Nightmares

[msfantastico87]

Ok, So I couldn't really find any help on the web about curing nightmares. Most of the time, when I have nightmares, it's because I go to sleep directly after eating something. Then when I start getting nightmares, I stop eating so late, and it goes away. Problem solved. This time around, I'm getting them, even without eating. And it's always the same kind of dream.

For the past 5 nights, I've been dreaming that I keep dying. Each dream, I die a different way. I've been murdered, drowned, died of natural causes, etc etc. Last night was a little different. I still died, (ironically by a heart attack) and then I became a ghost, and I was forced by other ghosts to watch someone else get raped and murdered. Wtf? The messed up part about it, is that it was someone I know and love. I have no idea why I am getting these dreams.

I consulted a psychotherapist and she claims that My dreams all have pretty much the same meaning, except for the last one. She claims me dying in my dreams means that I will become wealthy, that someone envies me, and that I will live a long life. She also says that it could also mean that I am going to be experiencing a major change in the near future, good or bad. I don't know if I should be worried or if I should just let these nightmares happen (I sure could use some money right about now!). Did some research about stopping them though, and couldn't find anything that has been more than 60% accurate and successful.

So my questions to you guys are?:

-Should I worry?
-Should I even try stopping them?
-If so, do you guys know of any way to stop them that actually works?

Also, keep in mind that I have yet to see actual Death/Grim Reaper in my dreams yet, but it seems like it's just a matter of time.

 

[Nikita]

I don't think you should worry. It's pretty normal to have a string of dreams/nightmares that may be brought on by a sudden incident in your subconscious that you can't forget about. Often it isn't really anything important and you shouldn't worry about it. Sometimes nightmares are our subconcious telling us that we're not very happy but you shouldn't really worry about that because it doesn't sound like these are those type of dreams.

The worst thing about nightmares is usually the content of them. As you've said, these dreams are usually very vivid and sometimes disgusting and I imagine what you've dreamt are very disgusting and could hurt you emotionally which does suck 🙁 I say the best way to not worry about them is too forget what you've seen and just push it to the back of your mind.

I think it's impossible to stop dreams by the way, I don't think it's actually something that you can really do and is just something that you're told to keep you in a better mindset. I personally disagree with it.

 

[Doppelgang]

My advice would be to try and take some conscious control over you dreams. I use to have a recurring nightmare of being chased, and I still get it sometimes, but I gradually built up an ability to control an aspect of the dream, so instead of running I just stopped, turned around and waited to see what the person/thing chasing me did, and, of course, they couldn't do anything because it was my dream. It's quite a difficult technique to develop, but it's called lucid dreaming, and there's probably books on it that you could get. 🙂

 

[NY State of Mind]

My advice is to dream about "ME" 😀 ....I guarantee you happy dreams will come 😉

 

[caitaintdead]

I have terrible problems with nightmares. Well, I used to I suppose. I haven't had any huge problems in a long time. My advice?

A.) Wind down before going to sleep. Don't fall asleep seconds after watching TV/being on the internet/talking to people/reading. I know it sounds difficult but take even 20 minutes to meditate (in a non-hippy way) your mind. Think about GOOD things!

B.) If bad thoughts, or stresses, pop into your head then write them down. My nightmares always came from thinking so hard about things that are stressful because I didn't allow myself to do so during the day. If you're the kind of person that is always thinking about what you have to do the next day, then write a list of everything. Write it down, then stop worrying about it. If you can't stop thinking about the list then once you have finished writing something - throw it in the bin.

C.) Definitely stop eating certain foods immediately before going to bed.

D.) Have a warm shower. If it's hot where you are then it doesn't need to be hot, just warm - it acts like warm milk by making you feel sleepy, and I always felt that the bonus was that I had washed the day off me, and would be ready to go to sleep fresh.

Lastly - good luck, I really do know how terrible they are.

 

[Abbeycat]

I don't think you have anything to worry about but then again, I've never really had nightmares.

 

[zobothehobo]

I haven't had nightmares in a really long time with the exception of this recurring dream my mom dies. She always dies a different way and they only happen around big events. The last one was Christmas. I know that's because of my anxiety and love for my mother. They also often feature my mother's husband being less than supportive to us children. He grieves my mother but he doesn't support us as we grieve. I know that's because I feel while my mother's husband loves her very much and she loves him very much... I don't think he loves us very much. I don't think he even likes us very much. Actually he admitted that up until the middle of the year 2010, he didn't like us very much and he kicked us out of the house on Mother's day. But knowing what they're about and what they mean has little effect on me because I still have them and they're awful. The worst was when I dreamed mom's plane went down on her way to her honeymoon 'cause I couldn't call my mom and hear her voice. I've kind of learned to expect that whenever something big happens, I'm going to dream mom dies.

