Screaming In A Dream, Can You Do It?

[Kintsugi]

I usually can't scream in nightmares. I try, but it always comes out as a faint whine, and I'm pretty sure that the whining noise is the sound I am actually making while asleep. Sometimes I whine loudly enough that I wake myself up, but it is so disconcerting that I can't scream in my dreams.

Sometimes I try screaming into a pillow every once in a while to make sure I can still do it, because when I think about potentially dangerous situations, my mind goes back to my voicelessness in dreams, and I panic in thinking perhaps I really won't be able to scream. I try to yell for help in the dreams, but hardly any sound comes out.

Does anyone else experience this?

 

[Lionheart]

I once had to be sedated because I was cursing, hitting, kicking and screaming in my sleep. I even hit my partner without realizing it. Usually though a scream in a dream or nightmare will come out like a silly sounding croak.

Anyway, there are times when I can't scream and I wake up with a voiceless scream, which is a lot like crying with no sound coming out. It is really disturbing to me not to be able to scream in my dreams. I guess when I was being traumatized I wanted to scream but couldn't and so it makes sense to me that I need to scream sometimes in my dreams. Sorry If I am rambling, I hope I answered your question.

 

[Reclusive]

Yes, absolutely. I lost my voice once for 2 weeks and could only make these scratchy squeaky noises. That's what my screaming and yelling sounds like in my dreams. I know I've only woken myself up once with the dream screaming, but I just woke up, no external reaction or re-enacting or anything. And my hunny can't tell the difference between nightmares and regular dreaming, so I'm pretty sure I don't lash out or scream or cry or anything like that. It might be healthier if I did.

 

[Kintsugi]

Aghhh I'm glad I'm not alone, sorry that others experience this at the same time.

One time I sent a text message asking for help in a dream, but by the time my phone started ringing, I was already surrounded by enemies and being bound.

There was another time where I called 911 in a dream. The operator said, "Sorry, but we can't help you" and hung up.

My T said that if I concentrate on some visuals before I sleep where I can give myself a way out of the dream (such as a rope hanging from the sky or a staircase or something), I may be able to make it happen in my dreams. I've been falling asleep envisioning myself with wings recently, but it hasn't happened yet.

I wonder if I gave myself some way to summon help if it would work. Though, thankfully, multiple times in my dreams in the past months, B has saved me in my dreams, even if I can't talk or scream or otherwise signal him. Let's hope that keeps up in the future.

Then again, maybe I should be focusing on saving myself.

 

[Muzikluvr]

During the OJ Simpson trial, my husband and I were staying at a hotel and I saw OJ coming at me with a knife in my dream. I screamed really loud. I woke up screaming. My husband held me, and looked toward the door thinking someone might come and check on us! People don't do that though. He tried to help me laugh it off after he asked if I was okay. I was shaking afterward, cold and crying. It took a while to settle back into sleep. I guess I was watching a little too much court tv! I didn't see it all, I must have quit watching after this incident. I remember thinking "Why couldn't I scream like that when I was really in trouble?"

 

[Reclusive]

I would definitely focus on saving yourself, Sunshine. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but you don't know how things will go with B in the future.

 

[Kintsugi]

No Debby-Down-ness to it, Reclusive. I also don't want to reinforce that I need someone else to save me, as that is a complex of mine.

 

[njray]

MissAnti.....

I recollect after my trauma I could not speak in my dreams/nightmares. Because i was feeling guilty of myself I did not yell to persons with in earshot around me to call the police or even seek assistance from someone that drove by the incident and saw it and asked me if I needed help..(I was not trained properly as a youngster on how to ask for help appropriately I was trained to just accept things as they are and "Deal with it")...Hence not being able to summon for help during these reoccurring dreams would haunt me so bad i did not sleep but winks at a time as I was afraid I might not be able to call out if i was to be attacked again.........

My T reminded if not for my ability to speak/negotiate the outcome could have been worse In the attack........ at least now I get 3-4 hrs of sleep..... and although I do not yell in my nightmares I sometimes am able to negotiate my way out of situations in my dreams....... I might suggest those defensive classes for you again we chatted about not to long ago.....Hmph

 

[Kintsugi]

I might suggest those defensive classes for you again we chatted about not to long ago.....Hmph

Yeah. Who cares if I can scream or not if I am trained to flip someone into a wall instead. :D

 

[KP the nut]

In my nightmares I always end up screaming but in reality it is usually a shout or an Aaaaaaarrrggghh. It is usually loud enough to wake my Husband (good thing he has a strong heart :inlove:). Prior to waking I will be fighting, yelping, twitching and mumbling - not a good look me thinks.

I am having a lot more nightmares recently. In the past 2 weeks I seem to go from one to another, each more vile than the last. The one common thread is that I am in mortal danger, trapped and unable to escape.

 

[Kintsugi]

The one common thread is that I am in mortal danger, trapped and unable to escape.

KP, what are you doing in my dreams? :cautious:
Really, though, welcome to my nightlife. :P

 

[freakofnurture]

I scream a lot in my dreams; not 'Argh' but 'Leave me alone', 'I hate you', 'Stop ignoring how I feel' and all the other things I should have yelled at my p*rents and extended f*mily when I was little. They still don't hear me or take me seriously, though. Instead they follow me around and smother me with attention to everything but the pain they're causing me - so I might as well be mute. It's incredibly frustrating and I feel unbearably desparate, overwhelmed and suicidal in those dreams.

I don't know if I actually yell in my sleep but I doubt it. I have pretty strong sleep paralysis, apparently and it's often incorporated in my dreams instead of the other way round.