Shit, I can't believe I am doing this....

[badteccy]

Lately all I have is horrible dreams that leave me shaken for the rest of the day. They are almost always of bad things that have happened to me in the past. I usually have cycles of bad dreams but it's really bad this time. I've tried everything, not eating anything before sleep, watching something nice before I go to bed, etc. but nothing is working. I am becoming desperate here. Does anyone have any advice for what I should do? Thanks maaaaaan.

[Tha Duckman]

Ecstasy.

No, I'm joking.

[Lapin]

They have sleep medications that put you in dreamless sleep.

[honeythorn]

Have you tried any kind of meditation? and emptying your mind completely ( takes practice ) before sleep? Have you examined the reasons why you have these dreams? what/if they are trying to tell you anything? Is there a significant theme to the dreams eg: violence, fear.. If so why? Try writing a dream diary and going over it after a couple of weeks, see if there are any patterns.

[HumanePain]

Don't eat before bedtime, and swallow a melatonin 20 minutes before bedtime. Also, a warm glass of milk helps too, as does camomille tea.
If all that fails, you just creep up on someone and say:

"look up there!"
"What?"
and you steal their Ambien
"Damn!"
and split!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\///\/\/\/\/\/\/

[Valerius]

I used to have a lot of nightmares before until I got a dreamcatcher. I still do have nightmares but very, very rarely. It's hanging off of my bedside lamp, so yeah it also acts as a room decoration.

[Cyntrox]

Have you tried lucid dreaming? http://www.dreamviews.com/

[psyches_reflection]

Originally Posted by honeythorn

Have you examined the reasons why you have these dreams? what/if they are trying to tell you anything? Is there a significant theme to the dreams eg: violence, fear.. If so why? Try writing a dream diary and going over it after a couple of weeks, see if there are any patterns.

I can testify that this method can help you a great deal, provided you can interpret the symbols in the dreams. Most book shops sell dream interpretation guides - good ones will include psychological (normally Freudian) explanations as well as superstitions.

I also find Kalms help a great deal.

[Totschläger]

When I get streaks of bad dreams, I listen to the Smashing Pumpkins when I go to sleep.

[Clockwork]

Originally Posted by Cyntrox

Have you tried lucid dreaming? http://www.dreamviews.com/

I was just going to suggest that, but as that can be rather tricky, you might also try adjusting your sleep schedule. Try getting a little more or a little less sleep, or getting to bed at a different time if you can.

[Katanshin]

Originally Posted by badteccy

Lately all I have is horrible dreams that leave me shaken for the rest of the day. They are almost always of bad things that have happened to me in the past. I usually have cycles of bad dreams but it's really bad this time. I've tried everything, not eating anything before sleep, watching something nice before I go to bed, etc. but nothing is working. I am becoming desperate here. Does anyone have any advice for what I should do? Thanks maaaaaan.

I read about something like this at university during my psych degree.

I'm not an expert, but knowing what it could be may help you find a way to get some help with it.

Definition of "Night Terrors" on Wikipedia.org

Be useful to know how relevant this is to your condition.

[Katanshin]

Originally Posted by psyches_reflection

I can testify that this method can help you a great deal, provided you can interpret the symbols in the dreams. Most book shops sell dream interpretation guides - good ones will include psychological (normally Freudian) explanations as well as superstitions.

I also find Kalms help a great deal.

I think you mean Jungian... One of Freud's students. Like Freud, but less emphasis on boning his mother, smoking opium and little children and horses xD

Oh and better known for his dream interpretation theory.

[Katanshin]

Originally Posted by Lapin

They have sleep medications that put you in dreamless sleep.

I would avoid this where possible. They are likely to prescribe something like Benzodiazepine or seratonin, neither should be taken lightly. If you can, look into eliminating the cause without medication on this scale.

Alright, enough of my psych shite.

[nigga fooku]

smoke weed brah

[badteccy]

I'll do what I want beardington

[Solumina]

wow what an insightful first post...

[Katanshin]

Originally Posted by badteccy

I'll do what I want beardington

That had better not be aimed at me...

