Study: Hoosiers less haunted by nightmares than most other states

FARMERSBURG, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Nightmares can be a haunting experience, depending on subject matter and intensity some may have you thinking about them for the entire day or longer.

Mattress sales website MattressNextDay completed a recent study which sought to find out which states are most haunted by their nightmares using Google search data. The results seemingly showed that in comparison to most states, Hoosiers, sleep relatively peacefully.

The rankings were based on the number of searches for the word “nightmares” per 10,000 residents.

Indiana ranked in the bottom ten of top states suffering from nightmares, at #41. Looking nearby the only neighboring state less affected by nightmares was Kentucky at #45.

The state considered the most haunted by nightmares was Massachusetts with 1011 searches per 10,000. In comparison, Indiana’s 41st ranking was based on their 585 searches per 10,000 residents.

Some who are especially sensitive to nightmares may seek to avoid certain activities that are sometimes associated with possibly causing nightmares, like eating cheese, or watching scary movies. But MattressNextDay CEO Martin Seeley said there’s little evidence to show avoiding such activity will help.

“This myth is one that dates back centuries but there is no scientific evidence to support this myth. However, some scientific studies would suggest that consuming cheese before bed could help you sleep because it contains tryptophan, an amino acid needed to produce serotonin, the neurotransmitter involved in sleep,” Seeley said. “While watching scary movies will put you on edge, there has been no clear indicator that disturbing content like gory films will cause you to have nightmares. But we do advise cutting down on that screen time before bed, as light emitted by devices can negatively impact sleep.”

Here’s the full rankings of U.S. States from this study;