Does Anyone Have Violent Nightmares

2Peanut · #1 03-02-2008, 07:32 PM

When I was a teenager (I'm 31 now), I had a lot of violent nightmares like being chased by dark men, attempt kidnappings, attempt rapes, robberies, etc by dark unidentifiable men. I haven't had a lot of violent dreams since college but not too long ago I had a dream where I was being strangled and I woke up screaming.

morgan · #2 03-02-2008, 09:28 PM

I just had one today. I'll spare you the details as it was quite graphic and a bit perverse but that is the way my life has been, so it makes sense that my dreams would be too. The point is, I still have them and they are the worst ones. You are not alone.
Take care, Morgan

WorkingThruIt · #3 04-02-2008, 01:11 AM

My most common nightmare is that I can see/hear people coming to kill me and I am frozen in my bed, unable to do or say anything. I think that I have conditioned myself to wake up, because the dreams are shorter and the people don't actually make it the point of attacking me. The attacking part of the dreams were much more common in the first 10 years after my trauma.

cactus_jack · #4 04-02-2008, 03:51 AM

I rarely dream, except for nightmares. Those that aren't nightmares are few and far between, and I rarely remember them.

cherryblossom · #5 04-02-2008, 04:02 AM

I have nightmares all the time (every night, if I sleep). However they are always associated with my trauma (rape), rather than anything random. They are like re-living the experience every time. Although sometimes I 'see' things from a third person view, rather like watching a film of the events. Either way, I hate them and find them very distressing and hard to cope with.

Marlene · #6 04-02-2008, 07:02 AM

The nightmares that I remember are the ones that wake me up and send me from my bed. The worst are the ones where family members are getting hurt. Those are tough ones to shake.

Lisa

mightsurvive · #7 04-02-2008, 11:51 AM

hi
yeh I get them and they are getting more and more frequent and more scary. So I avoid sleep as much as possible but that probably makes them worse I guess.

Take care

Seeking_Nirvana · #8 04-02-2008, 03:22 PM

I used to have violent nightmares at least 2-3 times a week. Now I only have them maybe once a month or one every couple of months. An over load of stress will bring them on or my menstrual cycle.

Nightmares are symptoms of your trauma. If you face the trauma head on the nightmares will lessen. I believe that is what Anthony said.

Anything worth having never comes easy. A good night's sleep is worth having in my opinion.

Peace
Tammy

2Peanut · #9 07-02-2008, 05:40 AM

I used to have nightmares at least weekly while my abuse was going on. Years afterwards, they finally started to die down and I have them very rarely now. They aren't about my trauma, but I think that it is significant that they significantly lessened once the trauma end. Recently I had a dream where a dark man was in my room and was going to strangle me. I've also had a dream where I was being raped, although I don't remember ever actually being raped. I was molested when I was 13 though during my 5 year period of abuse.

Awakening · #10 07-02-2008, 08:33 AM

Yes, especially lately. Sometimes I wonder how my mind creates this stuff when I've always avoid horror type movies, books etc. I dream of serial killers, stabbings, demons, dead bodies, monsters, being a child lost crying, looking for my mother, family members not recognising me or family members dying, intruders in the house and lately a lot of stranglings, suffocations to the point of waking up not being able to breathe or like my chest is being crushed.

The worst for me is actually the lost child, looking for my mother, family members not recognising me or family members dying. Not that the demons don't have the particular methods of tortures but it's more the emotional part of the nightmare that generally gets to me i.e. physically sweating, heart pounding, wake up screaming, can't get back to sleep.