Nightmares

[granolaprincess]

How do you deal with nightmares? I've been plagued with them since I was a little kid and they've gotten worse as an adult. Sometimes I wake up just plain sweating and terrified, other times I think they'd scare Stephen King. I've had catastrophic nightmares, evil-alien-type nightmares, drowning nightmares, and all sorts of keep-you-awake-at-night sorts of dreams. I decided to keep a journal but haven't yet detected a flow to how or why or when they happen.

I decided just to embrace this part of my psyche and quit fighting it, but the look on my husband's face when I tell him about my dreams says this isn't such an embraceable part of me (at least for him)! He teasingly blames it on my Scorpio sun, but he's got the same sign and doesn't have those dreams.

Anyone else?

[Wolfstarr]

Hi guys...

I started a new job last week.
I am a nurse, and this job is in an Adult Day Care.
Most of the guests there have some sort of physical disability, and all of them have
a mental disability. Stroke patients, autistic young adults and memory loss.

In my nursing career, I worked in a Family Physician office. It was cush.
This job is giving me dreams. I dream of these guests all night, wake up and go back to sleep then pick up where I left off. My heart goes out to these guests and I have such a deep feeling for them, it seems I am getting too involved...but...I am giving myself a chance. I remember when I started in the pharmacy years ago I would dream of all the medication names and seeing piles and piles of IV's, syringes and pills.
These aren't nightmares, but...to me they are distubing. It doesn't give me a good feeling.
Nightmares, yes. I have had them. Some pretty bizarre I am afraid to reveal them for fear of being thrown in the looney bin.

granolaprincess, here is a link I found to be quite informative. I hope you can find something of interest:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000401/2037.html

I am Scorpio sun too.

[granolaprincess]

Wolfstarr -- the link is soooo informative -- thanks!! I love the part where it mentions seeing the world in shades of grey. That's always been one of the traits I pride myself on - most people I know see things in black & white. At times I'm also afraid to share the nightmares w/ people for the same reason. The way my ex and current husband look at me when I try to describe the dreams tells me those dreams are best left alone. I'm glad I'm not the only one though.

I'm a scorpio sun, aries moon and pisces ascendant. As my ex-husband put it, I'm "no walk in the park"!

Ms B -- A food problem never even occurred to me, thanks! I have celiac disease (gluten intolerance which basically means I can't eat things with regular flour in them), and never even thought about it in relation to my dreams. I'll have to pay attention to that, and see if getting into wheat affects the sleep at all. Wow, what a concept!

[youngirish]

Hey,

You're definately not alone there, lol. I've had extremely vivid nightmares ever since I can remember. Quit often I would feel disturbed my whole day because of what I had dreamed about at night, and when I'd tell someone what I had dreamed they would look at me like I was psychotic or exaggerated, but my mom says she can remember me explaining crazy nightmarish things from the time I was a toddler so she knows I have them. I would have to remind my self over and over "it's just a dream" but when they're so freaking vivid its hard to sometimes!! I'll always remember this one nightmare I had where I swear I couldnt' function properly for a week after because it was so graphic. Haha I'd have flashbacks of my own nightmares. They are awful, but for some reason have been a bit better lately. Sometimes I'll have these strange nightmares where I'm actually half awake and half asleep, so because I can incorporate things from reality into my dreams I believe I am awake and the terror is actually occuring. I can sometimes wake myself up out of nightmares tho, but sometimes it takes several times of believing "I'm awake" before I actually wake up. Crazy eh? LoL, I also have bouts of insomnia. Strange sleeping patterns.

[granolaprincess]

OMG, yes, I have similar experiences. I've had recurring nightmares, and sometimes during the day I'll have a flash of a memory of a nighmare. I recall one where I was actually terrified to go outside the next day because the key parts of the dream were there in real life (things like weather and such). One of the worst ones happened about 10 years ago. It was the scariest, most evil thing I'd ever heard of and I woke up in a horrific sweat and wound up not sleeping for nearly a week after that. To this day I remember what woke me up and how ugly it was. It sucks when you're afraid to sleep because of what you might find in your own head!

I have a behavior that my therapist thinks is key to my insomnia. I have a tendency to wake up at the same time (to the minute, actually) when I have insomnia. She thinks it's related to some of the trauma I grew up with, and interesting enough, it's the same time I woke up many years ago when I was positive people were trying to break into my house (raccoons in the recycling bin, it's funny now but certainly wasn't that night!). I have to be diligent in reminding myself and re-grounding myself when I wake up like that, I wish it worked as well with the nightmares.

Have you ever woken up, gone back to sleep and had the dang dream keep going? I HATE that!!

[sober102000]

OMG youngerish and granolaprincess. When I have a horrific nitemare, which is too often for me, and i wake up, I have to put on the lights, tv, and sit up because i DO NOT want to go back to that dream. I have to make myself stay awake. The other night was one such dream. It consisted of ghouls attacking my soul and the people i was with's souls too. I snapped up and was soaked with sweat and the bed was torn apart. It stayed with me the whole day, I couldnt shake it. As a young child, I could make myself dream whatever I wanted to. Today though, being 44, it's hard for me to do so. As a child i would have recurring nitemare about me falling in a sewer and my grandfather couldnt get me out. Over and over and over I had that dream. Finally it went away. I was diagnosed bi-polar 4 years ago, which is a reason my brain doesnt shut off. The meds I am on now help with the nightmares some. But they have been more frequent lately. The nightmares where you cant wake up are the worst. I know i am in a nightmare and try to wake up but am paralyzed and when i finally get myself to move and wake, i will not go back to sleep at all because i know i will go right back there. my dreams have always affected my days. and when i have a bad nightmare about someone i feel i hate that person all day. i dont like that at all, but am trying to learn more about these. i have always dreamt in color and vividly and when i have good ones they are great!

anyway, i'm glad i found this forum and will be coming back. i too am scorpio

[android]

i know what all of you guys mean. exactly. the memories of the dream in the daytime, the weird dreamlike sensations during the day, continuing dreams... all of that.
i remember the days when i could control my dreams, flying, swimming underwater, i miss those dreams. i think they call it "lucid dreaming"
has anyone else experienced those?

[granolaprincess]

I don't recall lucid dreaming, but I've read about it and have been hoping that some concentration on the possibility of that will help me be aware during my dreams.

Anyone else experience lucid dreaming?

[splendra]

I have been studying dreams for many years and I used to have several very old reference books that got lost in a flood.

There are lots of dream dictionaries online (just do a google search) keyword: dream dictionary...

It is my understanding that dreams are our sub-conscious minds way of dealing with things. In analyzing some of my scariest dreams I have found that some of them are actually kind of humorous. I encourage all of you who have nightmares to look them up in a dream dictionary and see what the symbols in your dreams are trying to tell you...it could be very interesting and not the least bit scary...