Has anyone experienced frequent nightmares? I haven't been diagnosed with depression but I have nightmares (really violent ones) almost every night for quite a while.
I have been having nightmares myself. I dream about tornadoes a lot. I just had a dream last night where I was hiding under cover and I could feel the tornado pulling on me. I always come out ok in the dream but it's terrifying. I also have other recurring nightmares. I wonder why also.
I only have nightmares. That's all I ever have, meds or not. I had to come up with a different definition of nightmares for myself, since all my dreams are what other people call nightmares. I only really call it a "nightmare" when I wake up and realize it was a dream and I'm still scared anyway. That's pretty rare.
Funny, I have nightmares about tornadoes too, although I've never seen one.
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Ibsux, if not every dream you have is a nightmare then there is a trick that might help you some. My therapist taught it to me when I was having a particularly hard time. If you have a nightmare and wake up from it just change your position before you go back to sleep. It sounds simple but it works, your body learns to associate feelings with specific patterns and breaking those patterns can help to break you out of a cycle.
OK, I'll keep that one in mind, thanks for the advice.
I keep thinking that these nightmares are the manifestations of unresolved stresses in my life. I.e. events that take a great deal of mental energy to manage during my waking life. It's like my subconscious is dumping all this garbage when my defenses are down and the result is tired mornings and fits of panic in the middle of the night.
No matter how often I have these nightmares, I never seem to get used to them. About a week ago, I slept like a baby for the first time in months. I'm desperately trying to figure out what I did (or what went on) right during that week.
Is this a sign that I should see a therapist or go on meds?
