Why I Don't Want To Sleep

Hey, y'all. I've had weird dreams ever since I can remember. My parents tell me that all the way from when I was a baby to when I was a toddler, I had night terrors too. I don't have night terrors anymore, but I do dream almost every night and most of my dreams are bad dreams that I vividly remember upon waking up. I often dream that I'm wandering in a mansion and that while I don't recognize anything, I know it's my house. However, I'm completely lost and though I can't see my pursuer, I know I'm being chased. Usually, I see things that don't make sense like a playground in the living room...or I see my reflection and I'm just bald for some reason...and my dream self decides that this is a dream or I've lost my marbles and I wake up. But a couple of weeks ago, my dream continued. While I was running through the mansion in my dream, the walls and everything started to shake. After I ran down a long staircase in my dream, I opened a door in front of me and my mother was inside lying by herself in a huge bed. She was screaming so loudly that everything was shaking. That's when I woke up. Ever since then, I've kept dreaming of different variants of being lost in the mansion. I know just my mother screaming until it physically hurts me might not sound like the scariest thing...but every time it gets scarier. Is my mind playing with me? I'm so tired, and I don't know how to cope with having to go to sleep, knowing what experience is probably waiting for me.

I too am experiencing a bout of vivid sometimes disturbing dreams lately, I think they are triggered from recent confrontations I've had with strangers because I rarely have dreams I remember and I've had them almost every night since those confrontations.

I did have a period of nightmares last year when I was on pain meds for a short time, and went away after discontinuing that certain med.
Are you on any medications at this time or throughout your life ?

If not and they are a pattern you've had naturally for a long time like your post says possibly talking with a therapist about them might uncover some of the roots of these unconscious scenarios your mind conjures up in your sleep. maybe it will give you tools to sort them out and be able to but them away or farther away from giving you the mental anguish.

Best wishes on putting this in check.