How many of you don't have problems with nightmares?

[Antisocial one]

How many of you have problems with nightmares?

When people say that they have nightmeres I find it quite strange.
The reason for that is that I don't have nightmares at all.

Also I will expand the question to: About what do you have nightmares?

I know that I am asking quite personal question but if someone wants to share, thread is here.

[disregard]

I get nightmares when I'm in emotional turmoil or when I'm stressed. Only under those circumstances.

[ajblaise]

I find that when my dreams take a bad turn, I am semi-lucid. For instance, there could be killer cop after my but I don't take it too seriously.

[kyuuei]

Its funny you mention that, I have terrible nightmares. I dream quite vividly anyways, to the point I'll need to take a moment to realize where I am and such. My good dreams are so nice that I feel like I'm there, but unfortunately it's the same with nightmares. My mind will play tricks on itself too.. one time I dreamt I was stung by a wasp, and woke up with that part of my body feeling poked and uncomfortable for a good hour because my mind thought it hurt there.

[Silently Honest]

I no longer have problems with nightmares, though I used to have plenty.

[murkrow]

I have bug nightmares every now and then, usually when I fall asleep knowing there are bugs nearby.

[evan]

i have maybe 2-3 dreams a year that have any sort of significant negative effect on me. even those don't affect me much.

[YourLocalJesus]

I have nightmares quite often. But I kind of enjoy it :) Mine are mostly about stressful situations, like being hunted in various ways. I usually win or wake up, though, so it is not that bad.

[JivinJeffJones]

I haven't had too many nightmares in the last 5 years or so (struggling to think of any), but when I was a kid I was plagued by them. Usually, it wasn't the content of the nightmare that was scary, although the content could be disturbing. It was more the feeling that accompanied them: that something was really really wrong. That feeling juxtaposed with the non-scary content in such a way as to make the whole all the more foreboding.

My tentative theory is that my family's grandfather clock played a major role in my nightmares. That fucker had a helluva scary chime, with which it sounded every hour. I suspect that such chimes were often the point at which my dreams took a scary turn. Eg: at a pub with friends, playing darts (yes, this was a dream I had as a kid). We all leave to go home. Pushing a shopping trolley with a friend in it down the road. Suddenly I notice there is a full moon. Suddenly I realize I'm walking down a narrow road through the forest at night. Cue faint wolf-howl.

Other nightmares I remember:

a conveyor-belt with happy, gurgling babies on it, going through the sort of scanner you have at airports. When they came out the other end, one by one, they were screaming with their mouths bloody and teeth lying in shattered pieces around them. The conveyor belt was infinitely long.

my neighbourhood turned into a giant collection of unpopulated circus-tents with carnival music in the background.

my neighbourhood empty and overgrown with weeds. Me wandering around looking for anybody at all.

me waking up with my mum sitting on the end of my bed looking at me. I start to tell her about the nightmare I had, then realize it isn't my mum at all and that there is no weight on the bed where she's sitting.

[cafe]

I rarely remember my dreams and most of them are benignly weird rather than scary. I have had a few nightmares, but not so many that I would call them a problem.

[WobblyStilettos]

I have quite frequent nightmares, but luckily they don't bother me too much after about a day or so :) mine tend to involve trying to escape from somewhere/one/thing, but wherever I hide they find me. Often I am with a big group of people who don't realise they are in danger and I'm trying to make sure they are safe before I can hide. Massive, shadowy monsters that I can't quite see but I can almost feel it breathing on my neck feature a lot, too xD

[Beat]

I'll get them on occasion but not very often. My dreaming isn't typically very vivid, but like I said, on occasion I'll get something that's pretty intense. Nightmares don't bother me really (because all is fine when I awake). I almost enjoy them, for they fascinate me. It's interesting to me how it can hit an emotion, a looming fear or something indescribable that you don't experience in your waking life.

[Aimahn]

I'll get them on occasion but not very often. My dreaming isn't typically very vivid, but like I said, on occasion I'll get something that's pretty intense. Nightmares don't bother me really (because all is fine when I awake). I almost enjoy them, for they fascinate me. It's interesting to me how it can hit an emotion, a looming fear or something indescribable that you don't experience in your waking life.

