Nightmares - Harming My Abuser

[anthony]

Don't worry, I don't analyze shit really, just take the important parts and forget the rest. Our mind is our own best and worst enemy... to put it simply.

 

[GR-ass]

grins

yeah, our own subconcious likes to send messages. Really sucks when it's stuck on LOUD though.

curls up in a ball.

I've started being able to talk back in my dreams. Is *erm* interesting to say the least.

 

[anthony]

Cass, you actually can completely control your dreams, but that is another story, which should only be done with actual supervision and face to face guidance. What I will say, is that the mind takes what the mind knows upon falling asleep. If your thinking about the nightmares as you fall asleep, chances are your going to have them. If you have a repetitive nightmare and think about different endings, you will have different endings. Its amazing what you can learn from yourself... its amazing how much you can change a nightmare into a lovely dream. Interesting.... Evelyn would know how to help you do this, but she must guide you on that one, as it can be quite dangerous, and to be honest, I am not going to tell people about such things that have a high chance of mind damage if done incorrectly.

 

[GR-ass]

it's all got to do with lucid dreaming, controlling your dream scape whilst asleep.

I've been putting myself into a sort of (don't laugh) medatative trance. I think of ocean or rainforest or of flying in the air.
I let myself drift off to the thought of doing that. I still have the nightmares, but if I prepare my mind with a safe place before I drift off, I can put myself there when I start into my nightmare cycle.

Not saying that it'll work for everyone, but it does work for me.

 

[Josh77]

Cass,
i actually received the same advice from one of the forum editors. How well does it work? i was told to become the "director" of my nightmares (NM's) as if my NM's are movies. Is that the same thing you do?

Josh

 

[GR-ass]

Kind of. I start off setting a scene, so to speak, giving myself a place to go, my own garden, where I continually tell myself before I sleep that I am safe there while visalising it.
Once I sleep, if one of my NM's start up, I direct myself to my garden to the safe place I have there.

 

[anthony]

What is important cass, is that this method works for you. Oh, this isn't what I was referring too though... what I referred to in regards to needed specialist direction, is where you actually change your dreams before having them. Anyway, do what works for you cass, because that is the secret to dealing with this stuff.... what works for you uniquely. Nice work with the nightmare problems though... well done.

 

[Josh77]

I would definately like to try to develop that skill in time because my NM's are becoming more and more prevelant and horrible!!
I'll keep the "safe place" idea in mind, but i'll just create my very own safe place. Does it have to be a real place or can it be fictional?

 

[Marlene]

I had a dream last week. When I woke up, I remembered it very vividly and in great detail (On the rare occassion that I remember that I even dreamed, it's fragmented and more of a feeling that the actual dream). This dream was very violent (I'm sure that it would have been a nightmare or at least bad dream to someone else) and when I woke, it was like *shrug shoulders* 'That was odd'. It actually bothered me a bit that the dream didn't bother me more.

I told my therapist about it and he said it was my subconscious (because of certain elements of the dream) doing what I wanted to do to my molester, but couldn't when I was a kid. And in my dream there was someone protecting me. Maybe me as an adult...I don't know. Dream analysis has never been my strong suit.

I guess this means progress because I've never (that I can remember) dreamed about anything like this.

 

[anthony]

With that technique Josh, it can be anything you want it to be, just as long as its your safe place.

 

[Deleted member 93]

This may seem silly... But my young son who has had the pleasure of a hospital trip through a panic attack and has nightmares. He told me he controls them. For me this is just not perceivible so congrats who can and him! But an episode of Blue's Clues (original) has a thing on dreams and nightmares. It helps him.

He also said he is able to recognize things as not being right so it must not be real and he goes through a sequence (I typed this before) like "cheat codes" on video games and wakes himself. He just has to do this sequence first. Really weird as in no matter how jacked up my dream is it seems real. And I really hate waking to feeling like it is still happening.

But those of you who have a lashing out nightmare, I am not sure it is all bad. You are standing up for yourself. But the parents not hearing and the scars bleeding. That sound like you really have a hard time still being heard and even with your wounds they still ignore the issue. my 2 cents.

 

[GR-ass]

hugs veiled tight

that is hitting the nail right on the head hon