted at in the street by Big Brother presenter Davina McCall, walking a tightrope, frightening creatures hiding in the fridge and being chased round a kitchen by a singing Cliff Richard.
However, the most common themes reported by Brits are:
1. Being chased (31%)
2. Teeth falling out (10%)
3. Falling (9%)
4. Being trapped (8%)
5. Being injured (8%)
The research also revealed how peacefully you sleep can depend on what you do for a living. Of the 22% of Brits that have had a nightmare in the last week, the most sleep-tormented professions are:
1. Nurses (42% have had a nightmare in the last week)
2. Accountants (35%)
3. IT workers (31%)
4. Pilots (28%)
5. Solicitors (25%)
Wayne Munnelly, Director of Sleep, Travelodge, said; "Dreams are very personal and depend on the individual. There is no concrete explanation behind why we have them, although content is often the result of your subconscious playing out the events of the day or things on your mind.
"Dreams about being chased tend to be a reaction to stress in life, the attacker in the dream often represents emotions like fear and anxiety. The second most common dream according to our research concerns teeth falling out - this is said to reflect anxiety about what others think of you. Of course, dreams can just as easily involve the completely ridiculous, such as the person in our study that reported being chased through their mum's kitchen by Cliff Richard."
More than half of Brits (55%) also reported regularly dreaming about celebrities. The star of 'The Shining', Jack Nicholson, topped the list of male stars to appear in Brits' nightmares, and Catherine Zeta Jones was voted the female star most likely to cause a panicky nights' sleep for Brits.
Munnelly concluded: "It's important to relax before bed and try to resolve any worries before you go to sleep to reduce your chances of having a nightmare. For example, if you know you have to get up early for a meeting and are worried about oversleeping, set more than one alarm clock in the room so you can relax in the knowledge that you will be woken up."
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Statistics:
3% of Brits experience a nightmare every night (1,197,876 UK adults)
22% of Brits have experienced a nightmare in the last week (10,394,699 UK adults)
42% of Brits experience a nightmare at least once a month (19,577,460 UK adults)
Regional statistics:
More people living in the following regions have experienced nightmares in the last week:
1. Southampton (38.5%)
2. Birmingham (31%)
3. Leeds (29%)
4. Liverpool (28%)
5. Manchester (27%)
6. Bristol (25%)
7. Plymouth (23.5%)
8. Leicester (22%)
9. Chelmsford (20%)
10.London (19.5%)
The most common dreams according to region:
Aberdeen - Falling (18%)
Belfast - Teeth falling out (43%)
Birmingham - Being chased (22%)
Bristol - Being chased (19%)
Cambridge - Falling (33%)
Cardiff - Partner leaving them (18%)
Chelmsford - Teeth falling out (20%)
Edinburgh - Being chased (31%)
Glasgow - Being chased (60%)
Leeds - Being chased (21%)
Leicester - Being chased (28%)
Liverpool - Being chased (29%)
London - Being chased (31%)
Manchester - Being chased (35%)
Newcastle - Being chased (27%)
Norwich - Being ill, injured or dying (18%)
Plymouth - Being chased (29%)
Sheffield - Being chased (26%)
Southampton - Being chased (31%)
Swansea - Being chased (30%)
Travelodge research conducted by 72 point in July 2006 among over 2000 UK adults.
For more information, please contact:
Jo Begbie
Travelodge PR Manager
01844 358 624
07841 725 053
AS the first budget hotel brand to launch in the UK in 1985, Travelodge currently has approximately 279 hotels across the UK in city centres, near attractions and airports.