Do you often dream nightmares?

[darkwingmare 1,296]

I dream nightmares a LOT. Since I was a kid I've been dreaming horrible nightmares constantly and I cannot get rid of them. No matter who I ask, I always get different answers for why I might have them and I've tried reading about how to make them go away but I can't find anything that helps much.

Dream catchers work to an extent, but I would still like to have more solutions on my hoof.

 

Do you often have nightmares? Anyone with the same on-going problem as me?

Do any of you know how to get rid of nightmares?

I know it depends on what is causing them, but I just need some general advice from a wider perspective. Lemme know if you got something.

Edited July 9, 2015 by darkwingmare

[碇 シンジン 27,427]

Sometimes i do and they are all about my old school, when I was there i was bullied and scared to go some days in the dreams I'm usually leaving the school and walking home trying to avoid the bullies and other people *hugs  The dreams feel like they never end, though I dont see these dreams every night I think.

[Phoenix Flair 332]

I have a lot of dreams that others might consider nightmares, but I actually enjoy most disturbing dreams.  Since I am an aspiring writer, I use a lot of my dreams for a material, so I enjoy a good serial killer or monster coming after me.  I feel like a dream adrenaline junkie.  I don't know how you can stop having nightmares, but maybe if you view them in a different light, it will be less scary.

 

Or, now that I think of it, you could try altering your sleeping sensory input.  There's this theory that dreams arise from neural static coming from the brainstem, which is interpreted by use of your experiences and expectations into dreams.  When I was in AP Pscyh, I tried to see if altering my sleeping conditions could change the way I dream, and had some success in that area.  Listening to music gave me quick mood changes, and sleeping with an elevated temperature increased activity.  But you might want to try sleeping while cold.  That gave me very slow-moving lazy dreams, which might make a nice change from the nightmares.  Hope this helps, and good luck in dreamland.  

[Lexamena 391]

I used to ALOT. when i lived alone, i was terrified every night and i slept with every light in the house on. As ive gotten older, the nightmares have subsided some but they have not gone away completely. I still find myself opening my eyes before my brain wakes up and seeing my dream happening in my room, generally making me think someone is in my room. Or alternatively, ill be having a nightmare and i realize it so i try to make loud noises or physical movements to wake myself up. Im getting better at forcing myself awake but its still a scary struggle for several minutes. Thankfully it is getting to be less often as i age. It has helped to stop watching horror movies.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Lexamena

[Not Yellow Diamond 924]

Well, if you want. I can pray for you and for your dreams to be bright and happy

 

If you want nightmares to stop.

 

Face your fears

Write all your thoughts down before you go to bed

Sleep during the day

Don't be exposed to scay stuff.

 

I, myself haven't had a nightmare in years

[Venomous 18,813]

I have nightmares occasionally.

[Mars Orbit 729]

I hate nightmares.

I have them waaaay too often.

[DeadAccount 4,603]

I have more nightmares than I do for good dreams. But I think weird dream dominate

[Lexamena 391]

 Listening to music gave me quick mood changes, and sleeping with an elevated temperature increased activity.  But you might want to try sleeping while cold.  That gave me very slow-moving lazy dreams, which might make a nice change from the nightmares.  Hope this helps, and good luck in dreamland.  

OP, I think there might be some truth to this information. It might not be coincidence that when i started sleeping with a loud fan blowing plus lowering the temperature in the house overnight that i began to sleep better, uninterrupted. Also getting into an established sleep pattern of 9 hours (same bedtime and wake time EVEN on weekends) for the long term has had to have contributed, if you ask me. Plus i dont eat or drink caffeine for three hours before bed anymore. I do have a bedtime ritual of working a crossword puzzle on my phone and that tires and winds down my brain. I have always always been scared of the dark and still am but i think making conscious decisions to help with a sleep pattern has helped calm that fear some.

[Odyssey 5,713]

Oddly enough, I've recently been having a lot of nightmares. Most of these nightmares are usually about coming across a bully back in high school, considering that I used to get bullied badly back there. I've also been having many nightmares about people that I used to be friends with and how deceptive they truly are. The more of these nightmares I have, the more real they feel.

