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Cerridwen
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
It's so interesting reading about everyone's dream experiences. I have an incredibly vivid dreaming life and it's neat to read about other people who have experienced similar dreams/nightmares. I have had terrifying nightmares, sleep paralysis, lucid dreams, everything under the sun it seems. Often connnected to stress or emotional disruptions in my life.

I don't have nightmares as much as I used to, however, since I seem to be able to lucid-dream my way out of them before they get very scary. I can usually identify the frightening aspect of the dream and "transform" it into something mundane or benign now, rather than have the dream control me. I can decide to fly away from a monster or turn myself invisible. I can even consciously decide to wake up, but that takes major effort.
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sybann
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
Again - cause and effect? Nightmares usually happen when your waking life is problematic - I'm betting that's the cause and nightmares are a symptom. Nightmares can also be caused by some medications. Perhaps the reason for these meds can be attributed to suicide but I doubt it's the nightmares.
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gangey
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
I had night terrors as a child, but they stopped when I was 7 or 8.

Now my one year old is getting them, and it is breaking my heart!
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Maritsa
06/09/09

@gangey: Poor Buster! Little G woke up screaming the other night for no apparent reason...uh-oh.
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gangey
06/09/09

@Maritsa: Poor Little G!

It has only happened to us a few times... he sits up screaming bloody murder, and when I or my husband pick him up, he stiffens and looks at us like he has no idea who we are, while continuing to scream. It takes a couple of minutes for him to realize where he is and who we are, then he gives a big hug and settles down almost immediately. Luckily, he doesn't seem to remember them at all once he wakes up - and according to my mom, I never did either.
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gherkinfiend
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
I went from the most perfect sleeper in the world to a raging insomniac who suffers from night terrors, repetitive nightmares and sleep paralysis after being drug raped.

For me it is a symptom of PTSD, but it has also affected my physical health to suffer so long without good sleep and is one of the reasons I can't work.

This is the one time I wish Britain was more like the USA and prescribed sleeping pills or medication a bit more easily.
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deltabella
06/09/09

@gherkinfiend: I have the same thing. My boyfriend has had to learn to just let me wake up on my own though, because when he'd try waking me up, I had no clue who he was- just some man in the bed with me- and I would immediately go into fight mode and start screaming. I screamed loud enough one night that the neighbors called the cops because they thought I was being hurt- try explaining that one when your boyfriend is covered in scratches and red marks from being hit.
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Cerridwen
06/09/09

@deltabella: After my sister was assaulted, she had nightmares and once the same thing happened to her: her boyfriend woke her up and she went ballastic on him and screamed and punched him. I was in the room next to them and it was terrifying and heartbreaking to hear it.
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Her Grace
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
My girlfriend has terrible nightmares, very repetitively. When we're in the same place (we spend a lot of time long distance), I'm usually pretty attuned to her sleeping patterns and can wake up and then wake her up if I hear her starting to nightmare.

I dream very vividly, and if I don't or don't recall having dreams, it's generally a sign of depression for me. They run the gamut from silly to sexy to nightmares, and I have night terrors a few times a month. It's both better and worse working night shift, because the quality of my sleep is worse during the day, so I'm more prone to terrors, but the daylight seems to ward them off.
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Cerridwen
06/09/09

@Her Grace: I often have more uncontrollable nightmares when I am depressed but it is interesting that you mention that you don't dream or don't recall your dreams when you are depressed. The same thing happens to my partner. One of the major signs that he is mentally well is that he dreams regularly and can recall his dreams. He also suffers from insomnia, manifested as an inability to stay asleep, as a symptom of depression. I think his quality of sleep is disturbed and perhaps he is not experiencing the full REM cycle? I'm not sure, really.
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AuntieBee
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
My ex had awful night terrors; he'd have to get up for at least 45 minutes afterwards before he could even contemplate sleep. His mother had severe insomnia too, and I always wondered if her sleep was tormented like his, but I never did ask. She was not the type to talk about that personal stuff.

My nightmares are bad, when they happen, but they don't bug me as much as anxiety dreams. The ones where I wake up shaky and crying and can't calm myself. Hoo baby, those are monsters.
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lalaland13
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
When I get too hot, I have nightmares. Usually I wake up and have the sheets/comforter wrapped around me tightly.

The other night, I dreamed this guy I went to junior high with who smelled bad was stalking me. I've also had dreams where he was trying to rape me. I don't know what is so sinister about this guy-actually, he was sinister in junior high, so that may be why he haunts my dreams sometimes.