Great point! I get them pretty frequently, not death or torture but escaping. I actually do kinda enjoy that feeling. The fear morphs into suspense for me now that i'm used to it.

[Antisocial one]

I ask because when I listen to other people I get impression that somthing is missing inside me.

So I am trying this approach in trying to determine: Why?

I have two theorys
1. High T
2. The fact that I had nighmares until I was 6. Then I started playing violent video games and the problem was gone just like that.Since then I don't have a problem too such a degree that I am starting to wonder that I acually have a problem it is just a other extreme.

[WobblyStilettos]

I ask because when I listen to other people I get impression that somthing is missing inside me.

So I am trying this approach in trying to determine: Why?

I have two theorys
1. High T
2. The fact that I had nighmares until I was 6. Then I started playing violent video games and the problem was gone just like that.Since then I don't have a problem too such a degree that I am starting to wonder that I acually have a problem it is just a other extreme.

Maybe you do have nightmares like pretty much everyone else with the same kind of themes/plots, but they just don't seem like nightmares to you?

[cafe]

My husband has nightmares relatively frequently and it seems as though they are very complex and vivid. Probably goes along with his wonderful imagination. I envy the imagination, but not the nightmares.

[JivinJeffJones]

My husband has nightmares relatively frequently and it seems as though they are very complex and vivid. Probably goes along with his wonderful imagination. I envy the imagination, but not the nightmares.

Yeah, I think nightmares and imagination are pretty closely linked. I've never met an unimaginative person who has a lot of nightmares.

[Antisocial one]

Maybe you do have nightmares like pretty much everyone else with the same kind of themes/plots, but they just don't seem like nightmares to you?

That is why I asked about what people have nightmares.
Yes, I had some very "dark" dreams and I loved them but with years I have lost even that.

[Antisocial one]

Yeah, I think nightmares and imagination are pretty closely linked. I've never met an unimaginative person who has a lot of nightmares.

I will be arrogant and say that you have just found the first one.

But if I take a look at the big picture I think that you are totally right.

[Antisocial one]

What I find interesting is that it look like that NFPs have more problem with this then others.
But from what I know from the real life, NPs are most likely to have problems with this.

[INTJMom]

How many of you have problems with nightmares?

When people say that they have nightmeres I find it quite strange.
The reason for that is that I don't have nightmares at all.

Also I will expand the question to: About what do you have nightmares?

I know that I am asking quite personal question but if someone wants to share, thread is here.
If a nightmare is defined as a dream that scares me rather than just a run of the mill bad dream,
I have not had one in many years.
I used to have them a lot when I was a child, and also when I was older,
before I did a lot of emotional healing.

Sometimes when I'm stressed out, I dream about tornadoes or getting shot,
but I'm not actually afraid in my dream.

The last nightmare I remember was that my mother wanted to kill me.
I used to frequently dream of falling. That was scary, too.

[sassafrassquatch]

I never have nice dreams, don't know if they could be called nightmares but they're definitely not pleasant.

The usual format of my dreams is I'm at my old high school, oddly it never bares any resemblance to the actual school building. I'm searching for my unrequited crush/brief girlfriend but can't find her or I see her briefly rounding a corner in the hall. Eventually I get the feeling that I'm not supposed to be there and I'm afraid of getting caught by the principal. (After I dropped out of school in junior year I went back a few times to see my friends but I didn't have a guest pass and the principal caught me. I didn't get in trouble, he just told me to leave but I felt mortal fear.) The fear of being caught grows, I see the principal and run way eventually I'm frightened awake.

I don't dream very often but most of the time it's a variation of that basic plot. Every frickin time. :dry:

Then there are the dreams that are almost a sex dream but I always get cockblocked. Those suck.

[nolla]

I don't have nightmares. I have dreams that could be nightmares because they are sometimes quite disturbing stuff, but I don't think they are nightmares because I'm not scared in them.

The last real nightmare I had was when I had really high fewer as a child.

[Haphazard]

I'm relatively dreamless until I know something very stressful is coming up, and then all of the sudden nightmares come in rapid-fire succession, two or three a night.

The feeling wears off after about fifteen minutes, but still. It's ridiculous.

[Flush]

I have nightmares every now and then. Mostly, I dream that I die or am about to die, or that a close friend dies.

