Bad dreams

Hello.

This was kind of the nearest category to my problem.

I keep suffering with nightmares,not just ordinary ones, but ones that frighten me because they are possibly things that COULD hapen in my life,or are sort of a reflection of something bad that HAS happened.(Hope that makes sense)

Like i had one just last night,and it was SO real. It was about my bf being a bit TOO friendly with his ex,i was pushed to the side and nobody was listening to me crying.We were in her car (which was the exact same as my bfs) and i couldnt see her face but i knew who it was.And this feeling of terror just came over me and i was really frightened and trying to get away from them but they kept following me,but it was like they were following me just to upset me even more,like they knew what they were doing. And in my dream i also 'dreamt'' that i called my friend to tell her what happened and she didnt want to know.

It was very surreal,probably a bit hard for other people to interpret,but to say the least i was very upset,and felt as if i was terrified.

i always have horrible dreams,not so much that the content of them is horrible,but the way i feel in the dreams,and i NEVER know that im dreaming,thats the scary part,so i always think its real.

Can i get rid of nightmares? It seems that i dream about horrible things that i am worried about.I had a very real dream about my dad dieing once,i woke up crying. I woke up in despair last night,my pillow was wet were i guess i had cryed in my sleep.

This may not seem that big of a problem but its really frightening,and although its over and done with in the morning,i cant help feeling like my brain is doing this to me on purpose???

Is there any way to get rid of them? i have them almost every night and i dont like it

hey there buffalosoldier,

im sorry about these nightmares your having, i havent had one for a while to date but i understand the way your feelings.

i was wondering are you under any stress at the moment becuase that reflects the way you sleep, also a change of eating pattern or sleeping effects this.

it could be that the nightmare is a reflection of how you feel. in real life do you worry about how and where your boyfriend is or the stability of your father? because sometimes when i am stressed or worried i interprite things into my dreams as to what outcome they coulod produce.

as for the the happening every night i would look at any patterns you may have changed although you say you get them every night it could be in some way produced because of this. i will try and do some research for you (ive got some free time).

hope this helps

kel

Thanks very much kel,

Its good that someone understands,i mean usually its only children that have nightmares this often. I do have insecurities about certain things that i dream about,so i guess thats where the pattern lies,but the dreams are really quite frightening,i cant stress that enough. It seasy for people to say its not that big of a deal but i wouldnt mind so much if i knew it was only a dream when it was actually happening,but i never do,i always think its real and it takes me a while after ive woken up to realise its not.

Someone once said to me that you dream about inner anxieties so that you dont have to deal with them when you are awake,i think this is somewhat true.

I feel as though my brain is playing some sort of trick on me though,i know that sounds ridiculous. Like for example,once when i had a brief break up with my bf,i dreamt that we were back together and everything was perfect,and that in itself was a nightmare because i woke up upset again because i knew it was only a dream,its like im being bullyed by my own mind when im asleep.Know what i mean?

hey buffalosoldier.

yeah your not alone trust me.

i deffinitley know what you mean. its like for some people their minds can play a trick on them when they are awake for example, when in a dark room or walking in the dark you can convince yourself that someone is there or something is just about to happen. i can see that this is conveyed into your nightmares instead.

your right to think that your mind is bullying you and that i feel you friend did give some great advice:

Someone once said to me that you dream about inner anxieties so that you dont have to deal with them when you are awake,i think this is somewhat true.

are most of these dreams/nightmares about your boyfriend? it could be a good ides to discuss this and possibly let out any minor fears or doubts you have to reassure yourself or come to an understanding. would that be an option you would take?

and your welcome, just hope you can understand this pattern if that is the starting point of this problem.

kel

Alot of them do involve my boyfriend,yes. It just seems to be whatever i fear,i have a nasty dream about. A little while ago,i had a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE one about ''it'' (the horror movie with the clown) dont know if you've seen it,but anyway,i have a fear of clowns and china dolls and things. There was a big evil clown chasing me trying to kill me!(I know,im strange)

I totally agree when you said that the mind plays tricks,sometimes i think it would be possible to convince yourself of anything if you tried hard enough!

Also,(this might be me just being dumb) but is the whole ''eating cheese or chocloate before bed'' thing actually true? Could my diet be anything to do with it do you think?

