Nightmares.

A nightmare, also called a bad dream is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. However, psychological nomenclature differentiates between nightmares and bad dreams; specifically, people remain asleep during bad dreams, whereas nightmares can awaken individuals. The dream may contain situations of discomfort, psychological or physical terror, or panic. After a nightmare, a person will often awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a short period of time. Recurrent nightmares may require medical help, as they can interfere with sleeping patterns and cause insomnia.

Image & Info Source: Wikipedia

We all experience nightmares. There is a nightmare that you will wake up quickly but there is also a nightmare that even when you are asleep you feel like you can hardly breathe because of fear.

I don’t know but I often have nightmares too. When I was still living in my Mom's house, my Mom and Stepdad often watched over me because I always had nightmares and I always crying hard at night. Especially when i lose my first child. After my daughter's burial before I always had a nightmare almost everynight. I always end up shouting and catching my breath onced they woke me up, then I can't stop crying. I don't know but maybe it's also because of depression at that time. Maybe because I was ao depressed when i lose her.

I remembered back then just after her burial I dreamed of her, in my dreams I was in my room crying because of her death, then she suddenly appeared. When i saw I cried more telling her i'm so sorry for what had happen to her, then she was moving towards me, and I suddenly got nervous co'z i know she's already dead,then i told her that "baby you're already gone, I'm sorry" then she answered me "Mom don't you like me anymore? Don't you love me Mom?" And i was crying harder and hugged her. Until someone woke me up, Mom and Stepdad waking me up they told me i was shouting and crying. I cried so hard more when I realized it was just a dream and felt guilty in my dreams why I sudenly get afraid when she's trying to come to me in my dreams, I felt guilty when the words "Hindi mo na ba ako mahal Mama?" (Don't you love me Mom?). How i wished I didn't wake up anymore that time so we can be together already. It was a nightmare but it was a nightmare that I wished I had never woken up.

But then months and years already passed. I still suffer the same thing. Until now i always had a nightmare. I still often get nightmares and I don't know why I always experience it. There are dreams that my Dad, who is also already in heaven, will suddenly appear and then he wants me to come with him. Or there's someone invisible trying to pull me somewhere. Or sometimes i felt like i'm awake co'z in my dreams i can see my exact surroundings where i am sleeping. The exact room, exact things around me, exact people beside me (my hubby and my youngest) but I can't move and no matter how hard i try to move, I still can't. So when i realized that I was dreaming again i will start shouting the best as I can trying to wake up my hubby, i was shouting for help telling him "please wake me up". Sometimes it was my daughter who will wake me up and telling me i'm dreaming again but most it was my hubby who will suddenly shake me hard and even slap me sometimes just to wake me up. Co'z as for him everytime i'm having a nightmare I was moaning so loudly.

Just like last night again. I had a nightmare again. In my dreams my hubby was arguing with someone. Then guy he was arguing with rides to his motorcycle and tryin to leave then my husband gets the key of our motorcycle too to chase the guy. And since I don't want him to get hurt i get to the motorcycle first so he can't he can move it. But instead he grabbed the guy again then they had a fight. After that the guy disappeared and we left with some people around we fixed all the damages in the area where he get a fight with that guy. Then while fixing things there A girl suddenly appeared infront of me asking some help holding her bag, I can't understand what she's saying but i know that she is not real, i mean she was a ghost wearing white dress. I don't know what's in the bag but she was moving towards me holding her bag and i felt afraid and tried to run with hubby and other people in my dreams. Then a guy suddenly appeared again asking why we are running and i told him the reason then he smiled and i got afraid again thinking that he is not real too. So i tried to climb on the ladder where hubby climb in but the girl wearing white dress appeared infront of me when i'm almost at the top snd she was tryin to get me then i fall on the ladder. But she still moving towards me, that's when i realized that "oh no,no, this is just a dream again" then i shouted so hard again in my dreams hoping someone will wake me up, I can hardly breathe again last night out of fear, a fear not because of the girl still keeps moving towards me but a fear that i might won't wake up anymore. But thanks God hubby was there to wake me up and i got some good slap again. Then he gave me a water.

I'm still thankful that everytime I'm having a nightmare someone was there to wake me up. Co'z sometimes i was thinking what if there's no one there to wake me up, what would gonna happen to me then?

They said if we want a good sleep we must pray before we sleep to take the devil away while we were sleeping. But no matter how I pray at night, those nightmares still keep coming to my dreams. There are even times that I can't go back to sleep because I was afraid that i might get a bad dreams again. I had even dreams that, in my dreams i was dreaming too, then i will try to wake up but once i woke i was still in a dream again. Don't know how to explain that. But it's like I was having a nightmare and i will try to wake up then when I thought i was already awake something will happen again that will make me realize that I'm still in a dream and if try again still the same I will wake up but I am still in a dream. It's hard to explain but it will only stop when i started to keep shouting hard hoping someone could hear me out.