As a kid, I dreamt that I was being chased. Every single night. For years. I was actually scared of going to sleep. The nightmares stopped one night when I found a horse from a movie I had seen that day, and fled. Best night of my life.

Occasionally, when under great emotional stress, my dreams involve massive amounts of jealousy.

[LucrativeSid]

I haven't had a nightmare or a bad dream since I was a young child. I love my dreams.

[Kyrielle]

How many of you have problems with nightmares?

When people say that they have nightmeres I find it quite strange.
The reason for that is that I don't have nightmares at all.

Also I will expand the question to: About what do you have nightmares?

I know that I am asking quite personal question but if someone wants to share, thread is here.

I rarely ever have nightmares either. Though when I do, I find the frightening aspect is always something to do with a phenomena of nature chasing me while I'm unable to hide or get away (like a tornado, tsunami, whirlpool, water spout). It's really the feeling of being overwhelmed by something out of my control, which, you guessed it, is the emotion/stressor/event in reality that causes such nightmares.

When I was a child, however, I did have nightterrors (which is...a nightmare + hallucinations on waking). Most were about darkness swallowing me up. The worst one was where I dreamt that bees flew in my bedroom window and were attacking me as a swarm. I woke up, and started screaming because my senses were going haywire and I mistook the purple static I saw (I guess from waking up so fast) as bees, the movement of the blankets settling on me as the bees attacking me, and the very quiet hum of the AC as the sound of the bees. I remember even when my mother sat down on the edge of my bed I was so far gone mentally that I thought she was a giant queen bee.

[CaptainChick]

Sleep is the reprieve I get from many a nightmarish days.

So no, in the technical sense, I do not have problems with nightmares.

[murkrow]

I have nightmares quite often. But I kind of enjoy it :) Mine are mostly about stressful situations, like being hunted in various ways. I usually win or wake up, though, so it is not that bad.

I have those, but I don't think they count as nightmares if you win.

[Usehername]

When I was sleeping in the compound that they held Ghandi in prison for (which has been reconverted into a community centre) I woke up crying two nights in a row, not knowing why.

Not to say I haven't had my share of creepy disturbing nightmares, but I really don't have a problem with them.

[colmena]

I very rarely have nightmares. Perhaps a couple a year.

They have their own distinct feel. Their own atmosphere. It isn't describable. But I can wake myself up before anything actually happens.

+1 to the semi-lucid. If I'm feeling brave, then I can take it on, because I know it's just a dream.

I used to get a lot of nightmares as a child. Basically gruesome faces.

[millerm277]

I don't dream as far as I can tell....hence, no nightmares.

[Jack Flak]

I rarely have bad dreams. If my life is interesting atm, they're boring, and vice versa.

I just had a nap dream which wasn't a nightmare, just really depressing. Was staying with some family I don't even know, and we stayed in an awful bed & breakfast which was just a crappy old house. I'd have killed a puppy for a Holiday Inn. And for some silly reason we went to a nightclub to see stand-up comedy. They were practically closing the place down, and there were six people sitting on a bench--The entire audience. Two comics were arguing over who would get to do their act.

[substitute]

I used to have one particular recurring nightmare from the age of about 9 to 26, then it just stopped *touch wood*. The particulars would change, but the basic theme was always the same.

I haven't had one for a long time, but I haven't dreamed much at all that I remember for quite a while. Most probably because I don't sleep long enough in one go very often to get to REM sleep... which might explain why I'm a little whacko :mellow:

But if I do dream, it's usually an awesome adventure AND I can sorta control it as I dream it, too. I'm always aware that I'm dreaming, in my dreams, and they're extremely vivid.

[whatever]

I more frequently had nightmares in high school, but pretty much every 2 weeks or so I dream that something is after me, whether it's the Klan, Hitler, a ghost or someone without a face and I always wake up just as they catch me. I used to dream that I was falling, always backwards so that I couldn't see where I was falling, when I was getting courted by a variety of Universities :shock: doesn't make sense to have recurring nightmares of falling when most successful!

[prplchknz]

hmm last nightmare I had was. I was taking a test and it was open book but I could not think. So I was doing really bad on the test and everyone was breezing through it except me. Then in the middle of the dream I decided to change clothes so I was in the middle of class naked, yet being naked didn't bother me. Before that was months ago where my brother's fiance died in a car wreck. But when i was younger (under 14) I had nightmares every night, to the point of I was afraid to sleep. But now not so much.

