I've been getting these a lot lately. Started in 2005 when I began taking medicines for stuff I shouldn't have gotten at 34 years of age… or if I had taken better care of myself. Sometimes they're minor, forgettable experiences. But rarely are they as terrifying as the one I just had that I wake up screaming. Worse, I'm still screaming because the ing dream is STILL IN MY HEAD!!!

Um… so.. er.. anything anyone can recommend?


oh… as for what I dreamed about…. it was…


…


I dreamt I was playing a new MMORPG. The name of that game was of all things… G.I. Joe Online!!! And it looked, sounded, and had the same feel as the old cartoon I watched as a kid. I was even enjoying teaming up with that crazy guy in the sailor suit with the parrot on his shoulder!!! YO JOE!
…

AAAUUGGHHHH!!!!

*runs around screaming like a chicken with its head chopped off*

Pansy. That sounds fun. ^_^
And I didn't like the cartoon and I don't do Moorpourrgs (that's the way I like to pronounce that ghastly initialisim).

Remedies: psychotherapy and hypnotism.

:)
Hahaha, but seriously, just read a really good book before bed. Get into stuff like that and thinking a lot about something cool you'd like to dream about. If you work on it you can even turn bad dreams (while they're going on) into things you enjoy, or at least aren't scared off. You can control dreams.

And if none of that works, try psychotherapy and hypnotism then. Those must work, there's an industry behind them afterall.

Booze. Lots of booze. Or narcotics. Those'll work, too.
I kid.
I'm not sure if you're describing terror-inducing nightmares, or just annoying dreams that keep you from being rested. Either way- I've been told that reading or otherwise occupying your mind in a relaxing fashion before going to sleep helps this kind of thing. I try to exercise and keep on a reasonable sleeping/ eating schedule, and that helps me some.

You're in your thirties?

You ever heard of lucid dreaming? It's the type of thing when you realize that you're dreaming and thus gain the ability to control it to a certain degree.

Many people don't realize it but nightmares are very often a subconscious form of lucid dreaming. If something has recently startled you in a form of a scary movie or some bad experience, you tend to think about it as you drift into sleep. While dreaming your mind often processes what thoughts you pondered over the day and the subject of your terror surfaces. Very often it is YOU yourself that's the cause of your grief in your nightmare.

Let's say you're afraid of the dark and of all those scary things that could be hiding in it. You dream that you're at your home or some other building and you worry about the lights going out. BAM! The lights go out. You worry that something's hiding in the dark. BAM! Something's in the dark, and it's coming right for ya. You flee and hide in a place you think it's safe but you start to worry that it'll find you. BAM! It finds you and you wake up screaming, drenched in cold sweat.

Bottom line, dreams are influenced by the things that are on your mind at the time. Once you realize that fact, you'll never need to worry about bad dreams ever again.

I myself have not had a single nightmare for over 15 years. I wish I was better trained in this though because it's not very often that I get the epiphany of gaining full control of my dreams. I don't recommend having sex though. It makes a mess in your sheets… or shorts… depending on how you sleep.

So you're saying that if I think nice, happy thoughts that I'll have nice happy dreams?

I'll try and think about dancing around in a field full of flowers while singing so I can sleep better tonight.

Product Placement
I don't recommend having sex though. It makes a mess in your sheets… or shorts… depending on how you sleep.

Maybe it's better not to ask…

Don't sleep?

Product Placement, I think what you mean is lucid dreaming.

Do you sleep in a ‘friendly’ room Lonnehart? As in would you say your bedroom gives you a sense of cheeriness or peace when you walk in? If you're sleeping in some hell lagoon that's probably not helping lol!
If any thing in your room is scary(your paintings, your chucky doll replica, your peeling wallpaper) I'd recommend you take them away or move them out. A bedroom is a resting place and even small things can disturb your sleeping patterns(i bet people who complain of insomnia keep a computer in their room).

Warm temperatures are known to cause bad dreams. Turn your heat down at night and use fewer blankets. See if that helps.

Product Placement is right, though. When I have bad dreams, I usually manage to turn things around. I've dreamed I was decapitated and I didn't like that outcome, so I rewound the dream and tried again. (Yeah, it's weird.) I started controlling my dreams when I was around 10 years old. (I used to have a lot of nightmares as a kid.) The way I taught myself was just by paying attention to the surroundings and recognizing that I was dreaming. (For example, in my dreams, there was always a tree beside my bedroom window. My real bedroom had no tree near it.)

Aside from that, you need to make sure you sleep soundly and all through the night. People tend to only remember dreams that occur when they wake up. People who sleep soundly often believe they don't dream at all (though most do). Hyena H_ll had a good suggestion on practicing good habits that will probably help you sleep better and reduce nightmare occurrence. Keep a regular eating/exercise/sleep schedule, and have some kind of evening ritual – like shower/reading/prayer/music at bedtime every night to help you wind down from the day. (Parents read or sing to children to help them sleep. I don't know why adults drop these rituals, because they do help.)

It sounds like the drugs may be part or all of the cause, you're still taking them, right? See if you can get a different prescription, or perhaps a lower dose, and find out if there's anything seemingly benign you're consuming that could be interacting with them. Other than that, I have nothing to add to the good advice others have given.

usedbooks
I've dreamed I was decapitated and I didn't like that outcome, so I rewound the dream and tried again. (Yeah, it's weird.) I started controlling my dreams when I was around 10 years old. (I used to have a lot of nightmares as a kid.) The way I taught myself was just by paying attention to the surroundings and recognizing that I was dreaming. (For example, in my dreams, there was always a tree beside my bedroom window. My real bedroom had no tree near it.)

