Dreams So Vivid You Feel Like You Haven't Slept.

This last semester in college was extraordinarily busy for me, and as such I got very little sleep between late August and Mid-December. Finally, winter break came -- a chance for me to catch up on my sleep. For the past couple of weeks, though, I've had unusually vivid dreams. These dreams are often so engaging and realistic that I feel as if I haven't slept at all. I'm finally getting an average of 8-9 hours of sleep a night, but I'm walking around with dark rings under my eyes feeling like I got 4 or 5.

Does anyone else have this same affliction? Was there anything you did to cure it? It's extremely frustrating. Thankfully, my school schedule is much less hectic next semester, but I'd like to get at least a few nights of refreshing, undisturbed sleep before that starts again. I think I should also mention that the nature of my dreams has been pretty negative and for the most part violent. Most of them have involved guns, and me defending either myself or my family -- some of them have been pretty bloody. In another one that I had recently, everybody I cared about betrayed me, one after another. My girlfriend told me she was cheating on me, then a little while later, my friends basically told me that I suck as a person, and then my family as well. I woke up with a stomach ache because of how real it all felt.

Anyway, I'd appreciate it if anyone could share similar stories or perhaps advice. It's pretty damn irritating.