Nightmares - A Fear Of My Existence

[Mina]

Hi, Debbie - I'm sorry to hear you are having such bad nightmares. They are fairly common amongst PTSD sufferers, with severity and frequency varying widely from person to person. I merged your thread with this one as I think it's a good one for demonstrating how others have them, too...you are not alone in that :Hug_emoticon: If you'd like to read even more, there are also a number of other nightmare threads (both in this section and in others) if you do an advanced search:

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As I've worked through my trauma, mine have gotten fewer and farther between. In the meantime, some people find that writing out their nightmares helps, and I have also heard of journaling about them yet rewriting the ending to something different. Don't know if either of those things would help you or not, but it's something to consider.

 

[blackdove]

Yes nightmares -- mine are mostly about being held down and I can't move, others are ones where people want something from me and I can't give it to them, otherwise I've had religious ones recently where someone I used to know is praying in my ear without my permission. My dreams are very specific to psychological/emotional torture rather than physical. I used to be able to kill myself within a dream in order to wake up -- have lost that ability a while ago which is a shame because it was quite useful.

 

[Anton]

I don't have real nightmares.

All my dreams however are unpleasant. Every night.
I suppose/hope they'll go away when I've dealt with the trauma.

 

[tvorsky]

At first I didn't suffer from nightmares, then they came in bunches, several a night, each time waking up in a cold sweat. I found some help in studying lucid dreaming techniques. This might sound weird, but for those unfamiliar with lucid dreaming, it is a dream where you are conscious on some level that you are dreaming. One of the simplest ways to promote lucid dreaming is to simply put a small sign up somewhere in your home where you'll see it a few times a day that says "Am I dreaming?" When you notice it during your daily routine, read something. It doesn't have to be much, a cereal box, or headline from a newspaper, anything. Then wait a few seconds and read it again. If what you read is the same as the first time, you can be sure you are not dreaming. If it is different, chances are you are dreaming. What this does is train the mind to question your consciousness. Soon, usually within a few days, you should start asking yourself "Am I dreaming?" when things start to get weird in a dream. And, you will surprise yourself and say, "Yes, this is a dream." At that point, you are back in control, and once you get used to it, and are not startled to realize that you are aware you are dreaming, you can learn to control the outcome. This even works for dreams that are not nightmares and can be quite empowering, even fun. With practice you can do what you like in dreams, want to fly, you can fly. Want to run like the wind, you can. Want to dance with that handsome guy/pretty gal, you can. There are other techniques to help increase your chances of lucid dreams, just do a search for them. Another key component to increase your chances for lucid dreaming is writing down your dreams in a dream journal.
I know something as simple as a sign saying "Am I dreaming?" may sound weird, but it really works.