Dreams?

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TemporaryCircumstances

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Im wondering if anyone else has this problem. For about two years I have dreams, some that scare me half to death other that just bring tears to my eyes. I know why I have them. I am "processing" the events because I do not let my mind process them while awake. These dreams have actually caused me to avoid sleep, and after I wake up every noise or movement startles me. I react harshly to every touch that I am not aware of. Some of the dreams will be like flashbacks of my father's abusive behavior, some will be of when my friend ended her life, some will be of flashbacks to when I was sexually assaulted. Many think I over react to these dreams. They are just dreams... right? But they take their toll on me. Big time and sometimes they aren't even dreams. Sometimes I will just close my eyes and a sharp feeling of fear will rush over me and I lose control and kick whoever I thought was there off of me; tho a few seconds or minutes later I come to the realization it was just a stupid mind trick. That im safe now. Maybe I'm over reacting but fear is a stronger emotion than you would first think of. We have tried everything. A sleep therapist a grief councelor to get me to process what I've kept hidden, we've tried asking a series of questions to remind me that I'm safe... we have tried me doing something calming before rest. We've tried sleeping on different surfaces. None of it works. Everyone has seemed to either give up or they have ran out of ideas. Pleaseee tell me, am I the only person with this problem?? Am I stuck with being beyond scared to go to sleep for the fear of what the darkness will pull me in this night?...
 
Take these dreams to God. Hand over all the hurt, guilt, anger and stress that those events caused you, to Him. You're trying to deal with ALOT of unresolved feelings and emotions. You need to let go of the past, or you'll NEVER move forward into the future.. I've been raped, domestically abused, had cancer and dealt with the suicides of friends and family. I don't understand why any of that happened to me, but I have learned that I needed to let it all go and trust God, so that I could move past those horrible events and be happy.
 
blue_ladybug said:
Take these dreams to God. Hand over all the hurt, guilt, anger and stress that those events caused you, to Him. You're trying to deal with ALOT of unresolved feelings and emotions. You need to let go of the past, or you'll NEVER move forward into the future.. I've been raped, domestically abused, had cancer and dealt with the suicides of friends and family. I don't understand why any of that happened to me, but I have learned that I needed to let it all go and trust God, so that I could move past those horrible events and be happy.
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(Sigh) I know I do but once I think ive moved on from the past something else reminds me of it and it's just a cycle
 
TemporaryCircumstances said:
Im wondering if anyone else has this problem. For about two years I have dreams, some that scare me half to death other that just bring tears to my eyes. I know why I have them. I am "processing" the events because I do not let my mind process them while awake. These dreams have actually caused me to avoid sleep, and after I wake up every noise or movement startles me. I react harshly to every touch that I am not aware of. Some of the dreams will be like flashbacks of my father's abusive behavior, some will be of when my friend ended her life, some will be of flashbacks to when I was sexually assaulted. Many think I over react to these dreams. They are just dreams... right? But they take their toll on me. Big time and sometimes they aren't even dreams. Sometimes I will just close my eyes and a sharp feeling of fear will rush over me and I lose control and kick whoever I thought was there off of me; tho a few seconds or minutes later I come to the realization it was just a stupid mind trick. That im safe now. Maybe I'm over reacting but fear is a stronger emotion than you would first think of. We have tried everything. A sleep therapist a grief councelor to get me to process what I've kept hidden, we've tried asking a series of questions to remind me that I'm safe... we have tried me doing something calming before rest. We've tried sleeping on different surfaces. None of it works. Everyone has seemed to either give up or they have ran out of ideas. Pleaseee tell me, am I the only person with this problem?? Am I stuck with being beyond scared to go to sleep for the fear of what the darkness will pull me in this night?...
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So you've tried all the latest trends the world has to offer? How about an old-fashioned trend that still works? A Christian counselor. And I don't mean a counselor who happens to be Christian, but a counselor who counsels because she is a Christian and takes God at his word.
 
Depleted said:
So you've tried all the latest trends the world has to offer? How about an old-fashioned trend that still works? A Christian counselor. And I don't mean a counselor who happens to be Christian, but a counselor who counsels because she is a Christian and takes God at his word.
Click to expand...

Well, most my family are not religious, but I have been trying to get a Christian counselor, I've tried talking to the pastor who has basically took me under his wing, he is trying to set me up with a Christian Counselor. But, a teenage girl with a few problems is not priority in this world :) and I dont blame them :) its just taking longer than expected
 
TemporaryCircumstances said:
Well, most my family are not religious, but I have been trying to get a Christian counselor, I've tried talking to the pastor who has basically took me under his wing, he is trying to set me up with a Christian Counselor. But, a teenage girl with a few problems is not priority in this world :) and I dont blame them :) its just taking longer than expected
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Sounds like there may be some mild trauma. Go with EMDR therapy if that's the case. It's safe spiritually, but it's not a spiritual approach, so your family will have no trouble with it. But first, ensure that it IS trauma that is causing this. But it could still be a valid approach as it works on non-trauma related issues as well.

So you know what it is, basically it's tricking your mind. Trauma is an unprocessed memory. As you said, we process during sleep, but if a memory gets 'stuck', this is trauma. EMDR simply has you replicate the REM eye movements while focusing on the stuck, unprocessed thoughts. You are awake when you do this, and the specially trained counselor will instruct you on which thoughts to focus on. But it tricks the mind unto unlocking the trauma so it can process. It is the most effective PTSD treatment out, as well. But not limited to PTSD.
It can take as little as a few session, or, of course, longer, depending on the individual and how stuck the memory is.
 
Ugly said:
Sounds like there may be some mild trauma. Go with EMDR therapy if that's the case. It's safe spiritually, but it's not a spiritual approach, so your family will have no trouble with it. But first, ensure that it IS trauma that is causing this. But it could still be a valid approach as it works on non-trauma related issues as well.

So you know what it is, basically it's tricking your mind. Trauma is an unprocessed memory. As you said, we process during sleep, but if a memory gets 'stuck', this is trauma. EMDR simply has you replicate the REM eye movements while focusing on the stuck, unprocessed thoughts. You are awake when you do this, and the specially trained counselor will instruct you on which thoughts to focus on. But it tricks the mind unto unlocking the trauma so it can process. It is the most effective PTSD treatment out, as well. But not limited to PTSD.
It can take as little as a few session, or, of course, longer, depending on the individual and how stuck the memory is.
Click to expand...

Hmmm....I didnt think of EMDR... my father used to be a therapist who did EMDR but I thought it was limited to PTSD. I will ask my parents if that would be a possibility
 
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