War Nightmare vent. Please help.

gidrah

I need help! I think the best help is to vent as the people that claim to be able to help, can't. They just tell me to talk about it.

Here goes:
As long as I can remember I've had similar dreams. These dreams all very in content throughout, but all culminate into the same.
They all end it a bright flash of white! This is nothing new, but has been intensified recently.

I don't mind telling you this, as I feel I must tell somebody and you're the closest to friends that I have.

I wake up sceaming. Realize where I'm at and start crying. I cry myself to sleep and the dreams come back. Yada, yada, yada, whoosh, FLASH! Scream, cry, etc.

Needless to say. I don't like to dream. I know we all dream when we sleep, and that's fine. I've chosen the most convenient path of drinking ALOT. Maybe my dreams are just happier drunken delusions, but it works.

Thank you for listening. A 12 pack is much cheaper; and presumably, more effective than a psycharist.

DAMN I feel good for gettinting this of my chest!

TroyD

No worries, vent away amigo.

BDT

brettw22

Originally posted by gidrah
Thank you for listening. A 12 pack is much cheaper; and presumably, more effective than a psycharist.

Cheaper, yes.........more effective, no.

I talk a lot of my friends through a lot of things, but dreams I don't know anything about. I don't know what kind of medical benefits you have through work, but I would definitely look into seeing a psychologist, if for nothing else than to be able to get a professional opinion. There's nothing wrong with going to one, especially if you have unexplainable dreams that are litereally keeping you up at night.

fireshoes

I saw a tv show about recurring dream once. This lady had been raped. She kept seeing the man in her dreams and knew he was going to try to rape her, but she would always wake up before he did. The psychologist told her she needed to finish the dream and it would go away. Eventually she got to the point where she could finish the dream. I think she dreamed that she killed him or something hehe. Then after that she was fine. So I guess you need to get past the flash in the dream man.

joe6pak

gidrah.

I have consumed enough beer to float a very large boat. It may be fun doing that, but it will not solve any problem. Brett is correct, you should seek some sort of professional help to resolve this problem. It does do you some good to vent, and this is a very good place to do that, but I doubt that venting here or drinking a 12pack will end your problem with your dreams.

You titled this thread war nightmare. Did you serve in the military? If so, you would be eligibale for assistance from the VA. I know, the Va sucks but you need to start somewhere.

Dreams are a very hard thing to deal with. Two times in the 29 years that I have been married I woke up screaming NO, NO, NO! Scared the **** out of Mrs6pack. That is hard to explain but since it happens so infrequently it is not worth analyzing. (She would argue with that conclusion.) Since you have these dreams more often, it would be beneficial to discuss this issue with someone who is trained to deal with these matters.

I am not a professional but feel free to Email me about this matter.

joe

gidrah

Thanks guys. I was pretty shnockerred last night. Otherwise I wouldn't have said anything. Now I wish I hadn't. I feel like a schmuck. They don't happen every night or anything and I probably should seek professional advice.

The thing about the alcohol is that it seems to pretty much numb my subconcious and I don't dream nearly as vividly.

I guess the dreams aren't actually reoccuring as they are all different. Same subject and outcome. I've slept through some of the flashes. Those mushroom clouds are actually quite beautiful. I've also had dreams that start after the bombs and missiles have landed. Ones where it's just people huddling in caves as their hair and teeth fall out. These aren't as bad but they still make for a pretty poor nights sleep.

I was in the military, but the dreams started when I was in my early teens.

Thanks again guys.

F1nut

Originally posted by gidrah
I need help! I think the best help is to vent as the people that claim to be able to help, can't. They just tell me to talk about it.

The first step to getting help is realizing that you have a problem, the second is to do everything you can to find that help. Trying to medicate yourself with booze/drugs/sex will never set you free from your troubles/pain. I know, I've been there.
You need to understand how therapy works, you will not get the answers from them, they only guide you on your quest. You have to do the work, you have to look at yourself, you have to face your issues. You do this by talking about it with a therapist. This is a process, it takes years, on average 3 to 5 years. It helps to find someone you're comfortable with and can see you on a weekly basis. Therapy is about making YOU think! If you think you have a problem with the drinking, there are groups like AA to help you with that too.
You might want to pick up a book called "The Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck, it's worth a read.
I offer the above to you because you asked for help from your friends here. I hope, in some small way, that we've been of help to you. If you want to talk about it some more, email me.

Jesse

madmax

Gidrah,
I used to have this re-occuring dream back in the early 80's where me and this group of 7 or 8 of my friends who I worked with were out in the parking lot, looked up, and saw the mushroom clouds exploding. No physical effects from the explosions but a lot of thought of what we were going to do and a lot of fright. Like your dreams they were here and there and not really dehabilitating or anything but they were pretty scary.

Pretty scary huh? And as you said it was spectacular looking too.

Well, several years later I got a grip on what caused the dreams. I had seen this movie called "The Day After" on TV many years before and appearantly some parts of it had lodged in my mind. At the time it was a very intense movie for me and I guess for some reason I really related with it.

It was years later that I realized this. I had always liked "Road Warrier", "Mad Max", "No Blade of Grass" and all movies of that type that dealt with mass destruction. At some point I got "The Day After" and watched it. There it was! Wow. I had all but forgotton about this movie. I still have the dream every now and then but at least now I know where it came from. Some times I look forward to having it again.
madmax

rlw

Gidrah,

I went through a period where I had dreams that frightened me so much I didn't want to sleep. I realized that this fear was paralyzing me.

I didn't - and don't - believe in therapy. What I did was to actively confront the object of my fears: the dreams. First, I told myself that they were just dreams, and that I had no good reason to be afraid of any product of my mind. I figured that I had to learn *why* I was afraid of them as a first step - and that the more I learned, the less I would be afraid.

I kept a writing pad by the futon, and if I awoke remembering one, I'd write down the details, and my feelings.

Every night before turning out the light, I'd review my notes. I'd think about the dream I had the night before, where it ended, who was in it, what I did, etc.

As this process went on, I would spend a little bit of time each morning, before I did anything else, attempting to write as much about the dreams and my feelings as I could. 15-30 minutes, that's it.

It didn't take too long before I was no longer afraid, and realized what my dream was trying to tell me. Years later, I still try to encourage my dreams, to shape them, and to learn from them. Hell, I figure I'm stuck with 'em, I might as well be in control of them.


rlw