As mentioned previously, nightmares are warnings of problems that the dreamer is having but hasn’t properly looked into. The best way to prevent nightmares from occurring is to develop better awareness of one’s self. This may include taking more time and consideration in resolving problems, and to never ignore them. Also, one should pay more attention to the subtle messages that his or her regular dreams imply. As suggested, the occurrence of nightmares should then decrease as self-awareness increases.

In cases where nightmares do occur, the most effective way in dealing with them is to understand the cause of the nightmare, and to deal with it promptly. The following example taken from the Dream Interpretation - Secret by David F. Melbourne and Dr. Keith Hearne website best demonstrates this fact:

"The subject was male, aged 32, and could neither be classed as extrovert nor introvert. The nightmare had occurred approximately three times a week for six months.

The dream was fairly simple and involved him riding a horse at speed - in the Grand National. As he approached a fence, he realized that he was going too fast to take the jump and came to grief when the horse stumbled. He then managed to pick himself up and get into a car which suddenly appeared. Injured from the fall, he raced off in the direction of a hospital - in a race with other motorists - but again went too fast. He always woke up at the moment he crashed headlong into a brick wall."

When the dream was analyzed, the therapist and patient determined that  there was a situation in his life that caused him a lot of pressure. The horse and the car represented how he was driving himself too hard and was even up for promotion.  Once the person realized this, he was able to take steps to relax more and not drive himself too recklessly.  Therefore, this is an example of a dream as a early "warning device."