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Nightmares and flashbacks

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I don't think it's abnormal. Having nightmares is my normal, more than a decade later. Which isn't what you want to hear, but I would say that they're not quite as bad for me as they used to be.
 
The trauma I have fully and completely processed I don’t have nightmares about… per se.

I’ll still occasionally dream about it, especially if say, it’s been a part of my life recently (like if I’ve just spent any time/energy/emotion on someone else who has just been raped, or I’ve just volunteered at a sexual assault related 5k/10k/marathon, or been reading posts here, or whatever).

But those dreams, even bad dreams/nightmares don’t “rise?” “sink?” to the level of my trauma-related nightmares (for unprocessed trauma). They feel very much like any other dream where my mind is just processing the events of the day in misc. ways. Rather than my flashback style nightmares, or “too much nightmare fuel” nightmares. Instead? The rape/sexual assault just falls into the background the same way cars on the road do. UNLESS it’s a parenting nightmare. That seem to take any and all possibilities and give them fangs and terrible endings. Including traumas that no longer effect me, but do inform my fears for others.
 
The trauma I have fully and completely processed I don’t have nightmares about… per se.

I’ll still occasionally dream about it, especially if say, it’s been a part of my life recently (like if I’ve just spent any time/energy/emotion on someone else who has just been raped, or I’ve just volunteered at a sexual assault related 5k/10k/marathon, or been reading posts here, or whatever).

But those dreams, even bad dreams/nightmares don’t “rise?” “sink?” to the level of my trauma-related nightmares (for unprocessed trauma). They feel very much like any other dream where my mind is just processing the events of the day in misc. ways. Rather than my flashback style nightmares, or “too much nightmare fuel” nightmares. Instead? The rape/sexual assault just falls into the background the same way cars on the road do. UNLESS it’s a parenting nightmare. That seem to take any and all possibilities and give them fangs and terrible endings. Including traumas that no longer effect me, but do inform my fears for others.
The nightmares and flashbacks are often about my parents
 
The nightmares and flashbacks are often about my parents
Is that unprocessed trauma? Or being recalled to you in other ways? Or totally not related to trauma (per se) IE no childhood abuse, or issues with your parents, but they’re being inserted into your traumatic nightmares?
 
Is that unprocessed trauma? Or being recalled to you in other ways? Or totally not related to trauma (per se) IE no childhood abuse, or issues with your parents, but they’re being inserted into your traumatic nightmares?
There was a lot of abuse. My ACE's is very high. Working through it now with Traumatherapy, EMDR, etc...
 
Yes it does. Which is a good thing big picture wise.
Precisely. When you find the reason for the nightmares (mine related directly to trauma) they go away. In my case it was a memory jumping up and down waving its arms and yelling to get recognized.

Flashbacks - not yet. It will sound crazy but I didn't recognize what they were for a very long time so even now I tend to not recognize them until after.
 
Precisely. When you find the reason for the nightmares (mine related directly to trauma) they go away. In my case it was a memory jumping up and down waving its arms and yelling to get recognized.

Flashbacks - not yet. It will sound crazy but I didn't recognize what they were for a very long time so even now I tend to not recognize them until after.
yeah those arent really clear for me. I am just realizing since a few weeks how far away from reality, in the moment I most of the time am. Shockingly distorted
 
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