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Breakup triggered disturbing dream from childhood, help.

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I need help. I am going through a
really painful breakup....well, they are all painful. I recently found out that he cheated.

I had a very strange response to the news. I was fine until I went to bed and then a flash of light in my mind, my entire body started trembling, especially my thighs. I felt pinned to the bed. It lasted for 10 - 20 minutes maybe...I was in bed, in the dark paralyzed so I'm not sure how long.

During this time I had a flash/memory of a recurring nightmare that I used to have as a little girl. I forgot that I used to have the dream but it was so recurring as a little girl that I wrote a short story of the dream.

Pretty disturbing stuff coming out of my young brain, thinking about it now. I have been told that I have a vivid imagination.

I was physically, emotionally and mentally abused as a kid by my stepfather and my mother. I think I may have been sexually abused by my Stepfather but I do not have a clear recollection. All I know is that I feared him extremely and was repulsed by him. I was forced to call him Dad. I do not have many memories from my childhood. I was the only girl . At night my mother worked while my stepdad would go to the bar after work, come home drunk and mean. I took care of my infant brother, I also had two stepbrothers. Not a good time in our lives.

My reason for being on here is that the recurring dream is rearing its ugly head. I used to dream that the my stepfather's head was on the body of a snake. I was walking up a dirt driveway to an old farm house and the stepfather/snake was looming in a flower bed of yellow gladiolas, waiting to bite me and kill me.
 
My mom had a similar one of her father. He was a white rhino who was charging through her bedroom wall, yelling at her with his booming voice.

Her dad cheated on their mom often -- but keeping in mind the background here, do you think this could have been a triggering phrase? Then PTSD stress in top of everything else overwhelmed you?

Are you in therapy?
 
I find writing to be very therapeutic. Stephen King said (in his book on writing) that building a story was like uncovering a fossil with a toothbrush. Little by little, he would expose the story. He didn't know the ending and sometimes he'd have sympathy for characters hoping that things would turn out all right. Perhaps, you can reveal your own story, little by little.

I had a terrifying childhood as well although, in hindsight, I doubt that I was in any serious danger. However, just the fact that I believed it and I was lived in a state of perpetual terror was certainly enough to give me a very bad case of PTSD. Obviously, I don't know your situation, but I'd focus on your feelings. If you were terrified of your step-father when he came home drunk, that is the important part.
 
I get the symbolism of your dream. I have accepted that I am best off dealing with whatever it is I can remember now. That if there is more it will come when my brain feels equipped to deal with it. Maybe you could start by speaking about what you do remember about him. There is a forum that is dedicated to private diaries for members where you can write whatever if you wish. Any charities in your country that help with counselling ?
 
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