Worst Dream Ever Last Night

[Aggie]

Yesterday I had a flashback. I knew most of the details before. I was physically assaulted and abused or 6 years until I graduated high school. When a junior (youngest in class), I was assaulted. I remembered how I got the broken ear drum but not the concussion. Yesterday I flashed back to me. Last night during a night terror, I was being assaulted from behind. My wife bounded out of bed to answer a phone going off (family member is having medical issues) and it fit right into my dream. As she was bounding out of bed she brushed my back and I threw a strong elbow into her back. The angle she was at, deflected a lot of the blow, but it was a hard swing. I jumped out of bed to face one of the attackers and woke up.

It scared me. I don't want to hurt anyone, especially my wife. I'm sick about it today.

 

[HappyJock]

I'm really sorry that you're going through this, it sounds really frightening and from what I can imagine, really frustrating as well.

I think the first step to moving towards improvement in any given situation is bringing it up and accepting it as such; an issue. Know that you're not alone. I'm in a similar boat with you. Not about the exact trauma, of course, but with regards to abuse, PTSD and as such, nightmares that end similarly to how you described this night terror.

If you're looking for advice, my only suggestion would be either to talk to someone about it, either your wife or a therapist, or write about it, kind of journal about these nightmares and before sleeping, try envisioning different outcomes you can have in said nightmare. This has worked for me, both for flashacks and nightmares, but it doesn't work all the time and is only a temporary change until it's fully dealt with.

Give yourself a break. :hug: Don't be hard on yourself. Just as with anyone, all we need is a little TLC and sometimes to ask a professional for some guidance towards improvement. Good luck!

 

[TT1981]

For years, I would have nightmares that made me flail and lash out physically at my husband. It added to my insomnia because I was afraid of hurting him ( several times he woke up with bruises on him), so I just started not sleeping at all. For me, medication was my saviour. I started taking Prazosin for the nightmares and have had very few nightmares since. It also seems to help me with my daytime flashbacks as well. It might be something to consider.