What Type Of Nightmares Are You Guys Having?

[Sarah_Rose]

I suffer from really bad nightmares, that my psychiatrist says are from my PTSD. Well, half of my nightmares are clearly about the abuse, but the other half tend to just be random horrific things. I keep having a reoccurring dream where I am in a one on one fight (my opponent changes) and we are only allowed to throw knives at each other as we stand face to face. The point i'm making is, some dreams are just randomly horrible. Do you think that's still a result of PTSD? Do you guys have more obvious PTSD themed dreams, or do you have a mix of random bad dreams/PTSD ones, or just random bad ones?

 

[Bickslow]

My most horrific seem simple, but they weigh so heavily on my soul. It's a setting which could only take place if I never left my abuser(s), one that only could happen in that timeline. But I'm happy about it. Oblivious to the damage they are causing on my soul, completely ignorant to how they are changing me, or worse, what I can see from a bird eye view (like I'm watching it happen) shows a very changed and whipped/abused version of myself. It's horrifying to see what COULD have been, and chills me to the bone. To be back in it alone would be enough...but to see it progress and be happy about it...

 

[Sarah_Rose]

@Bickslow That really does sound horrible, I can imagine how much that upsets you. I am sorry you are having dreams like that. So would you say most of your dreams are about that one, and related to your abuse? I hope you find some peace.

 

[Whirlwind]

My nightmares are the first thing that brought me to therapy.

Long term nightmares, it is 95% of my dreams, now down to about 80%. I dream several most nights. It is all very violent graphic .... torture, armageddon themes, no abuse specific other than implications, mostly the house I grew up in, violent fake scenes. some of my dreams are repeats, long term. My dream content is bad, always has been.

The point i'm making is, some dreams are just randomly horrible. Do you think that's still a result of PTSD?

Yes. I didn't think so before, but I do now. My T says they are PTSD/trauma related. I am kind of numb to them for the most part, it almost feels like they are a vent for me, when they slow down that is usually when my real life flashbacks are cooking.

Best, Whirlwind

 

[Lionheart]

I have PTSD nightmares which usually includes being chased and trapped, but can also contain random horrifics, which are too disturbing to name here.

The latter are just too graphic and violent for me to mention to others who are struggling, as I do not want to add to the burden! Suffice it to say that they are extremely disturbing to me and leave me upset for days and weeks at a time.

Fortunately I am on a medication that greatly reduces the frequency and memory of such nightmares.

 

[whserenitynluv]

My dreams stopped for several years. When I would have a nightmare, I would wake up sitting up, sweating and screaming. I don't know what that was about. Then my dreams stopped. Lately I have dreams I can see color in, and the dreams are not horrible. Once in awhile I have one, but have found if that is happening I can tell myself it's a dream and wake up. I don't know how.
One dream I remember was of me standing by a lake. It was dusk outside, and in the back distance I could see a dock. That crossed part of the lake. People started coming up to throw their wedding rings in the pong for them and then asking me to dive to get them out? , lol
Don't know what to say about that.
I'm sorry to hear about you guys having nightmares. :(

 

[Friday]

When I'm in a bad place, I tend to have a lot more nightmares, period.

I always dream. Good place, bad place, I always dream. Lucid, memories, universes, clustershucks of silliness, lives and lifetimes.

Past 3 years has been a pretty bad place. Not so long ago (6mo?) I got snarky about my nightmares, and after waking up I laid back down, turned over and deliberately went back to finish the sucker. Night after night. Well, screw you too, nightmare. I'd love to say that it ended them, but it didn't. It was kind of cathartic. I'm not afraid of my nightmares, never really have been, even waking up in full terror. I just got really stubborn about allowing the fear to wake me up and keep me up. The less sleep I get, the more nightmares I have when I'm awake. (Flashbacks, hallucinations, etc.).

Most of the time my nightmares are like living movies. Full color, sound, senses. Sometimes I'm reliving things with the same feelings, other times I have new feelings about them. Or things happen in them that didn't in real life. Events change, shift, and slide. Sometimes the patterns are obvious (my brain shuffling a deck of "what ifs"). Other times they're random.

Sometimes, lately, I've been down to one sense, or two. Taste has been huge, lately. Gross. Also pain. Not a lot of fun.

 

[Namenotdiagnosis]

I suffer from horrific nightmares too obviously some ste PTSD related, others I'm not sure. I often have a reoccurring one that I've dealt with in my t session but I still get them. When I wake in the morning I can't fully remember what it was but
At the time I know it's horrible and brings me lots of anxiety through the night. I usually have them worse when I'm not coping too well and am very stressed

 

[Deleted member 27524]

My sufferer just recently isolated from me and when he came back he said he had a nightmare that I had sex with another man and that it was horrific and he said he stood there and watched it all. So he woke up the next day and really had this thought in his mind that something happened and I'd actually been with another guy. He's not been the same since. I've noticed he has a lot of nightmares that include me. I've either died but mostly a lot of them have been me leaving him in some way.

 

[Lolly]

When I was 14 I moved to a different country to my abuser. For about 2 years I was having dreams of a man that looked just like my abuser, raping me. I never told anyone because I thought I was some sick monster, perhaps if I had told sooner I would be diagnosed earlier. Then last year my nightmares started plaguing me. I would try and get 8 hours of sleep, but I would wake up every hour because of a horrible nightmare. Most of the time I am dreaming of running away from him, but I'm always caught. Or I am dreaming of protecting my family from him, and failing. I also dream about my sister's may suicide attempts, as that's another reason for my PTSD.

It was because I was only getting 2 hours of sleep a night, and because I would be shaken up every morning (the last nightmare was always the worst) that my family made me go to the GP. I think that PTSD is the only reason for these nightmares. I don't have many visual flashbacks (I only have somatic ones at the moment) during the day, so it seems that having nightmares is my way of reliving them.

 

[Melody coates]

i feel you on this! i have "fighting" nightmares as well. But most of mine are about being attacked by someone or something! In PTSD our nightmares always have something to do with our trauma. even if the dream itself is not about specific events

 

[Ice_Fire]

I have nightmares that are both trauma related, in as much as they feature my abusers. But sometimes they are not dreams about the abuse, just the fact that they involve my 'parents' is enough to make them nightmares.

I also get this recurring dream every so often of dogs with bombs outside my house that will follow me and detonate them if I leave the house. These dogs are stood up on two legs and have coats on. It's very weird...

Other times they are like unconscious flashbacks I suppose.

Whichever sort I get, they leave me feeling exhausted