[EJCC]

But if I do dream, it's usually an awesome adventure AND I can sorta control it as I dream it, too. I'm always aware that I'm dreaming, in my dreams, and they're extremely vivid.

That is so cool. I'm jealous.

I hardly ever have nightmares (once to three times a year?), but I've had recurring nightmares around the theme of mirrors since I was about five years old. When I was a little kid, I was terrified of looking into the mirror when it was dark out because I thought my image was a separate being, or something... like my evil twin? I don't know. Usually these dreams connect to the idea of losing my mind. It gets creepy.

But then again, for every nightmare I have like that (probably loaded with psychology), I have one when I get chased by a wolf. Ah well.

[Colors]

How many of you have problems with nightmares?

When people say that they have nightmeres I find it quite strange.
The reason for that is that I don't have nightmares at all.

Well, I think the number of dreams (and by extension, nightmares) you'll remember has much to do with how you sleep and how you act when you awaken and when you awaken (during REM or during nREM). Everyone (who isn't knocking themselves out completely on sleep meds) has several dreams a night, but I believe the ones you remember are the (REM) ones you awaken in- sometimes full stop awakening in the morning, or a heavy roll in the night.

Also, you might not be a person who ordinarily pays a lot of attention to your dreams. Even taking 3 minutes in the morning when you wake to quickly consolidate and jot down one or two words can greatly improve dream memory, if you're interested. Or, like someone previously said, you're not easily frightened by dreams.

My tentative theory is that my family's grandfather clock played a major role in my nightmares. That fucker had a helluva scary chime, with which it sounded every hour. I suspect that such chimes were often the point at which my dreams took a scary turn.

That's scary. Your hearing is supposed to work perfectly fine during sleep, right?

When I do get nightmares, it's of being chased usually. And hiding. Very, very silently trying not ot even breathe even though I've run and my lungs are bursting. These aren't usually disturbing once I've awakened though. The distubing "nightmares" are really more "what ifs" based on my real-life disappointments and anxieties- pretty revealing of what my mind's been worrying about.

I usually am quite awake once I'm awake and don't remember dreams at all, but sometimes when I'm in that half-awake, half-dreaming thing where you close your eyes and you're in and out of the dream for snatches of 3-5 minutes or so- that feeling of sinking and being pulled in both directions- and of not having full control can be quite terrifying on its own regardless of dream content.

And sometimes you just got those uber-bizarre dreams that are kind of creepy when you think about them. (Masochistic kicking game in a carpet-rental store.)

[Antisocial one]

I don't dream as far as I can tell....hence, no nightmares.

Very interesting since you are very strong in I and T just like me.

I also don't have dreams at all, as far as I can tell.

[substitute]

That is so cool. I'm jealous.

I hardly ever have nightmares (once to three times a year?), but I've had recurring nightmares around the theme of mirrors since I was about five years old. When I was a little kid, I was terrified of looking into the mirror when it was dark out because I thought my image was a separate being, or something... like my evil twin? I don't know. Usually these dreams connect to the idea of losing my mind. It gets creepy.


No, wait - THAT is awesome!! I mean, in the same way I thought a thriller movie was awesome cos it scared the living shit outta me and had me on pins and needles for days lol

[Sytpg]

I haven't had a nightmare in months. And as years go by I have less and less too.

[INTJMom]

Very interesting since you are very strong in I and T just like me.

I also don't have dreams at all, as far as I can tell.
The "professionals" say that everyone dreams,
and that if you didn't dream, you would become psychotic,
that is, lose touch with reality.

It's most likely that people who say they don't dream just don't remember their dreams.
I don't remember most of my dreams either.
Every now and then, I have one that's significant.
If I wake up right after, I will remember it.
If thoughts of it continue to "haunt" me, I will look up the meaning of it
to see what I'm supposed to learn from it.

Usually my dreams are just a reflection of how I am feeling at that time in my life.
Sometimes they can be prophetic, but rarely.