People are usually trying to chase me or get me in those bad dreams. They suck.
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hydrogen_jukebox
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
When I lived in Prague, I roomed with a girl who would wake me up at least every other night by screaming out loud in her sleep. I always wondered what she dreamed about to make her have such a reaction (though I think once it was partly my fault for making her watch surrealist cinema one night.)

All of the dreams that terrify me are shockingly mundane when I recall them. Like the recurring one where I leave my house and come back to discover my room has been changed back to what it looked like when I was seven. Why should pink paint and wicker furniture scare me so?
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BabyJane
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
I don't have nightmares, but I do have severe panic attacks that interrupt my sleep during periods of great stress and I can attest to the fact that it can really wreak havoc on you after a while. Your nerves feel perpetually jangled.
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margareita metermaid
06/09/09

@BabyJane: I also had this. It's what finally prompted me to seek help. I had been having panic attacks in the daytime, but was so depressed and grief-stricken about the prospect of having panic disorder or GAD that I didn't want to see a doctor. But when it started interfering with my sleep, I was so raw during the daytime that I finally had no choice but to get treated by a doctor. which was what i should've done in the beginning, but lack of sleep will really destroy you.
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morninggloria
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
I used to have recurring dreams of just walking around my house or apartment and then walking into a room to find a naked, screaming (uninjured) woman covered in blood who would try to attack and bite me. She never talked, just screamed. Those were terrible.
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hatepaperdoll
06/09/09

@morninggloria: I read a short story about a psychiatrist at an asylum who had a recurring dream about a patient in solitary confinement murdering someone, the next day he would find that the patient was covered in blood, but uninjured. He comes to the conclusion that the patient was somehow using his dreams to murder, and stops sleeping (and presumably goes mad).
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lurkystars
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
I get sleep paralysis when I'm under intense stress. It's horrible to not be able to breathe or wake yourself up even when you know it's just a dream.
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Rare Affinity
06/09/09

@lurkystars: I used to get sleep paralylis if I had had an afternnon nap and sometimes when I awoke from ordinary sleep. However I reached the stage when I knew what was happening and just waited calmly until I could move again.
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Rare Affinity
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
I hsve had periods of extreme night terrors including "waking up" to see giant insects crawl up the wall and on one occasion "seeing" three men in my bedroom who then tried to strangle me. As such events are so vivid, hence that is why they are so terrifying, it is sometimes hard to distinguish between reality and hallucinations. I used to have that problem with less dramatic dreams when, later, I could not be quite sure what was real and what was imaginary. So I am not surprised it can lead to mental halth issues in more severe cases.
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shushi
06/09/09

@Rare Affinity: Wow. I have the insect one (though, they're crawling up ME!) and also often think I see other people in the room. They're so common that I tell myself mid-terror it's a dream, but I never believe myself!
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Rare Affinity
06/09/09

@shushi: I am reminded of the classic endings in horror films when someone wakes up with relief, belieiving the preceding terrifying events were just a nightmare, only to discover it was indeed real. I usually feel embarrased when I have them as I can scream the place down and it somehow seems ridiculous to be having night terrors when you are far from being a child yourself.
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formergr
06/09/09

@Rare Affinity: I used to come home from gatherings with friends or parties, and "wake up" (but not all the way) in the middle of the night later to find them in my bedroom and I'd have to keep talking to them, but was soooo tired and just wanted them to leave so I could sleep. Really annoying, but it stopped by the time I was 20 or so. I think puberty probably played a role, with hormones etc definitely impacting sleep patterns.
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Cerridwen
06/09/09

@Rare Affinity: I totally get what you mean about not distinguishing between the real and the imaginary. Which would make sense for those suffering from psychosis. I sometimes have dreams where my teeth fall out. Sometimes, only one tooth is wobbly; other times, my whole lower jaw breaks off my face. Despite the fact that I have had these dreams over and over again, I still have to check to make sure all my teeth are there when I wake up, because the residual feelings from the dream are so real.
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kkatt
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
That painting is so powerful in person it is one of my faves!
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Rare Affinity
06/09/09

@kkatt: I saw it at The Tate last year and got an image of it on a fridge magnet, I lked it so much.
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Crackers In Bed
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
annoyingly, it seems i only get night terrors at times when i'm absolutely exhausted. like if i've pulled an all-nighter, the following night's sleep is sure to be tormented. boo.
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Interrobanging
06/09/09

In reply to Night Terrors
This is scary. My bf's dreams sometimes are so horrible he begins to physically spazz and shake and I can hear him gasping for air, it's like he's so frightened he stops breathing. I don't know if one day I'm gonna give him a heart attack trying to wake him up.
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Crackers In Bed
06/09/09

@Interrobanging: ugh that's awful. does he ever get any rest? (love your screen name, btw)
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