[biohazard]

Most of the good advice I was thinking of giving has already been given. But I shall restate some of the things I do before I go to sleep:
- Never eat before going to bed. Try to leave a space of at least two hours between dinner and bedtime.
- Try to drink a warm glass of milk before going to bed.
- Do not do stay on the computer right before going to bed, it makes your brain active and makes falling asleep harder.
- Likewise, do not do heavy reading, studying, or watching television right before going to bed. Instead, try to ake some minutes to relax and sit down.
- Most important of all, eliminate any distractions you may have, such as noise, or light. I find it hard to sleep when a ray of light enters my room.

Hope that can help you , I have never had many dreams, but I do have insomnia problems sometimes.

[Aaroneet]

Well, I can only make an educated guess as to why your nightmares are most persistent this time of year. You must have had a bad experience specifically around this season, month, etc, causing your mind to link said month, season, etc. to said event. Once you figure out what it is that your mind is bringing to surface, and making peace with it, you might have an easier time sleeping. My mother used to associate the summertime with her father's death without knowing it , and, as a result, she hated the summertime. Until she realized why she loathed the summer, then she learned to enjoy it just a little more. Try to think back; you never know.

[MollyMac]

Dream journaling in the AM, meditation and restorative yoga in the PM. The meditation before sleep gets your mind in the liminal yogic unattached thought groove. It also gets your mind ready to see everything for ehat it really is, and let it go.

[Crying_Crimson_Tears]

Meditation is very effective for some. But I also had this experience and I was put on Trazadone. Trazadone is a sleep aid that helps you sleep with no dreams.

[Kodachi]

Originally Posted by badteccy

Lately all I have is horrible dreams that leave me shaken for the rest of the day. They are almost always of bad things that have happened to me in the past. I usually have cycles of bad dreams but it's really bad this time. I've tried everything, not eating anything before sleep, watching something nice before I go to bed, etc. but nothing is working. I am becoming desperate here. Does anyone have any advice for what I should do? Thanks maaaaaan.

I'm a dream interpreter. What's the dream about, I prolly can help you. Recurring dreams are really red flags within your psyche that you have to pay attention too now and I'm sure you probably had nicer versions of what you had to focus on before your mind then had the right idea of scaring the living daylights out of you to pay attention. Basically, since you now no longer can do anything to take your bad dreams away, that means it's really serious this time around and there's no avoiding it. You can either PM me or post it here (I run a dream thread on a different site thus the professional stuff)

[Splintered]

I get recurring nightmares sometimes, and I know what they're about (Parents leaving, bad experiences at boot camp, parents fighting, etc.)

To help me get through them, I think the thing that works for me the most is solving them. Sometimes, to get these things out of my mind, it really helps when I revisit what happned, as painful as it can be, and try and realize what actually happened.

Like, I used to get bad nightmares about my step-brother kicking the shit out of me, and then me smashing him into the ground. The amount of hatred I had for him was what really scared me the most. So, one day I just sat down and talked about it with a friend, and worked on figuring out why it happened, what happened, and how I even though I did do it, I was young, angry, and I had a right to be pissed off.

So, that might help you, like it helped me. After I did that, the nightmares slowly went away.

Also, keeping some kind of journal really helps me. If you do that, get two notebooks. Use one for contemplative/dark/serious thoughts, and put funny or happy thoughts in the other. When you can't sleep, you can read and feel a bit better.

[psyches_reflection]

Originally Posted by Katanshin

I think you mean Jungian... One of Freud's students. Like Freud, but less emphasis on boning his mother, smoking opium and little children and horses xD

Oh and better known for his dream interpretation theory.

Smart-arse :P I am aware of Jung's dream interpretation theory, however, most of the dream books I have come across favour Freud (popularity, perhaps). So if you can find one with Jungian interpretation instead, PLEASE let me know!

[Kodachi]

Wow, most of my dream dictionaries favor Jung but they also mention Freud since he is an important part of dream interpreting. Have you tried 1,001 Dreams by Jack Altman? There's also a website called My Jellybean...well, they took their dream dictionary down. I have a copy on my Microsoft word tho...There's another that pretty much was a rip off of the one I was about to show, save for a few changes. This one is called Dream Moods. They won't let me post the url here but I'll IM it to you. It's pretty nice and doesn't lean towards anyone in particular, very roundabout.