[RockMaterial]

I have the worst nightmares I've heard anyone describe and in different ways than most people present with nightmares. I have nightmares every night, no matter what. There's always something horrible happening to me (rape, mauling, combat, murder, torture, the list wouldn't end). My dreams are as if I'm watching the scene and experiencing it through my body at the same time, a very odd concept. It's as if you plucked these out of a movie because while everything is in high-def and realistic, the scope of the universe in the dream is limited to the camera's shot. Like say I'm being raped in a van, the van and what's going on inside are all very life-like, but nothing else exists because the scenario does' leave the van. I'm not sure if I'm doing a good job explaining things, but hopefully you get the point. If my awake life weren't so monotonous and my asleep life were a bit more predictable, I'm not sure I'd be able to tell the difference between waking and dreaming. THAT's the extent of realness in my dreams, making going through these nightmares a completely horrible experience.

It's also not just 'tonight in my dream I got murdered!,' it's very specific the scenarios change every night and display large degrees of variety. I've never had the same dream twice, always a new horrible experience awaiting me at bedtime. I developed huge reservations against sleeping (as you can imagine) and now find it impossible to go to sleep on my own. I'm prescribed Ambien for my sleep anxiety, but when I take it I get trapped in my dreams and can't wake up. When I don't take it, I don't sleep at all, not a wink. I then eventually crash either during the following day or after multiple days of sleep deprivation, causing me to again be stuck with less than pleasant dreams and frequent awakenings. So every night I have to choose between getting a good night's sleep for my body and being tortured in my mind or having less than restful sleep (often no sleep at all) and avoiding my nightmares at least for the meantime.

I believe my question would consist along the lines of: "help."

[bluewind]

I would talk to Pdoc and switch to Trazodone or something that your Pdoc thinks will work better.

Murder dreams can mean that you are repressing your emotions for a recently broken relationship. It can also mean depression. Are you depressed? It can mean not using your innate talents and feeling trapped and smothered in your current situation.

Torture dreams may be that you are feeling victimized or helpless in some relationship or situation. Like stuck in something.

[MarlboroChick]

This happened to me after my most recent suicide attempt. It lasted for about a month until my psychiatrist changed my meds, and it started to get better. I still have them from time to time tho. If your taking any meds, maybe see if your doctor can switch them up. I know that some can cause vivid dreams.

[MusicMike]

Are you aware of what emotions you experience during waking life? You describe it as monotonous; do you have any sense of what might be going on inside you under the surface?

[mojo321]

Have you separated yourself from daytime influences? (Horror films, death metal music, the news, internet conspiracy theories, biblical apocolyptics, etc....)

What are your interests?

When I was younger, I went through a phase where I was dream journaling. My goal was to have vivid dreams and take control of them for fun and pleasure. Lucid Dreaming is what it is called. But one big difference I hear you saying is, you have no control over the situation.

One thing you can try is daily exercises of asserting your control:

Open the refrigerator, look at the food and say, "I choose to go outside". Then close the refrigerator door and promptly go outside. Look at the sky and say "I did it". Feel the peace and tranquility! Say "I did it!" again.

I can think of a hundred examples of this. But the main objective is to take control by interrupting a certain task by YOUR CHOICE and promptly going outside and finding peace and tranquility.

When you program your mind to do this, you will likely be able to do this in our dreams too.

If you are religious, I HIGHLY recommend including God in the tranquility. If you do this, you can give Him thanks for providing the sanctuary of the tranquil outdoors. This gives even more power to your ability to choose later, when you are dreaming.

[Thunder Bow]

Stop torturing yourself in real life and inside yourself. Honor yourself.

[BrushCat]

Not to overshadow, but I can relate.
I ended up calling them night terrors because I'd have one, wake up and not be able to sleep for the rest of the night. Sometimes I wouldn't be able to move for hours, but it seems mine are much farther apart.
Mostly mine are about my family members dying (In disgusting ways that I care not to explain) or my boyfriend. Half the time I would creep into their rooms to check that they were still alive.
An extremely vivid one was something like the final scene of 'Hunger Games' except that I was being hunted by dogs, I had nothing but my friend's pocket knife, and my father laughed at me as the dogs... ya know...
But anyway Sorry I can't help you ):

[medkev13]

Okay, first I have to say that if you suffer a mood disorder (i.e. - bipolar, depression, unipolar, mania, etc) chronic nightmares is a common symptom. That the dreams are both vivid AND confined would further back it.

A second thing, though, is that Ambien is generally kind of a risky medication to take if your issues are dream related. Low levels can cause sleep walking (mild) and nightmares. The higher doses cause memory loss and major abnormal sleep behaviors (this can include anything from walking around as if you're awake and not doing anything bizarre, to driving, or having sex with someone, all while you're actually asleep). And the higher doses also can cause memory loss too.