Here's my favorite dream interpretation book.
It's my favorite because of its accuracy.
10,000 Dreams Interpreted (http://www.beyondweird.com/dreams.html)

[JivinJeffJones]

The easiest way to dream is to drastically oversleep. 14 hours minimum. I once slept for a whole weekend (with maybe 2 hours break for food and toilet) and I had some insane dreams. The "snooze" button is also great for dreaming. Sleep for 10 or 12 hours and then start snoozing and you'll have a variety of dreams. Some of them are bound to be bad, though they may not be nightmares.

[Antisocial one]

The "professionals" say that everyone dreams,
and that if you didn't dream, you would become psychotic,
that is, lose touch with reality.

It's most likely that people who say they don't dream just don't remember their dreams.
I don't remember most of my dreams either.
Every now and then, I have one that's significant.
If I wake up right after, I will remember it.
If thoughts of it continue to "haunt" me, I will look up the meaning of it
to see what I'm supposed to learn from it.

Usually my dreams are just a reflection of how I am feeling at that time in my life.
Sometimes they can be prophetic, but rarely.

Here's my favorite dream interpretation book.
It's my favorite because of its accuracy.
10,000 Dreams Interpreted (http://www.beyondweird.com/dreams.html)

I know that. It is just that I don't remember anything so I don't have any personal proof that I have dreams.

[Antisocial one]

The easiest way to dream is to drastically oversleep. 14 hours minimum. I once slept for a whole weekend (with maybe 2 hours break for food and toilet) and I had some insane dreams. The "snooze" button is also great for dreaming. Sleep for 10 or 12 hours and then start snoozing and you'll have a variety of dreams. Some of them are bound to be bad, though they may not be nightmares.

Please be honest with me. How do you do something like that?
I can't sleep longer then 7 hours no matter what.

[INTJMom]

Please be honest with me. How do you do something like that?
I can't sleep longer then 7 hours no matter what.
Seven hours is a good amount of time.
Why do you want to sleep more than that?
I've heard of people who only need 4 hours a night!
I need 9!

[Haphazard]

Seven hours is a good amount of time.
Why do you want to sleep more than that?
I've heard of people who only need 4 hours a night!
I need 9!

*pokes signature*

I need twenty.

[INTJMom]

*pokes signature*

I need twenty.
So you're saying you're always tired?
Do you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

[Haphazard]

So you're saying you're always tired?
Do you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Not really.

Part of it's a joke, but I do fall asleep at strange times, in strange places, particularly when I don't get enough sleep. For some reason the time of day I sleep is more important than how much I sleep. I am much more tired if I go to bed early and wake up early than if I go to bed late and wake up late, even if technically I got the same amount of sleep both times. The only problem is that my prime sleeping hours are hours where people should be awake (at least, according to society, but what the hell do they know?), so yes, I am always tired.

[INTJMom]

Not really.

Part of it's a joke, but I do fall asleep at strange times, in strange places, particularly when I don't get enough sleep. For some reason the time of day I sleep is more important than how much I sleep. I am much more tired if I go to bed early and wake up early than if I go to bed late and wake up late, even if technically I got the same amount of sleep both times. The only problem is that my prime sleeping hours are hours where people should be awake (at least, according to society, but what the hell do they know?), so yes, I am always tired.
I once heard that one hour of sleep before midnight is equal to two hours of sleep after midnight,
but you could be someone for whom that does not hold true.
It does for me, though.

[Antisocial one]

Seven hours is a good amount of time.
Why do you want to sleep more than that?
I've heard of people who only need 4 hours a night!
I need 9!

I've just asked "How is it possibe to sleep that much'" because I know plenty of people who can sleep like that. There is no way that my goal is to sleep that much. Sleeping is a waste of time.

I ask exactly because I can't sleep longer then 7 hours and 4 hours can be enough for me. Yes, we do exist.:D
This night I have sleept only for five and half hours and I feel just fine.

As I've said it before, 7 hours is just upper border, not standard .

Form what I have experienced people treat this like supernatural power.
Why they do that, I don't know.
I also don't know how it is possible but it works for me.
Form what I have experienced the more you sleep the more tired you will be.
But if I have to guess why am I like this I would say that the way of life and how I use my brainy are the reasons why this works for me.

[Colors]

Do you microsleep? (Throughout the day, do you have one or two times where you suddenly get an overwhelming urge to close your eyes- if you are persistant, it could go away in 3-10 minutes.)

