[Polykronic]

Due to abuse, I have had reoccurring nightmares for years that are, unfortunately, similar in many key respects to The Hunger Games.

Obviously I won't be reading the books or watching the film. But the blasted thing is EVERYWHERE. It's even brought up in class. I can't even get new wallpaper for my phone or look at the news without this coming up.

I can't sleep because my nightmares have returned and are melding with images and characters from THG, and any quotes or catchphrases I've chanced across reverberate in my head as I try to sleep and--well, basically, it's draining me dry. Any suggestions for dealing with this?

[Perna]

Are you in therapy to deal with the abuse? Recurring nightmares happen because we haven't dealt with something; it is our unconscious trying to get our attention. Going with the flow rather than trying to resist it might help some.

Accept that THG is out there and the images are similar but you know they are now and fiction, not then and the two aren't the same. Get that new wallpaper for your phone and look up the news. Make up stories with whatever images and catch phrases you hear and have them come out the way you'd like instead of what you imagine; don't agree with your abuse, to let it keep abusing you this way.

Before you go to sleep, tell yourself (and believe it) that you will accept whatever dreams come your way, they are yours and something your head is doing to try and help you but they are just dreams, not real and though you would rather they not be so nightmarish, you accept whatever they are. Tell yourself you are going to have a good sleep or learn something new from your dreams that will help you in your waking life.

[Coraline]

I avoid pop culture triggers by avoiding a lot of pop culture. Do you really need it? What's the worst that could happen if you didn't check the news? (I haven't for years, and it's made no difference to me at all.) Why do you have to change your wallpaper?

I'm really careful what I watch on TV (pre-planned stuff only), turn off the volume or skip altogether during advert breaks, and tend to watch only films rented via internet rental (where I can check for risks on sites like IMDB before choosing). It's restrictive, but living with trauma is restrictive, and it keeps me sane.

Here in the UK there was recently a big advertising campaign on TV, in cinemas and on public transport, warning about something which happened to be what happened to me. I stopped going to cinemas (c'est la vie) but couldn't avoid public transport and the posters. I got really good at looking away before I'd even consciously registered that it was another one of those posters, and I also got very good at immediately switching my mind to something else.

This may sound harsh, but in a situation like this you can't indulge yourself. You can't indulge yourself in wanting to do what everyone else does, go where everyone else goes and watch what everyone else watches - you're different, and you need to accept and work around that. You also can't indulge yourself in the reaction if you're accidentally exposed to something. Have at least two other "go to" reactions prepared for yourself, and make sure you go to them if it happens.

Please know I'm not minimising your history, it's because of how bad that must have been that I'm offering this suggestion - I've been there, I am there.

I'm sorry that's how it is and I wish it was different, but that's how it is. Accepting it can bring a lot of peace.

[Nammu]

I do many of the same things that ((Coraline)) does. I live in the US and when I want weather forecast I look on line specifically for that and by pass the news. When I am doing better I do not need to be as restrictive, but when things are hard or stressful I make sure to limit my exposer. I use Red Box as well as Internet to order new movies and 1/2 price book store to get older movies at great prices.

The fad around THG will die down and it will get better, until then limiting the possible accidental triggers can work. It is easier if you can see this as something you do proactive instead of as being restrictive. I have not missed anything since I started limiting what I watch or what I see.

[Polykronic]

Thanks. I don't even have a tv and usually keep to certain safe sites, but I guess I have been wandering out into the Internet and world more than usual lately. Sounds like I should probably scale back until this fad is over.