Nightmares occuring too often

I don't know what the deal is with me, but I would say for the past month or so, it seems like almost every night, I have a whacked out nonsensical nightmare. For example recently I had a dream where a couple of mad gunmen were hunting down me and my sister. I don't know why I keep having nightmares especially when one of my meds is supposed to help diminish nightmares. I'm wondering if it maybe could be stress related? I have a disability review court date coming up that has me anxious and on edge and I just recently found out that I have gall stones that eventually have to be removed so my stress and anxiety levels are a lot higher than normal. The nightmares just add on to the stress and make it difficult for me to fall asleep at night because I'm afraid of having nightmares. Is it stress? Are there any techniques to help reduce their frequency?

I would certainly think that stress can play a role in making nightmares more frequent. I'm wondering if you have told your doctor about them, especially since you are supposedly taking a med to help. Maybe you need a stronger dose or a different med.

I hope things go well with the court session and your nightmares will diminish soon!

I have an appointment with my doctor coming up March 4th so I plan on talking to him about the nightmares among other things, he's already upped my dosage of Trazodone a few months ago, maybe I need a new medication to replace it or I just need to pull through this extremely stressful time and hope things relax afterwards.

Often these nightmares reflect the idea of one’s “worst case scenario”. The court date and gall problem you mentioned both seem to be situations that lend themselves to thinking about the worst that could happen. By referring to your nightmares as “whacked out nonsensical nightmares”, it seems probable that what you might be seeing in terms of the worst that could happen is not a reasonable approach to the situations. The best way to stop the nightmares would be to cease thinking in terms of the worst thing that might happen because it is not very positive thinking. It is OK to reflect on the worst that could happen but after a few days of this, one needs to switch to a more positive outlook – unless one really enjoys nightmares.

The mad gunmen can represent a way of thinking you are using that is intent upon shooting down – usually through criticisms – your conscious thoughts which have acquired an innocent emotional response (you are with your sister). An innocent emotional response would be one that reflects a more positive outlook. It does not reflect feelings pertaining to a worst case scenario. The thinking doing this criticizing could be regarded as “mad”, crazy , insane.