Yesterday I watched a movie I knew I shouldn't have been watching since there were extremely violent scenes in it.

Last night I had nightmares and woke up disoriented,drenched in sweat and shaking.I was also very scared,I had a hard time convincing myself it was just a nightmare.

What things have helped you when waking from them?

[childofchaos831]

For me, I try to do some fact checking.

Where was I in the nightmare when I woke up? Now I am in my bed.

Is what was happening in the nightmare plausible? For example, zombies or werewolves... flying people or some other things that don't seem to mesh with reality.

Who was with me in the nightmare? Are they with me now, or are they somewhere else?

Also, trying to write down as much of the nightmare as I can, in a dream journal, has helped. While the nightmare is fresh, it seems more real and scarier, but after writing it down, I would go smoke a cigarette or do something else to distract myself like progressive muscle relaxation. Later, when I would read over what I wrote, it would almost always be obviously unrealistic.

That's just some of what I would do... I now take medicine for night terrors, so even though I may wake with a frightened feeling, I never remember the nightmare anymore...

Puck

Thanks.

It's hard sometimes to convince myself the nightmares are not real,not happening now,when they are past trauma nightmares.The strange ones,ones that couldn't possibly be real are much easier to deal with.

[childofchaos831]

The ones that are past trauma, that is when I find it helpful to look at the people in the nightmare and compare it to who is around when I wake up. Even though it seems real, because at one point it was, the people involved are not there (hopefully) when we wake up.

I might try writing them down,like you suggested.I think not only would it help me see that it was just a nightmare,but I also love to write,so it would be calming at the same time.

Thanks!

[MommaD]

Crispapple, one thing that really helped my daughter with her horrible ptsd nightmares was reframing them immediately when she woke up. That is, talking out or writing out an alternative ending to the dream. So if she was being chased by one of her sunsets and he caught her in her dream we would reframe it that when he got close to her she turned and punched him and then flew away, free and safe.
I don't know why, but research has shown this kind of reframing nightmares can help make them less scary and less frequent. Might be worth a try

[MommaD]

Argh! Not "sunsets", "abusers".
I hate autocorrect

[childofchaos831]

For some reason, possibly because it is bedtime, I am now picturing the boggart scene of Harry Potter... I really need to go to sleep now.

Originally Posted by MommaD

Crispapple, one thing that really helped my daughter with her horrible ptsd nightmares was reframing them immediately when she woke up. That is, talking out or writing out an alternative ending to the dream. So if she was being chased by one of her sunsets and he caught her in her dream we would reframe it that when he got close to her she turned and punched him and then flew away, free and safe.
I don't know why, but research has shown this kind of reframing nightmares can help make them less scary and less frequent. Might be worth a try

Thanks!

That's something my therapist had me do when I was talking about the traumas,giving them a different ending.I never thought to try it with nightmares (and apparently he didn't either).

[betweenarock]

Im use to them by now

[shezbut]

I take medicine (Prazosin) to help me get through the night without waking from my nightmares.

[childofchaos831]

I also take Prazosin. I will sometimes wake up, but I do not not remember the dream, and the feeling of fear fades quickly and I am able to fall asleep again without much trouble.

[ADeepSandbox]

I have done the changing the ending thing before, and that helped some in writing them down. Got some interesting short stories out of it too.

Mostly though it's just something I get freaked out from and go about the day freaked out..I'm on a sleep med now though so maybe it will help.

Distractions are my typical go to for immediate relief. I keep my nintendo 3ds by my bed and can play a game for a while till I fall back asleep. Or watch an episode of a cute TV show that's comforting. I like Mythbusters for that for some reason but cartoons are good too. Sometimes I need to turn on a light, other times hiding in a blanket is better.

I hope you find something that works for you.

[gr8ful B]

Originally Posted by CrispApple

Yesterday I watched a movie I knew I shouldn't have been watching since there were extremely violent scenes in it.

Last night I had nightmares and woke up disoriented,drenched in sweat and shaking.I was also very scared,I had a hard time convincing myself it was just a nightmare.

What things have helped you when waking from them?

I get up for a bit, hug one of my pets. Drink some water, read something calming and leave a light on. Sometime just a nightlight others full bedside light. I have learned (after a A LOT of those nights) I can't watch violence anymore, esp at night

[ThatSpaceDude]

When I have nightmares (which is sadly fairly often), I usually write something about it on my blog, or read an article online, watch a video, something like that. Anything to keep myself distracted until I calm a little so I can look at my dream objectively and try to make sense of it. I've also found that listening to music (quietly) can help, though of course everyone is different. I can't always go back to sleep when it happens, but this usually helps me out.