What Happens At Night Defines Your Day?

[LSNP]

Sometimes I wake up "OK" and sometimes I wake up devastated. Sometimes I remember the vivid dreams, sometimes I do not. Mostly, these days, my sleep is just troubled and "helped along" by whatever I can get my hands on.

I seriously wonder, though, if my mood in the morning is directly related to the dreams at night. I would give my right arm for a dreamless, sound sleep. I don't even want Rainbows and Butterflies, because those dreams leave me with a feeling of disappointment when I wake up.

Just dreamless. Rest. Sleep. So I can someday wake up feeling good again.

 

[Shellbell]

I think the nightmares can make us feel terrible when we wake up.

I also think that poor sleep leads to our brains not being able to empty out all the stress and anxiety (have you seen the PTSD cup theory?), and we wake up still having stress and so our day starts off badly. Our brain hasn't been able to process all the stress, so it's still there upon waking.

For me having poor quality, or not enough sleep with no nightmare leads to feeling just as bad in the morning, as waking up from bad nightmares.

 

[Abstract]

I agree with Shellbell that sleep is very important in emptying out stress from the brain. Essentially our stress hormones rise during the day and sleep brings that level down. If we dont sleep or dont sleep properly we start the day with our "cup" already fuller.

Some types of dreams affect me like flashbacks and I can take days or weeks to come down again a bit.

Sleep issues are literally crazy making.

 

[Sandstone]

I've been finding that what happens at night pursues me into the day. I googled it as "people coming out of my dreams during the day to get me." Not surprisingly, nothing useful came up.

Repeatedly, usually if I move my head or turn around, I see flashes of the dreams I had the night before, and it feels as though they want to take me into their unreal world.

So last night I dreamed that I was exorcising guinea pigs because they were making pictures with the vacuum cleaner fluff. Today the pictures, which were mainly related to space flight, kept appearing round the place. At least that's less worrying than seeing nuns, Nazis and evacuees as I had the night before.

So that's something not to tell my doctor/therapist etc, since I'd quite like not to be sectioned

 

[MadMan]

I had some years with extreme nightmares. It normally took me 3 hours to get strength and cope with the trauma from the dreams enough to get out of bed. Was so tires I walked around with slow movements like a 70 year old man. A a lot of memory flashbacks during the day, which I had to sort out as "dream" (no real) or "not dream" (real).

In the evening I had recovered enough to feel much better and was productive from around 20 p.m. and later. Then it's back to bed and the terror starts all over again...

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I used to wake up at two am every morning. I used to have terrible nightmares. Now I sleep alot better. But i am staying up late recently. You have me thinking now about going to bed earlier.

 

[Mrs. Martinez]

I really struggle with this , all I can say is usually sleep aids , or alcohol make it worse.

 

[Sandstone]

a lot of memory flashbacks during the day, which I had to sort out as "dream" (no real) or "not dream" (real).

It's such a relief to see someone else describe this - I thought I was on my own with it.

I've always had occasional problems being sure what is a dream and what is reality. The earliest example I can recall was aged 8, when a teacher asked why I had missed pottery club. I was certain a notice had been given out in assembly saying it had been cancelled.

More recently this has been a greater problem. I find myself asking my husband things like "Did I get up in the middle of the night and turn the TV on?", or "Was there an earthquake last night?". Both those events seemed real, but he assured me they didn't happen. Yet they are now lodged in my memory as fact not fantasy.

Currently, as I described above, dreams seem to be on their way into daytime as well. If I consider that dispassionately it sounds like insanity, but it doesn't feel alarming at the time.

Does anyone else have experience of this, and of resolving it?

 

[HëllaBubz]

I take an antihistamine when I get to a week or more of crappy sleep.
I have never once dreamed whilst on it, which is AMAZING!

Last night I dreamed that I was with my mother and sibling/friend, and she was constantly 'bible bashing' me, and kept leaving pieces of paper, notes, and folders of stuff about 'Jesus' so that way she could remember to torture me with it when she got back.

I fought, kicked and screamed, found all of those pieces of paper and tore, shredded and drowned all of those pieces of paper, although one of my siblings/friends stayed behind to try to stop me, I kicked at them, screamed, punched, bit and scratched until I destroyed every last piece.

The pure rage and frustration has carried over to my waking hours, and an hour after I have woken, I am seriously considering not going to my parents place with my partner because if my mum or dad starts shit, I'm going to rip off heads.

 

[LSNP]

I hate the feeling of not knowing whether something stuck in my head is real or not.

I hate this life.

 

[Ayasha]

LSNP Member New I hate the feeling of not knowing whether something stuck in my head is real or not.

I can relate. I think I spend more time trying to determine if these 'memories' are real than I spend to actually process them. You aren't alone.