Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Skully]

I have a sleep issue. Or, more specifically, I have a psych issue where I get unimaginably bad nightmares (long story, just take my word for it). They don't happen all the time, but because I'm always so afraid of them I'll take any excuse I can get to avoid going to sleep until the last possible moment. It's kinda really bad.
I've kinda started to take naps during the day to make up for my lost sleep during the night and have gotten a reputation for being nocturnal because of it (the nightmares only happen during the actual night). But I'm always tired all the time, because I never really get enough sleep. I don't even know why I'm posting this, since I don't really expect any useful advice.
I dunno. I kinda just wonder if anyone can relate. k thx bai. <3

[Trapezohedron]

It most likely be of no use to you, but I heard Marijuana curbs dreams, good and bad. Some say the aftershock of stopping from ingesting Marijuana after you have imbibed in some creates worse dreams.

I wonder if your dreams are really horrible to the point of being detrimental to your wellbeing, you could get a doctor to support the use of such medically?

I know of no other drug to curb dreams.

[~Neri]

Drugs are about the worst possible advice you can give. Odds are is the cause is some sort of past trauma. Seeing a therapist they feel like they can trust is a much better idea.

[gimlet]

I actually kind of like nightmares, it's usually some pretty wild stuff.  A lot of writers get  ideas that way, have a pad handy to write that stuff down when you wake up - that definitely takes some of the sting out of it.

I've also had some success in changing them - pursued by monsters "I'm gonna shoot these bastards" and somehow I've got a gun and I'm shooting them.  And in recognizing when it's a dream, then I can REALLY take control - I've been working on flying lately.   One big trigger for me is when I float down stairs (I guess my dream persona is too lazy to walk too, heh), that leads me to think "Haaaang on, I can't really float down stairs" and then I can start to manipulate the dream.  But do it gently, if I try tooo hard I wake up.   Look it up, it's called "lucid dreaming".

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I can relate, I pretty much have the same issue with daily nightmares. Though I am not actually afraid of them and do not consciously avoid sleep, I don't generally find it restful and thus am also a night owl by preference.

I've had nightmares happen during my daytime sleep plenty, though.

[H4zardZ1]

I actually kind of like nightmares, it's usually some pretty wild stuff.  A lot of writers get  ideas that way, have a pad handy to write that stuff down when you wake up - that definitely takes some of the sting out of it.

I've also had some success in changing them - pursued by monsters "I'm gonna shoot these bastards" and somehow I've got a gun and I'm shooting them.  And in recognizing when it's a dream, then I can REALLY take control - I've been working on flying lately.   One big trigger for me is when I float down stairs (I guess my dream persona is too lazy to walk too, heh), that leads me to think "Haaaang on, I can't really float down stairs" and then I can start to manipulate the dream.  But do it gently, if I try tooo hard I wake up.   Look it up, it's called "lucid dreaming".

Try to imagine something when you are in a dream and it happens even you aren't recognizing it's a dream. Once in a daydream, i flung a tower into a castle, wrecking it and then intermediately unsummoned someone i met. Usually forgot about this before i sleep, through.

In other words: Imagine something good before and when you're sleeping. That protects you from nightmares.

[Djohaal]

Prazosin is an alpha blocker drug which is used for blood pressure management and... tada, preventing nightmares in PTSD. I've personally had magnificent results with it in my patients, you should look into that and discuss with your physician if it is worth a try. It doesn't alter sleep architecture nor is addictive, as a plus.

[Shadowlord]

You don't need drugs. I never have nightmares.

You just need to play more first person / third person video games.  http://m.livescience.com/6521-video-gamers-control-dreams-study-suggests.html

(I would assume horror games where you're just running all the time in terror wouldn't work very well)

[i2amroy]

Personally I'm a big supporter of just taking 10-20 minutes of basic meditation time to try to clear your mind as much as possible before you go to sleep. I suffered from terrible nightmares for a couple of months when I was younger and that was the thing that eventually solved the problem for me. You don't even need to do much, the basic idea that was espoused to me was:
0) Get all of the way ready for bed
1) Sit in a comfortable position with your hands in your lap
2) Close your eyes and focus on the bridge of your nose
3) Start counting your breaths, either count in's or out's, but not both
4) Every time you count 8 start over at 1 again, if you lose count (which happens way more often then you think it will), just start back at 1 again
5) Follow it up by going to sleep.

For me I actually eventually just started continuing to count breaths all of the way until I fell asleep, but it certainly helped me.

[Skully]

Prazosin is an alpha blocker drug which is used for blood pressure management and... tada, preventing nightmares in PTSD. I've personally had magnificent results with it in my patients, you should look into that and discuss with your physician if it is worth a try. It doesn't alter sleep architecture nor is addictive, as a plus.

... that's convenient. I'll probably ask someone about that at some point.

[Flying Dice]

You don't need drugs. I never have nightmares.

You just need to play more first person / third person video games.  http://m.livescience.com/6521-video-gamers-control-dreams-study-suggests.html

(I would assume horror games where you're just running all the time in terror wouldn't work very well)

Huh. That... actually sort of makes sense, in a strange way. I'd never really thought about it in this context, but my really freaky fucked-up nightmares underwent a shift in focus at around the same time I started playing non-puzzle/RTS games--the last I remember prior to that was the usual vein of helpless terror, and the first after was more in the vein of Doom in an opera theatre with giant spiders shot through with an undercurrent of grief.

But yeah. Medicate only if you can't find a workable option that doesn't require you to pay for and take pills or whatever.

[Orange Wizard]

Drugs/medication definitely shouldn't be your first attempt. Chatting with a therapist would be my advice - especially if the nightmares are related to trauma.
When addressing mental health it's always important to understand the reasons for things rather than just treating symptoms.

[ChairmanPoo]

You two realize that Djohaal is actually a psychiatrist, right? And that he (rightfully) advised to discuss the suggestion with his responsible physician?

It's not like Skully will get the drug without a prescription anyway.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Since we're talking about it, I suppose I'd also like counsel on the topic of nightmares. I don't have any major psychological issues (insert typical solipsism disclaimer about being able to know things), but I do have nightmares almost without fail. Over the course of a month I will have a neutral or positive dream maybe once or twice, very tilted towards neutral. I considered this normal until, in my mid-teens, I came across a figure saying that most people do not have nightmares every night. A quick survey of the people I know suggested that most of them would have one nightmare every couple of months, not quite an inversion of what I get, but very different from my normal all the same.

Is this actually weird? I find it hard to believe this isn't the norm. Since I'm usually not afraid of them for very long after waking up I can't really consider it a serious problem, but then again I seem to have problems with sleep in general. I've also never succeeded in achieving lucid dreaming, but I got close once.

[gimlet]

I think nightmares will be disproportionately remembered because 1) They're vivid and unusual, likely to get adrenaline pumping and adrenaline helps memory 2) They're more likely to wake you up, and so you'll remember them because they're still fresh.   

Almost everybody dreams multiple dreams a night, 3-5 apparently, and sometimes even more.   Also depends on what you were doing a lot of those eveneings - were you playing horror video games perchance?   I have a lot of gaming dreams, some pretty repetitive ones when I've been playing spreadsheety strategy games.  Or worse, really realistic dreams of being at work, with nothing really unusual happening, just a typical boring work day (I almost consider *those* nightmares, heh)...