Riverbird

I'm still dealing with chronic nightmares (so frustrating!) though it seems to be getting a little better. At least they're not every night now. But I realized lately that having a nightmare seems to ruin a lot for the following day too. It feels like even though I'm awake and back to reality, part of me stays stuck in nightmare land. It's not like I'm sitting there just thinking about the dream, but all day I just feel "off" and upset and like I just want to curl up and hide. In fact the feelings are so different from the dream itself that i've only just realized (after 2+ years of having nightmares) how very connected they are. Does anyone have any ideas on how to "reset" and get back to my day? My nightmares already take over a lot of my night...I hate that now they're taking my days too. For the sake of school, work, and life, I really need to find a way out of this. Thanks!

EverySngleNight

Hi. I'm really helped by talking about it or writing it out as soon as I wake up. The writing is really good for me. Sometimes I'll google what certain dreams mean. But, usually I'm able to analyze them on my own. Taking the time to write it down, read it over, and analyze is helpful in processing/understanding the emotions- for me. All of the negativity sort of bleeds out of me through the pen, and is left to linger on paper in a book, which I can close. That's my visualization.

Hope that helps!