 

I've recently been talking with my parents and other authority figures about what I should do as these nightmares as they're starting to make me nervous at this point. It isn't easy, but I do hope they'll go away sometime soon.

[Lunatic Cake 1,618]

I tend to have this nightmare where a bear attacks me with 6 or 7 swords. I'm not questioning how he holds these, I'm about to die, so I run like crazy. lol

 

I sometimes have more realistic nightmares tho and they kinda scare me even after I wake up :x

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,232]

I haven't really had nightmares in many years. None that I can vividly remember at least. Many of my dreams nowadays are very realistic real life stuff. Which for the most part, is pretty boring. I suppose this is a good thing since scary stuff almost never happens in them.

[Lisa 5,551]

Not really anymore. The last nightmare I had was about 3 years ago I think.

[Ted Cruz 177]

Everytime I don't have dream, it's a nightmare. 

Or as it really is, having a dream and not remembering even a slight bit of it.

[Pastel 7,627]

Not anymore, but I had nightmares when I was playing a lot of video games (I almost never play now). I don't know why but I feel like the 2 are connected (at least for me)...

Edited July 10, 2015 by Blobulle

[Whitewolf 106]

During some periods, I have nightmares every night, but it's quite rare. I think it depends of my humor, but I rather have dreams.

[SparklingSwirls 21,261]

Yup, I get nightmares pretty often too. Only some of my nightmares are actually violent though; the majority deal with fear/creepy situations

 

I've heard that it helps to do "imagery rehearsal therapy": think about your nightmare once you awake, and try to imagine a different, more happy and peaceful ending for your nightmare. I'm not sure if that actually works or not, but it's an idea

[Iridescent Quill 70]

I dream a lot and nearly every dream is a nightmare.... There are violent dreams (usually involving dinosaurs) and there are the ones where no matter what I do, all of my loved ones hate me. I'm really tired of all of the nightmares...

[Guest]

No, and if you do, you may need to get help for it, as it can be an indicator of a serious psychological disorder. I rarely have nightmares or even bad dreams, most dreams are neutral or good, and I don't remember most of them.

[Sunwalker 981]

I don't usually have nightmares, and It has been a while since the last time I had one. An interesting thing about my dreams is that I have a great amount of control over them, so they don't usually turn bad.

 

But one thing that I have once in a while is sleep paralysis, when you are half awake and cannot move your body. You are more or less aware of your surroundings, but you might see, hear or feel stuff that aren't really there, like other people. This does terrifies me, but it has been happening less often fortunately.

[Lunia 332]

I don't have nightmares, and It been more then 4 months since I had one for sure. All my dreams are either good or neutral, mostly neutral though. The cool thing I like about being in my dreams is that I'm a lucid dreamer, which means I have control of my dreams. I just think of anything I want to happen in them and it happens, but I'm not able to do this every time I dream, just occasionally. Fun thing is, sometimes when I'm in a dream I hear music or a video that my family is playing/watching next to me and when I wake up they still are doing so. 

[Sintanan 151]

I have quite a few nightmares.  But I'd give 3:4 in favor of non-nightmarish dreams.  My nightmares all have the same theme to them:  Either I suffer excessive physical trauma, or I watch my niece and/or nephew killed in some way.  It has ranged from attacks by wild animals, to gravity taking its toll off a cliff, or sometimes the exotic like the heavens above striking my nephew down in front of me because I was enjoying my day.  Many times my nightmares see me to wake suddenly with a curse for the gods above on my lips.

 

On the flipside, my dreams tend to be mundane.  Most often they involve whatever media I have found myself interested in being woven with "real life" to create something that is just ever so slightly off.

[Magic Note 2,734]

I have had nightmares, but they're very rare now. That's a stark contrast to years ago, when I used to get nightmares just about every other day.

[Sunwalker 981]

It has been a while since the last time I had an actual nightmare. I don't know if this counts as nightmare, but sometimes I dream that I am having an argument with someone and I wake up agitated.

[catnet 9,353]

I don't remember having any nightmares in the last year or so, and I can only remember a handful from before then, so I guess not. Or maybe I just forget nightmares very easily? Hard to tell...