Another reason this is getting me down is that sometimes i sit and think my mind must be pretty messed up with some of the things in my dreams,i know im not a pyscho or anything but they are always so abstract and the feelings are so strong. Would sleeping pills or anything help me sleep more soundly?

Thanks again

Hiya Buffalosoldier

Kel is right that dreams are a manifestation of what is going on in the sub-conscious mind. It is important that any fears you have come out somehow and dreams are a great way of allowing us to realise this and DEAL with them

Remember that dreams should not be taken literally (although prescient dreams do rarely occur) but rather deal with (normally) unvoiced emotions and fears.

If we look at your dream it appears that you may have issues with being insecure. You said you was trying to run away. Are you trying to 'run away' from any emotional problems rather than face up to them. This dream may be trying to tell you that you do have to confront whatever is worrying you.

You also called a friend who didn't want to know. Well maybe you have to deal with this yourself.

I can't interprete your dream but I hope I can set you thinking on the right lines.

The best way to get rid of your nightmares is to confront the underlying fears. You may want to look into either meditation or hypnosis as a way of accessing you subconscious mind and training yourself to become more placid.

I hope I helped a little.

Take care

Wow thanks guys you bunch of experts you

Can i ask what ''prescient'' dreams are? I havent heard of this word before?

Its weird,i have many dreams involving people not listening to me,or me running away from something i am frightened of. Which i feel sometimes happens in real life too.

What could i do to face these issues head on? i try writing my thoughts down occasionaly,but i havent really noticed a change in pattern.I feel really childish for having nightmares so often!

Ive thought of hypnosis before,also to help me quit smoking aswell as getting rid of te dreams.Has anybody had experiences with hypnosis? Ive always been a bit skeptical where hypnosis is concerned.

hey buffalosoldier,

oh my god girl you on the same wave length. i have always believed that theory of chocolate and cheese, my sister always gets horendous drems if she eats chocolate too late, thats what i meant by your eating patterns. trust me things like that arent dumb thinking.

i wouldnt be able to give information on the tablet idea but it could be something for you to look into, i wouldnt opt for the idea of something to help me sleep id do it out of my own will but thats just my opinion.

i guess it is effected you more than i first took note off, by sitting and thinking about it you are obviously taking these to its fullest and do you feel that these will become true as in a de ja voux? i have always felt like that and it could be something you are processing.

i would seriously talk to your boyfriend about this. and about the film no i havent seen it, but usually i am effected by such things as thrillers as these could possibly be true and relevant to my life so i understand what your saying, and obviously because of your phobia it wasnt too good of a choice.

have you seen a change in your eating patterns recently if so do you know or understand the reason behind it?

kel

Not so much de ja voux,sort of i guess,but the dreams or sort of a twisted reality of some things that are happening or have happened,thats what i meant by them being surreal.The way i feel in them is real but the dreams themselves sometimes dont make sense if you look at them on the surface,but once you have a closer look you can see the logic behind them.

Ive spoken to my bf about this in the past,and he says what most other people do ''its only a dream its not reality'' that sort of thing but the fact is when i wake up in the middle of the night confused,scared and not being able to tell the difference sometimes whether im awake or asleep is quite daunting. Its like im living in the friggin matrix or something

My eating patterns havent really changed,but if the ''cheese'' theory is correct,theni can sort of see the problem.i eat SOOOO much cheese and chocolate (not together lol) but i literally have cheese on EVERYTHING,any food,i dont care it goes on. So is cheese the culprit here you think???

Prescient dreams are those that predict the future. These are rare but I remember dreaming when I was about eight the view I had in my flat when I went to university ten years later.

Dreams stem from the subconscious self. Any thoughts we have from here rise up through to our conscoious mind affecting our daily life. We can't just tell our conscious self to stop things and hope they will. You need to allow the message to infiltrate the deeper recesses of our mind.

This is where hypnosis may help. Hypnosis isn't a magic way of changing how you feel but rather a method of slowly re-training how we think about things.

I would recommend that you think about doing a guided breathing meditation. This is a great way of settling the mind and allowing anxiety to wash over you.

