[251turnaround]

Every time I start getting vivid nightmares, I know something's up. I don't think dreams have meaning, but the actions that take place are representative of your underlying feelings. That's why I get nightmares whenever an episode is coming or taking place. There's so much raw emotion and energy at work that it manifests itself in my sleep.

Is anyone else like this?

[Jedi67]

I can relate. I suffer from vivid and frightening dreams and they are usually a sign or trigger to something starting up with my mixed episodes or manias. I keep track of what my dreams are about and how many a week I have. Even my PDoc has suggested writing them down. I get around 4-5 vivid dreams a week that vary. Some bad, some forgettable and some very pleasant. It's the ones that are scary which results in me shouting out in my sleep, scaring the hell out of my wife. I wear a CPAP machine and sometimes I find that I yank the mask off in the middle of the night. Fortunately, these dreams are starting to wan. Only because I have had some mania after having a few wonky dreams in one night. On the other hand, I sometimes I believe my hypomania may even cause the dreams. I usually listen to an audiobook or a movie score to get me to sleep without having any dreams that linger long after I've woken up. If I wake up not remembering any dreams then I can move ahead and make the most of my day with mania or depression.

[Blue_Bird]

I have vivid/ bizzare and sometimes disturbing dreams often. Hate it but it generally doesn't mean an episode is coming for myself, just the way my dreams tend to be the past few years

[fern46]

I had a ton of vivid and disturbing dreams after my episode. They lasted for months. I think the meds played a role and my therapist suggested it was my mind's way of processing everything I went through. My episode itself was psychotic and like being in a dream while awake. I just did random and scary things with zero thought that made little sense. It was like my subconscious was driving and my body was on autopilot. I didn't think anything through and it was as if I were watching myself the way I do sometimes in a dream.

I do sometimes have bad dreams out of nowhere that don't indicate much. However, I too can indentify some links. Stress, anxiety, stress, usually. It affects my sleep cycle. That's what I think causes some of the bad dreams I experience.

[cashart10]

Vivid dreams often do signify mania for me as well.