My violent dreams

Its taken alot of courge for me to post this but some say the best advice is from a stranger.


Some nights I usually have a real horrible dream and they are violent and I awake with cuts and in a cold sweat. In my dreams im always seeing what to me appears to be an alternate reality and it scares me because in these dreams if I wake up I can return to that dream, Im always losing something I love or people I have lost return to me i my dreams. I am also recovering from a head injury, do you think that has something to do with it?..These dreams are so real and I know they are not but if since ive had this head injury I am living another life in dreams? I dream of people Ive never met before and these people know me but ive never seen them before , its so bizarre.. why am I dreaming of people I have never met before..is it some sort of pre cognition?..am I seeing the future in bits and pieces.? I also have beautiful dreams too but not as much as the pain and violence that eats me up in my dreams, I try staying up all night so I dont have to sleep...Does anybody have dreams like this or have the same experiences as I do?

[edit on 19-11-2008 by cmd18B]

reply to post by cmd18B


I used to never have violent dreams. Then I went through some pretty serious family drama and I was incredibly stressed out. I realized that I was very angry at some people and I was repressing it. I would act out the anger in my dreams, usually involving me pummeling someone or choking them.

Are you angry about anything at the moment?

reply to post by Karlhungis


Hi Karl..Thanks for replying, I thought maybe some might think I was a little off center with this thread but I have some anger issues and not many people to talk to about it so thats why im here. I just cannot explain how vivid my dreams are, Do you think anger rears its ugly head during sleep?

It certainly did with me. I didn't realize how much anger I was carrying around until I would have several dreams a week of me screaming at the top of my lungs at my father, or choking him...etc. I worried that I was screaming in my sleep and would wake people up. My wife never told me about it, so I don't think that I was.

I wish I could be a better example of how you can move beyond it. I just had to wait until the drama was behind me. I would say you need to address what is making you angry in real life. If it isn't something temporary you should probably try to get some help.

[edit on 19-11-2008 by Karlhungis]

Well I do know that I was seeing a lovely young lady for awhile but we stopped seeing each other and I remember her saying how I talked loudly and I was almost screaming one night..I did forget to mention that I was in the military and have seen my fair share of overseas combat. She had mentioned that one night I was tossing and turning and yelling out loud about a helicopter and I kind of shrugged it but I dont ever recall it that night but i have been known to go outside in my sleep and just kind of crouch, on several occasions I was found outside. Im sitting here smiling because I sound nuts but I know Im not. I have another neuro consult coming up because im still out of work in disability due to this head injury...

Is the head injury from the war? You surely are entitled to some counseling. I can understand what you are going through. I would think that the VA would be able to get you the assistance that you need. Hopefully therapy would help. It sounds like PTSD to me.

Hard to say bro. I mean I frequently have violent dreams as well but if you never did before and now you do following a head injury, that's different; in my non-expert opinion lol.

I also dream about people I've never met and I've looked into that because I found it strange as you do. From what I've read, although the people you see in your dreams may not be familiar, it's likely you glanced at them at some point in your day and their image is being regurgitated by your unconscious.

I even had a dream recently about people from junior high that I haven't seen in 10 years. I asked someone else in my dream for one of their names because I couldn't remember and was given it.. you remember more than you think you do or are given access to consciously.

My dreams seem to take a disturbing twist as often as not but I've found lucid dreaming has helped me somewhat. It takes practice but never hurts to try.

reply to post by Karlhungis


Ive used the VA but sparingly and I have my reasons why and they are good reasons naturally but I have seen my primary care physician but the down side to my current job is that its contract work for the military, The money is great but no health benefits so its all out of pocket expense and now that im on disabilty im only getting 70 percent of my salary..Ive never hurt anybody but these dam dreams are terrible and they have gotten more violent and mean since my head injury..I dont like taking alot of pills either, I was prescribed something called Enduril for the bad headaches but thats my extent of pill popping.


[edit on 19-11-2008 by cmd18B]

Well, without really knowing the situation I can't really say much more. If you think you might be suffering from PTSD, you should consider giving the VA another shot and seeing what help they can get you for that. They deal with it all the time now. I understand how aggravating it is using the VA, I only used them as a last resort.

If not, talk to your primary care physician. Although, I don't have much faith in them. I worry about them just throwing medication at people. I am sure he could probably stop your dreams but it would probably come in the form of a pill. Taking pills to sleep normally is a bad idea. Very easy to get addicted, even if the doctors say that it isn't.

reply to post by ZombieOctopus


Hey Zombie..Thanks for dropping a line, after the head injury the dreams got worse and more vivid, i mean I can smell and taste and feel or I think I can that is and im glad im not the only one who dreams of strangers and i can describe them perfectly. Do you believe in living two lives?..One conscious and one while dreaming? Ive always had odd dreams, when i was young and to this very day I run very high fevers out of the blue and with those fevers I hallucinate and that happens when the fever is breaking...

I dream of strangers more than I dream of people I know. My anger dreams tended to be focused on people I knew though.

Zombie is right. You should check out Lucid Dreaming. Having control over your dreams is pretty powerful... and pretty fun too.

Originally posted by cmd18B
reply to post by ZombieOctopus

 

Hey Zombie..Thanks for dropping a line, after the head injury the dreams got worse and more vivid, i mean I can smell and taste and feel or I think I can that is and im glad im not the only one who dreams of strangers and i can describe them perfectly. Do you believe in living two lives?..One conscious and one while dreaming? Ive always had odd dreams, when i was young and to this very day I run very high fevers out of the blue and with those fevers I hallucinate and that happens when the fever is breaking...

Living two lives? Interesting thought, I would think it depends on the weight in which the experiencer puts on the second perceived life experience. It can be as "real" as you believe it to be.

For most of my life I've had a few dreams that seem to progress each night, starting where the last left off; is that like what you mean? I don't think my own experiences are proof of a second life but rather evidence of my abnormal brain wiring haha.

The hallucinations may be somewhat concerning... that's not "normal" eh. I agree with Karl, PTSD is probably playing a role, you should consider talking to a counselor about it. I say counselor or psychiatrist rather than psychologist because you want to get it out, not get medicated.

I die in a lot of my dreams. I'm glad they're just dreams