Updates : Nightmares

Nightmares

Archived from November 14, 2005

I have nightmares almost every night.

They usually occur 1 hour after I go to sleep.

Sometimes I remember the dreams, sometimes I just wake up in a panic.
The nightmares I remember almost exclusively involve an intruder in my apartment. Sometimes the intruder will already be inside the apartment, sometimes he will be trying to get in or be in the process of entering my apartment.

The intruder is always male.
The intruder varies in appearance.

Last night I had 2-4 nightmares. I'm not exactly sure of the number, but I know I woke up from nightmares at least twice.

In one the intruder was a short man of medium build, thinning hair/receeding hairline on a very large head, sandy brown hair. The man was about 45. The second nightmare featured an aryan style man, athletic build, hair in a 1940's style, close cropped cut, very blond. He was about 30.

My nightmares are accompanied by shouting and movement. I usually shout things like "get away!". Sometimes I'll be more specific and say "hold on!" indicating to the intruder that he should wait to attack me until I get my lights on.

I try to do things to relax before bed like take hot baths or drink tea, but I haven't found anything that consistantly works. I guess I'll have to experiment.

<< | Posted by Starr at 10:29 AM | >>

I have just been noticing that as stressful events increase in my life, there is a clear corollary effect on my dreams--namely, nightmares about being raped and abducted. I have never had these things happen to me in real life, and they don't have anything to do with my real life problems, but they sure do crop up when I am stressed. And I barely remember my dreams, otherwise.

Posted by: Rebecca at November 14, 2005 12:46 PM

What exactly does intruder do when you tell him to hold on.

I have an idea. I think you should absolutely kick the shit out of a blow-up guy doll. Completely tear the shit out of it. Lots of kicks in the groin. I feel like once you do this, it will sink so far down into the id or ego or wherever it's supposed to go that those intruders won't dare enter your dreamscape again. Cause really, sleeping's such a beautiful thing and no one should be able to take it away from you. Or maybe in your next dream you could just call out to shirtless tree-trimmers that come rescue you?

Posted by: oso at November 14, 2005 06:04 PM

no matter how many times you had this nightmare, all you need is to come off of just one feeling like you took control and conquered the situation and i am sure you will never have it again. perhaps when you are stressed you feel overwhelmed and have some self doubt about your abilities to overcome.
so put your doubts in the back seat and just charge!

kick the intruder's ass or make him regret it with all your might that he dared to enter your space. And when you get stressed, use whatever it takes to overcome.. friends, prayer, and the knowledge of everyone that loves you is behind you.

good luck, god bless.

Posted by: seekpeace at November 17, 2005 07:40 PM

recurring nightmares are usually indicative of something our subconscious is preoccupied with. Like for awhile I was having a recurring nightmare in which I suddenly remember that several weeks ago I put a kitten in my backpack intending to take it home, and then I forgot all about it. The rest of the dream is me screaming and crying, searching for the backpack in which I know I will find a dead kitten. Someone finally told me that a dream like this means there is something in your life you are neglecting. Once I started thinking about it, i realized it was true. And then the dreams stopped. I also have recurring nightmares about zombies that are always the same, but so far I haven't figured out what my brain is trying to tell me. I hope this comment was helpful, because while I was writing it I accidentally got miso soup up my nose. And that is a TRUE STORY.

Posted by: ritchey at November 19, 2005 01:40 PM

My shrink says these appear to be anxiety dreams. We've discussed a whole host of possibilities for why they exist.
One possibility I find especially interesting is this; because I've become so adroit at emotional self monitoring, I can very effectively control how/when/what I express during the day. My emotions are still present, and so during the times I'm most vulnerable (the first hour of sleep), my mind allows me to go through these emotions from the day. My shrink says I'm using my dreams like a drug, because they allow me to be less inhibited; I'll express what I'm actually feeling.
Another premise we've discussed that's along the same lines, is particular to my intruder dreams. It could be that the reason I have these intruder dreams is I'm afraid of being vulnerable with people; my first reaction is terror and self protection.
We've also discussed the possibility that I am both the intruder and myself in the dreams; that I am afraid of this more masculine, assertive side of myself and that my helpless, sleeping side is trying to keep it at bay.
What I find most helpful, interesting and important about dream evaluation is what is being felt. My vivid dreams help enormously in discovering my "true" feelings, then we can go backwards through the day to see what would've caused such intense anxiety.
The trouble is - will I continue to have these dreams forever? Or is there something that I can do to alleviate them? It seems like with anything, though, appropriate healing takes time, patience and time. (I feel like that's a lyric from a song - the "it'll take time, patience and time" line. Oh yeah, it's from that song where he says "to do it right, child" "it's gonna take time, a whole lotta precious time, it's gonna take patience and time to do it to do it to do it to do it right child."

Posted by: Starr at November 19, 2005 07:01 PM