Trying To Kill Me In My Sleep...

[brittris]

The past few years, since my divorce from my abusive husband, I've noticed my nightmares at night always seem to follow the same trend -- someone is trying to kill me. And it's not always him in the nightmare; oftentimes it is a complete stranger or some other loved one (such as a parent or my brother), and they are always trying to kill me in the most brutal way. But at some point during each nightmare, his face appears, and it's absolutely terrifying to me,even more terrifying than the person trying to kill me; even if he's not doing anything in the dream at all. Does anyone have this experience, with complete strangers in the dream taking the part of the person who harmed you in real life? How do you get your mind to relax after waking from a nightmare like this? I've discovered that before I wake from one of these nightmares, I can feel my whole body jumping, as if it's trying to jump off the bed and run away. I try to tell myself I don't know these people, and no one is going to harm me, but my brain just can't seem to let it go.

 

[shimmerz]

Yeah, I had insane dreams back when. They would have me afraid to go to sleep at all. And they felt so incredibly real. My body responded as if they were real.

My T helped a ton in making sense of them. It was super helpful to me. It can definitely get better.

 

[brittris]

Yeah, I had insane dreams back when. They would have me afraid to go to sleep at all. And they felt...

My T has been helping a lot lately with some of these dreams, and I've found that with my medications I'm not having them near as much. It's just so strange to me how a total stranger's face can put me in so much fear. And even more strange to me is how my body physically reacts when I'm in my sleep with this nightmares. I feel like I'm living my trauma all over again! And sometimes I wonder if these strangers are actually more of a disguise for my abuser. It's definitely a new part of my therapy so I'm sure more answers will come along soon.