How do I stop these nightmares and sleep well again

[Fragile]

Hi guys,
I have been diagnosted with a trauma from bullying (not PTSD, but it's similar, a "soft" version of it so I'll post it here).
For like half a year I have been having the following issues:
When I am trying to sleep, I wake up every hour and I keep having the same nightmares every time. I always dream about how I am in school again and how I meet my bullies, which are quite a lot. Sometimes I am remembered of bullies I don't even think about, which causes new unpleasent memories. I am at a point where I don't even want to sleep anymore, I keep seeing these people every time I fall asleep.

Is there a way to stop these damn nightmares? It's driving me really crazy. All I want is having a peaceful life and relaxing sleep. Also, why do I keep waking up every hour?

Thank you for your answers.

 

[Alexander Ypsilantis]

Hi guys,
I have been diagnosted with a trauma from bullying (not PTSD, but it's similar, a "soft" version of it so I'll post it here).
For like half a year I have been having the following issues:
When I am trying to sleep, I wake up every hour and I keep having the same nightmares every time. I always dream about how I am in school again and how I meet my bullies, which are quite a lot. Sometimes I am remembered of bullies I don't even think about, which causes new unpleasent memories. I am at a point where I don't even want to sleep anymore, I keep seeing these people every time I fall asleep.

Is there a way to stop these damn nightmares? It's driving me really crazy. All I want is having a peaceful life and relaxing sleep. Also, why do I keep waking up every hour?

Thank you for your answers.

You need to 'air' your memories out in therapy so they don't have the power to cause you nightmares anymore. If you're remembering things in dreams that you don't remember while conscious that means there are suppressed memories that are coming back to bother you.

Find a good therapist and discuss this in detail. It's like lancing a boil, you have to get the bad stuff out in the open to feel better. Once you discuss it openly, you can deal with it more easily. Put it in perspective. Then maybe the nightmares will stop?

 

[Kavaris_Valiant_One]

The more you create a routine- hours before bed- dedicated to sleeping and things to dream about, the more control your character in your sleep has.
The more control means the more likely you will shape the dream positively, instead of getting so lost that your external perceptions derive fear out of even the insignificant features of the mind.

Tonight, or tomorrow night, try re-creating a story
that you can tell yourself. Something that you are interested in and can build off of or give you ideas.
Your thoughts are your land, just like a farm is a farmers land to grow crops on, except you wanna grow dreams. When you sleep on the night, notice how your mind will wonder from thought to thought. It will have been an amalgamation of those thoughts that spiral in toward the actual dream you feel like you're in. Those thoughts leading up to that- are the most essential ones for a good dream.

 

[HisWife]

The medication Prazosin has been a life saver for me with nightmares due to PTSD.

 

[RockyMountainsGirl]

Hi guys,
I have been diagnosted with a trauma from bullying (not PTSD, but it's similar, a "soft" version of it so I'll post it here).
For like half a year I have been having the following issues:
When I am trying to sleep, I wake up every hour and I keep having the same nightmares every time. I always dream about how I am in school again and how I meet my bullies, which are quite a lot. Sometimes I am remembered of bullies I don't even think about, which causes new unpleasent memories. I am at a point where I don't even want to sleep anymore, I keep seeing these people every time I fall asleep.

Is there a way to stop these damn nightmares? It's driving me really crazy. All I want is having a peaceful life and relaxing sleep. Also, why do I keep waking up every hour?

Thank you for your answers.

I had horrific nightmares and sleepless night from my trauma too. I learned it wasn't mild trauma but full blown complex-PTSD, called C-PTSD. You can get over it and learn to cope with future trauma.

 

[2Much2Feel]

Hi @Fragile, v interesting thread to start, and good info provided by others. I'm currently totally stressed out cause my shrink wants me to discuss in detail an assault that has made me afraid to date that I have constant nightmares about, hear you about being afraid to go to sleep. But the very thought of walking him through the details sets me in panic mode. I hope you can voice the trauma to your therapist, as Alexander suggested and as my therapist seems to think is necessary to get past the nightmares. Also, have you ever listened to hypnosis when going to bed? They have all kinds of them for anxiety, etc., that may help shape your thinking as you doze off (and after). Just a thought. Good luck to you, these things are hard to overcome but apparently when we try to just ignore them, they do come back to haunt us...

 

[RockyMountainsGirl]

Maybe just share a bit of what you feel ready to share and explain that getting everything out will take some time.

Hi @Fragile, v interesting thread to start, and good info provided by others. I'm currently totally stressed out cause my shrink wants me to discuss in detail an assault that has made me afraid to date that I have constant nightmares about, hear you about being afraid to go to sleep. But the very thought of walking him through the details sets me in panic mode. I hope you can voice the trauma to your therapist, as Alexander suggested and as my therapist seems to think is necessary to get past the nightmares. Also, have you ever listened to hypnosis when going to bed? They have all kinds of them for anxiety, etc., that may help shape your thinking as you doze off (and after). Just a thought. Good luck to you, these things are hard to overcome but apparently when we try to just ignore them, they do come back to haunt us...

Maybe just share a bit each visit and tell your shrink you're not comfortably sharing the whole story yet.

 

[2Much2Feel]

Maybe just share a bit of what you feel ready to share and explain that getting everything out will take some time.

Maybe just share a bit each visit and tell your shrink you're not comfortably sharing the whole story yet.

Good idea. Chip away at it. Thx.

 

[2Much2Feel]

Maybe just share a bit of what you feel ready to share and explain that getting everything out will take some time.

Maybe just share a bit each visit and tell your shrink you're not comfortably sharing the whole story yet.

Yes. That's a really good idea. Less stressful. Maybe a female shrink would have been easier. But he's so good, can't let that get in the way.

 

[RockyMountainsGirl]

Hi guys,
I have been diagnosted with a trauma from bullying (not PTSD, but it's similar, a "soft" version of it so I'll post it here).
For like half a year I have been having the following issues:
When I am trying to sleep, I wake up every hour and I keep having the same nightmares every time. I always dream about how I am in school again and how I meet my bullies, which are quite a lot. Sometimes I am remembered of bullies I don't even think about, which causes new unpleasent memories. I am at a point where I don't even want to sleep anymore, I keep seeing these people every time I fall asleep.

Is there a way to stop these damn nightmares? It's driving me really crazy. All I want is having a peaceful life and relaxing sleep. Also, why do I keep waking up every hour?

Thank you for your answers.

I was 15 years old when I went to my family doctor who sent me to get help from a psychologist with excellent counselling training. I had nightmares, too, but the bully was my older brother. Had I not had a lock on my bedroom door to keep him out, I think he might have beat me up badly enough to be hospitalized. He was extremely angry and violent, and my mom was the same.