I tried to search why is this happening to me often and it made me realized that I already had a Nightmare Disorder.

Nightmare disorder is when nightmares happen often, cause distress, disrupt sleep, cause problems with daytime functioning or create fear of going to sleep.

Symptoms

You're more likely to have a nightmare in the second half of your night. Nightmares may occur rarely or more frequently, even several times a night. Episodes are generally brief, but they cause you to awaken, and returning to sleep can be difficult.

A nightmare may involve these features:

• Your dream seems vivid and real and is very upsetting, often becoming more disturbing as the dream unfolds

• Your dream storyline is usually related to threats to safety or survival, but it can have other disturbing themes

• Your dream awakens you

• You feel scared, anxious, angry, sad or disgusted as a result of your dream

• You feel sweaty or have a pounding heartbeat while in bed

• You can think clearly upon awakening and can recall details of your dream

• Your dream causes distress that keeps you from falling back to sleep easily

Causes

Nightmare disorder is referred to by doctors as a parasomnia — a type of sleep disorder that involves undesirable experiences that occur while you're falling asleep, during sleep or when you're waking up. Nightmares usually occur during the stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM). The exact cause of nightmares is not known.

Nightmares can be triggered by many factors, including:

• Stress or anxiety. Sometimes the ordinary stresses of daily life, such as a problem at home or school, trigger nightmares. A major change, such as a move or the death of a loved one, can have the same effect. Experiencing anxiety is associated with a greater risk of nightmares.

• Trauma. Nightmares are common after an accident, injury, physical or sexual abuse, or other traumatic event. Nightmares are common in people who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

• Sleep deprivation. Changes in your schedule that cause irregular sleeping and waking times or that interrupt or reduce the amount of sleep can increase your risk of having nightmares. Insomnia is associated with an increased risk of nightmares.

• Medications. Some drugs — including certain antidepressants, blood pressure medications, beta blockers, and drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease or to help stop smoking — can trigger nightmares.

• Substance abuse. Alcohol and recreational drug use or withdrawal can trigger nightmares.

• Other disorders. Depression and other mental health disorders may be linked to nightmares. Nightmares can happen along with some medical conditions, such as heart disease or cancer. Having other sleep disorders that interfere with adequate sleep can be associated with having nightmares.

• Scary books and movies. For some people, reading scary books or watching frightening movies, especially before bed, can be associated with nightmares.

Info Source: MayoClinic.Org

So there I think I really had a nightmare disorder based on the symptoms and causes. Especially that I always have it almost every week. I'm already lucky to get a good sleep for several weeks without any nightmares. I don't know how to recover from this yet. But I don't think I still need to go to the doctor co'z I'm already used to it for how many years already. And I can't afford to get a doctor either,lols. Maybe i will just follow some home remedies to lessen my nightmares.

According to National Sleep Foundation

• Reduce Stress: This is what we really need to avoid nightmares. Number one remedy is to avoid or reduce stress,so we can relax our minds. But it's kinda hard because, we all have our different kinds of problems that we always think specially at night. But well I'll still try my best to manage every stressing thoughts that comes up my mind.

• Express Yourself: They said we should share every bad dreams/nightmares that we've been experiencing. Well I've been doing this already ever since I was still staying there at Mom's house. I'm always sharing or telling them my whole dream stories. Apparently Mom knows every story behind my nightmares, same with my hubby now. Co'z i felt like I can't relax my mind as long as i can't share it to anyone.

• Keep A Regular Sleep Schedule: I'll try to make a daily routine for my sleep because they said this can help too to prevent having nightmares, that we must have a daily routine everyday. Same time to sleep and same time to wake up. It could help to give us a good and healthy sleep.

• Avoid Meals Before Bed: They said eating before bedtime is a common reason too for having nightmares because eating full before bedtime can boost your metabolism that can cause your brain to be active and can lead to nightmares. But well i'll think about this first,haha. Honestly i admit that I do always eat before bedtime. We Filipinos love to eat some midnight snacks. So I don't know if I can maintain this one maybe sometimes,lols.

Hard to had a bad dreams/nightmares. Hoping and praying for everyone who's suffering the same thing as I am that we can overcome with this one too. I know it's kinda stressing and depressing though, but let's just pray and try our best too to follow some remedies that could help us. 🙂

That's all for today, i just shared you this one and hoping this could help too with anyone who experiencing the same. Thank you for reading. 🙂

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