There was about a year-long time in my life when I slept probably about 5 hours a night, but fell into microsleep quite often (the brain falls asleep for 3-14 secs, "spacing out", so to speak).

[Antisocial one]

Do you microsleep? (Throughout the day, do you have one or two times where you suddenly get an overwhelming urge to close your eyes- if you are persistant, it could go away in 3-10 minutes.)

There was about a year-long time in my life when I slept probably about 5 hours a night, but fell into microsleep quite often (the brain falls asleep for 3-14 secs, "spacing out", so to speak).

I have to disappoint you. The answer is no.

[Jennifer]

I don't remember my dreams, so I don't remember if I actually have many nightmares either.

I did have one [a nightmare] a few weeks ago, but for the life of me now I can't remember what it was. If I recall it, I'll post it.

My sleep habits still stink. I often only get 4-6 hours a night. I've tried to sleep more and more often I will now squeeze out 5-7, maybe even eight hours (usually on weekends) but it doesn't seem to do much. I have had increasing periods where I zone or get the "microsleep" thing where I just can't stay awake. I've been on the couch before and been in a semi-snooze for about 30-45 minutes before I come out of it. That used to be rare for me. Now I want to sleep more.

[JivinJeffJones]

Please be honest with me. How do you do something like that?
I can't sleep longer then 7 hours no matter what.

Yeah, it isn't easy. The 11 hour mark is a particularly tough one to get past. That's usually where the quitters will get up and have a coffee, or maybe surf the news headlines. The truly committed, however, roll over and nod the fuck off. After ~13-14 hours of sleep you stop feeling rested and start feeling tired again, so it becomes easier. And the dreams become extremely lucid.

[Antisocial one]

Yeah, it isn't easy. The 11 hour mark is a particularly tough one to get past. That's usually where the quitters will get up and have a coffee, or maybe surf the news headlines. The truly committed, however, roll over and nod the fuck off. After ~13-14 hours of sleep you stop feeling rested and start feeling tired again, so it becomes easier. And the dreams become extremely lucid.

Sorry, there is no way that I can do something like that.

[Haphazard]

I once heard that one hour of sleep before midnight is equal to two hours of sleep after midnight,
but you could be someone for whom that does not hold true.
It does for me, though.

I must be the opposite. I cannot sleep at 'normal times.' Either my sleep must come after 2 and end at 9 or 10, or I fall asleep at 7 PM and wake up at 3 AM (this generally does not happen unless I'm sick, though.) If I fall asleep at 'normal' hours I will need at least nine or ten hours to be rested...

Do you microsleep? (Throughout the day, do you have one or two times where you suddenly get an overwhelming urge to close your eyes- if you are persistant, it could go away in 3-10 minutes.)

There was about a year-long time in my life when I slept probably about 5 hours a night, but fell into microsleep quite often (the brain falls asleep for 3-14 secs, "spacing out", so to speak).

This happens to me all the time. I even get hypnic twitches and dreams when it does.

[Antisocial one]

A lot of time has passed, so I am interested in changes if someone had any.

[Nighthawk]

I have recurring nightmares (or just disturbing/annoying dreams) about being back in the military, back in military school, or back in the gulf war. I have them about once a week or more. Prior to the war, I had dreams about being back in military school. That place seems to have had a profound effect on my psyche.

[wolfy]

I often have a nightmare of having killed someone and am being chased down by the police. I'm the anti hero in my dreams. The persecuted one chased down for a crime of self defense.

[Numbers]

It's very rare that I don't have at least one nightmare a night. Very often i'll wake up just feeling bad and not really remember the dream, but other times I do remember the nightmare.

For some reason it usually involves a giant wave. I've probably had 100+ dreams that have involved a giant killer wave of some sort.

My dreams are also very fractured and bizarre. Maybe symbolic, but I don't really "get" them if they are.

[edcoaching]

I only have nightmares when I'm running a fever. Most of my dreams are adventures worthy of Indiana Jones...minus the snakes

[Wade Wilson]

I haven't had a nightmare in quite awhile, but one thing is for sure: they always involve false waking (which is really the nightmare part for me). It can happen upwards of three times in one scenario.

[GZA]

I havn't had a nightmare since I was 14 or so, and even when I was younger I never had many.