As for foods, caffiene from chocolate stimulates the mind and can set off all sorts of wild fantasies if you have it just before you go to bed. Sleeping pills are a short term solution, but counter-productive in the long run as you body gets used to them.

hey buffalosoldier

i would have to say despite it being correct thatdreams and not real it is still the fact of how real they become to you and this is what is happening with you. i can see the point of self discoverer, when breaking down the dream it could be you are insecure of some aspects and the commintment or relationship you have with your bf/ friend.

have you ever discussed how real this is to you!

anyway about the cheese!!! i love cheese and to me its not a problem and personally im guessing there is a majority vote swaying it isnt a problem to yuo, as you say that you eat it with everything lol. so if it has always been something youve enjoyed it couldnty have started it..could it?

never truly understood matrix so i guess its a good comparison lol.

hypnosis is new to me and something i havent experianced but all options are open, accupuncture is meant to relieve stress and chi apparently that could be another option.

kel

Hey self and neva,

I guess its just hard for some people to understand what i mean when i talk about my dreams being like they are,i mean most people just have a dream and put it down to being just that..a dream.And just go about their normal day.I would too usually,but ive got such a deep thought process that i cant help wanting to explore them and find out why they are happening.

I would definitely try hypnosis,but im just not entirely sure it would work,i hear that is has worked on some people,but i cant help thinking that if i went to a hypnotist id be sat there saying ''well go on then,put me to sleep then'' etc lol. I just cant understand how hypnosis would work,it doesnt seem possible.But i would be up for giving it a go.

Self: I dont so much believe in dreams predicting the future in my case but i do believe that for others this may be true,but again i am sceptical,im sort of a ''il believe it when i see it'' sort of person but i do completely get where your coming from.-just perhaps on a different level,not so spiritually more of the mind realising possiblities of future outcomes of situations if you know what i mean.

God this discussion is getting more and more deep with every post!! Keep them coming though peeps!

hey buffalosoldier,

so are you saying that you are Inquisitive? i guess your mind is trying to show its imagination at all potentials both positive and negative. your abstract for detail could be a part of this.

do you feel that you analyse things? because through analysing situations they become more complex and real in such cases as your dreams and nightmares.

i see your point on hypnosis i would go in with the same thought as you...is this for real and is it going to work. but like your dreams this is something youve yet to understand so go for it. you could gain a great out come.

seems like your getting a great responce to you post.

kel

I am arent i? Thanks everyone that responded,its lovely to talk about this.

Yes i am very inqusitive, and i do analyse things,perhaps too much sometimes. So i agree with you about the situations becoming more complex,i never thought of it like that before.

I might well try hypnosis,im open to anything that might help defiantely.

Thanks again neva and others that responded,any more thoughts welcome!!

Buffs

Sometimes it can help to keep a dream journal - and write down (or type) EVERYTHING you remember, right when you wake up. Dreams are funny things, the parts you remember with perfect clarity can sometimes be troubling enough to overwhelm the details of the rest, like the setting, and sudden changes in "where" you are in your dream - and the line between dream vs reality is clearer when those little things are written down where you can see them instead of remembering the "standout" moments. Not to mention sometimes, just like talking through something, writing it down gives a little more sense of control of the situation. You get to look at it in a second party stance instead of just experiencing it and get a little more distance.

Apart from that - I've noticed it's worse for me if I have to wake up in a hurry while I'm still in the midst of a nightmare - there's a few minutes it's really hard to draw the line between what was "real" and what wasn't. How long do you generally sleep? I know if I give myself an extra hour, even if it means going to bed earlier at least a few nights a week, there's a better transition to waking up, like slowly coming out of the dream stage, instead of being shocked out of it.

I usually get between 8 and 9 hours sleep a night,i know what you mean when you say that its better to wake up gradually than to be suddenly awakened,i believe that too. But sometimes when i am shocked out of a dream its because i have shocked myself out of it by being scared!! Maybe its my bodies defence mechanism!!

Well yeah they're bad dreams but not nightmares. I have a cousin that used to suffer from nightmares. I mean she used to scream in her sleep and wake up in a SWEAT, and this was nearly every night. Eventually she saw doctor who referred her to a psychologist. Apparently she had deep repressed feelings within herself and when she saw the psychologist she was able to work out the cause of her problem and now she doesn't suffer from nightmares. Just something to think about.

Yeh well nightmares/bad dreams they're one and the same really,but i would call mine nightmares coz thats literally what they are,they scare the hell outta me so i consider them that. I did think about what you said thanks for your reply