 

[NY State of Mind]

I'm assuming my advice worked 😉

 

[msfantastico87]

I'm assuming my advice worked 😉

In your wildest dreams Lu! 😛

A.) Wind down before going to sleep.
B.) If bad thoughts, or stresses, pop into your head then write them down.

C.) Definitely stop eating certain foods immediately before going to bed.

D.) Have a warm shower.

I have tried Points A, C, and D. I haven't tried B. I've read somewhere that keeping a dream log is supposed to help organize your thoughts, but not necessarily stop you from dreaming. Did it help you a lot to write it down? I think I might just have to do it.

Last night I dreamt I died again. Only this time I dreamt I died from suicide, which is funny because apparently I started sleepwalking (which I never ever do) and I ended up getting a razor and cutting myself. It's odd and i'm not liking this one bit. I think I'm going to end up crazy

 

[Abbeycat]

In your wildest dreams Lu! 😛



I have tried Points A, C, and D. I haven't tried B. I've read somewhere that keeping a dream log is supposed to help organize your thoughts, but not necessarily stop you from dreaming. Did it help you a lot to write it down? I think I might just have to do it.

Last night I dreamt I died again. Only this time I dreamt I died from suicide, which is funny because apparently I started sleepwalking (which I never ever do) and I ended up getting a razor and cutting myself. It's odd and i'm not liking this one bit. I think I'm going to end up crazy

Ohh, that's not good. Maybe you need another talk with the psychotherapist?

 

[Willow My Love]

I used to have what I call waking nighmares. I'd be awake and all of a sudden there'd be an image in my mind of someone dying or being hurt horribly. It happened a lot in middle school after my Papal died. I think it was because my family did something incredibly horrible to me, but I don't want to get into that.

Lucid dreams are amazing. I've read if you ask yourself all throughtout the day, 'Is this a dream?' it'll help you think to ask it in a dream. I've only had two lucid dreams in my life.

I don't have too many nightmares. I had one a while ago that felt so incredibly real. It had to do with a ghost that was in my room trying to kill my person. We both woke up to me screaming and I was just held until that fear went away. It was really terrifying. We were having some problems and I was thinking maybe I'd lose this person that brought such amazing joy to my life and my dream personified that completely. It's the only time I've woken up screaming and crying. I talk in my sleep a lot, but I've never screamed like that. My person was really scared. I've never had that level of panic in my voice before... Maybe the dream helped us...

 

[Abby27]

I am no expert for sure, but I am a psychology major in school. What I can tell you is that most psychoanalysis, while is very interesting and useful to know for historical reasons, is mostly untrue. Freud, the original psychoanalyst, would write off your bad dreams because you are a women and therefore have never developed a superego, so your nightmares are because you want sex and you don't have a conscience. Which, let's be fair, is probably not true! 😛

Dreams can be interpreted in A MILLION different ways but most are either a) manifestations of a fear or b) a secret desire. It's your sub-conscience working itself out with pictures while you sleep. People dream differently. Some people are capable of experiencing lucid dreams, while others only have super fun and awesome dreams. I don't have too much advice for you besides that it could mean a million different things, but if you have some fears or some big emotional stuff you're working through right now, try to resolve it or seek peace maybe through yoga or something like that. That should help.

I have 3 reoccuring nightmares: I have to drop out of school because I missed a final, I have a baby and have to drop out of school, or all my teeth fall out. Yup.

 

[msfantastico87]

Its odd. I've had worse nightmares. Like really bad ones. Mostly it's from me being stupid and worrying about something, or from me doing something bad and I have a guilty conscience. However, I've never had this happen before. I've never had pretty much the same kind of plot for my dreams. Also, I have never done any self inducing pain before. In the last dream, where I cut myself sleep walking, it just felt so real. I knew I was going to cut myself. I tried to snap out of it but I couldn't. I guess that could be considered a lucid dream even though I was sleepwalking. What woke me up was the feeling of blood dripping down on my foot from my hand. Weird eh?

As for it being a manifestation, I don't think so. I mean, unless you mean some sort of demon or something that's trying to tell me I'm definitely going to hell or some crap like that.Also, I highly doubt I have a secret desire to die lol. I don't want to die. I'm too young. I still haven't gotten to where I want in life.

I looked up a few tests I can take but they are all too expensive. So I am looking for a cheap, if not free, way to get rid of these horrible night terrors. I also found a few free tests that actually pay me to do them, but they are just beta tests and could be dangerous. *sigh* I have gone almost a week without any decent sleep. It always happens during my REM sleep cycle. Working 7-11 hour shifts off of 5 hour energy drink is somehow not going to be enough for me right now.

I feel like i'm in a Nightmare On Elm Street movie. Or in the movie Stigmata. Ugh.