I rarely get nightmares but I do get something else fun involving sleep; Every other month or so I get sleep paralysis. It's like a nightmare, it's terrifying, but it's a mix of reality and dreaming, often you wake up before it happens leaving you off guard.
One time I woke and felt off balance and as if I was crushing something, which turned out was my dog, but couldn't help it. In response to my crushing he bit me and I could feel his teeth against my forearm. The weird thing was how this scene faded away and turned back to reality; it was as if the sensation was an object with a sheet draped over it and that this sheet was being slowly pulled tight reducing the definition of the object/sensation.
One other time I woke in the dark with my covers over my head. No matter how much I struggled I was paralysed and panicking. I heard someone flush the toilet so I tried to shout them for help but couldn't. After what seemed like an age I regained control and the panic lifted away.
What's most strange is that knowing about sleep paralysis does nothing to help reduce the genuine fear I feel while it's happening. Once the paralysis goes away the fear lifts. It's like my mind itself is paralysed in a state of terror.
I love nightmares. They allow you to experience feelings and situations you rarely get in life.
While the sleep paralysis is scary I don't wish it didn't happen. It doesn't ruin my day but makes it more interesting.
One thing I did try to encourage more dreams, and succeeded at doing, was keeping a dream journal.
This works wonders.
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Topic: Terrible Nightmares (Read 5438 times)