The whole rewinding dreams and paying attention to details in dreams is all true. I do this myself all the time. You don't remember living in a mansion with the cast from Family Matters? It's probably a dream. Don't like the outcome of your dream? Do it again.

BffSatan
lucid dreaming.

Curse my auto correct program for giving me the wrong word.

I've heard a couple of little things that can prevent bad/weird dreams -
Don't do anything too over-stimulating right before bed (books are okay though). So no heavy ranting on the internet or listening to catchy songs right before sleep. =P

And try not to have any appendages hanging off the bed, like an arm or leg. I forget why exactly, but I heard that can cause dreams or that “falling” sensation. (Feel free to correct me on this stuff.)

Lonnehart
So you're saying that if I think nice, happy thoughts that I'll have nice happy dreams?

I'll try and think about dancing around in a field full of flowers while singing so I can sleep better tonight.

Thinking of that would make you LESS likely to have nightmares? XD But it is better not to go to bed really upset or pissed off if you can help it.

I find not eating a couple of hours before sleep helps the odds.

Chernobog
I find not eating a couple of hours before sleep helps the odds.

Damn you, I was going to say that :P Although I usually get simply odd dreams rather than nightmares.

I've noticed recently that I get recurring dreams. And not stuff that I dreamt recently, but suddenly I dream of places and situations that I dreamt about 10 or more years ago. I'm… ok, just hit me what it might be. Tenth anniversary of my mother's death and 20th anniversary of my father's death happen to be in the very same year, actually a month away. Fall is going to be a hard season this year I think.

Lonnehart
I dreamt I was playing a new MMORPG. The name of that game was of all things… G.I. Joe Online!!! And it looked, sounded, and had the same feel as the old cartoon I watched as a kid. I was even enjoying teaming up with that crazy guy in the sailor suit with the parrot on his shoulder!!! YO JOE!
…

AAAUUGGHHHH!!!!

*runs around screaming like a chicken with its head chopped off*

ha, you think that's bad? try dreaming that you're trapped in fan fiction hell– where you're basically living as one of the characters in a popular series, acting out some of the most poorly-written, poorly spelled, out-of-character fan fictions that you would find on the net. The ones that's written by horny 13-year-old girls/boys. The ones that if you read them, your IQ would drop by a few points. that's how bad it would be.

Had that happen to me once. and the worst part? when I woke up, the damn horrible plot/story was still stuck in my head! Had to mentally scrub my head clean of the evil by watching and reading the actual TV series and the manga. And when that didn't work, I would just actually read a book instead.

Candy. Lots and Lots and oodles of sugar. before bed…actually no just eat tons of sugar from dinner till bedtime. …fight fire with fire, should give you some crazy out there scary dreams and remedy the badly themed ones.

give me some feedback on that one if you can, I'm doing some research. heh.

A change of perspective.


When I have nightmares, I write them down.


Free Idea Bucket.

bittertea
Candy. Lots and Lots and oodles of sugar. before bed…actually no just eat tons of sugar from dinner till bedtime. …fight fire with fire, should give you some crazy out there scary dreams and remedy the badly themed ones.

give me some feedback on that one if you can, I'm doing some research. heh.

I wish I could do that… Well, I could do that. But instead of going to sleep I'd be in a diabetic coma… x_x

Eat peanut butter before bed. It catches all the bad dreams for you.

I've been having recurring dreams of playing spider solitaire. I don't have any pb so I can't stop it either. I think that tops anything.

pray to your guardian angel.

I've never had any nightmares, and I rarely dream, but none of my dreams ever make sense. Not at all. I find that playing video games or watching a good, long movie RIGHT before bed tends to really influence your dreams, even if they don't come out even vaguely video gameish.

So I guess don't play anything horror-related. Nothing depressing either, although the depressing stuff spurs something very creative inside me somehow.

(Also, I've only been able to semi-control my dreams to some extent, but I'm never actually in any of my dreams as myself or anyone else, and they still don't make enough sense.)


One of my friends has freaking awesome dreams, and lately a bunch of apocalyptic ones. (Note: don't search “supervolcano” and read up on it for hours. I warned you.)

You guys are right in not having the TV on while asleep… in fact, I have to be careful that I don't fall asleep with the TV on. Had another badly themed dream, this time…

I was in the world that the movie Barbarella (spelling?) is depicted in. I saw everything from dresses made of small mirrorlike metal plates to that big sex machine that that evil professor put her in…

And I was running around wearing nothing but sandals and a loincloth. Armed with nothing but a slingshot and a pouch of rocky mountain oysters I tried to save her… then I woke up this morning with air force jets flying over my house. O_O

And yes, Eirikr. I'm in my LATE 30s. Maybe these crazy dreams are the result of me wishing I could be young again…

…..

Ok. Seriously. I promise you that those moments in dreams are perfect to figuring out that you're dreaming. I mean how often do you find yourself running away from evil professors with strap in sex machines, while wearing sandals and loin cloths?

Again, I recommend practicing lucid dreaming. It's not that hard once you get started. You can find all kinds of help books or online guides on the matter, I'm sure. The first step is really simple though and there's more then one method. For some it's as easy as realizing that lucid dreaming is possible. For others it's slightly harder. In those cases you need to make note of you dreams (similar to what you've been doing here) and emphasize on EVERYTHING that logically don't make sense. If the ocean is made out of pudding, don't make sense. If you are running from ghosts or aliens, don't make sense. If you're in a bar with Dustin Hoffman and Rainier Wolfcastle and you're all playing truth or dare… you know where I'm going with this. You need to focus on every little detail that doesn't make sense when you think about it after you wake up. This trains you logic center, that's normally dormant while sleeping, to wake up when you encounter future nonsensical moments in you dreams. When that happens, you will experience limited control of your dreams which is your first step in lucid dreaming.