Stressful dreams

[Morelia]

Hi,

For many years I have had stressful dreams. I wake up in the middle of the night with my heart pounding and my stomach churning. (I can't be sure whether the dreams are causing the stomach/digestive discomfort or vice versa.) The dreams themselves usually evaporate soon after I wake up and I very rarely remember the details. It can take me a little while to calm down enough to go back to sleep. Deep breathing and reading helps. The dreams can be tense or uncomfortable, but not necessarily scary. It's very much like being a character in a movie, going through the story as it happens. Sometimes I want to stay in the dream so I can find out what happens. That's fun here and there, but I wish it didn't happen quite so often as it doesn't result in a refreshed Morelia the next morning.

Does or has anyone else experienced this? How did you deal with it? Did it become less frequent after being treated for CPTSD?

[miaoue]

hi Morelia yes i have experienced the stressful dreams too. very similar to yours, they are not necessarily terrifying or extreme, but emotionally uncomfortable and physically stressful. like you i wake up with intense anxiety responses, and i feel even more exhausted than when i fell asleep! at first i couldn't remember anything from the dreams but doing a little acceptance exercise has helped. like, as i lay in bed at night i would acknowledge and accept whatever dreams were coming, and welcome them to be remembered afterward. it felt silly but i think it's working because i've started to remember what kind of dream i just woke up from...the details still fade away very fast but if i write them down or consciously commit them to memory, some of the dream content will stick around.

sorry i can't really answer your other questions since i'm so early in my trauma treatment i can tell you what my T told me, that while "classic" PTSD (shock trauma) is said to be re-experienced in dreams specifically about the trauma, CPTSD (or as he says developmental trauma) can present with these seemingly unrelated dreams. because the trauma doesn't consist of one concrete incident, the dreams can't replay the experience directly, but often there will be a pattern in the emotional tone of the dreams. for example, consistently feeling lost, helpless, or alone in your dreams. do you remember any of the emotions from your dreams? no need to tell me ofc just thinking this might be a helpful way for you to think about dreams you can't remember.

[Rainagain]

I get them a lot.

Various themes, often lives in danger or other threat.

Last night was sea on fire, not sure what that was about.

No idea how to stop them, daytime naps aren't nightmare filled for some reason so might be worth trying when badly sleep deprived?

[Morelia]

CPTSD (or as he says developmental trauma) can present with these seemingly unrelated dreams. because the trauma doesn't consist of one concrete incident, the dreams can't replay the experience directly, but often there will be a pattern in the emotional tone of the dreams. for example, consistently feeling lost, helpless, or alone in your dreams. do you remember any of the emotions from your dreams? no need to tell me ofc just thinking this might be a helpful way for you to think about dreams you can't remember.

Hi Miaoue: That's helpful information from your T, thank you. I will try to remember the events and feelings in the dreams as you've suggested and see if there is a pattern. I'm going to try to find a therapist who specialises in CPTSD this year so hopefully I can start working through it with a professional, too.

Hi Rainagain: I've never had the sea on fire that I can remember, but it sounds familiar in the sense that I get stuff that's similarly intense. I also get weird dreams during my rare daytime naps. Nonetheless, napping does help me feel better when I'm really sleep-deprived.

[Rainagain]

Dreams in the daytime too?

That's just not fair.

My trauma was night time related, maybe that's why daytime naps are OK for me. Hadn't thought of it like that before.

Everything is so complicated!