Horribly Vivid Dreams/Nightmares?

Post Reply New Topic

For as long as I can remember I've had insanely vivid/detailed and quite often extremely (in some cases horrifically) violent dreams.
One nice side-effect of when I smoke pot is that it seems to suppress them.

I have dreams and intense nightmares too. When I am dreaming I do not know I am dreaming; dreams/nightmares are as real as waking experiences. Of course, when I wake up I realize this. My dreams/nightmares are often not expressable in words at all. Sometimes I dream about concepts such as matrices, permutations, color frequency, randomness, or time. I think I might dream like an animal.

YIKES! I LEARN, THINK, and WORK concepts! I COULD express it in words, but it can sound convoluted, so I just explain things in specific terms when needed. Sometimes a concept may apply to a LOT of different seemingly unrelated things. I don't think I have EVER dreamed them. The other stuff maybe I just can't relate to in this context.

Steve

When I was around 10 or 11, I had this nightmare that I was tied to a chair in a jungle. I was forced to watch this terrifying video on an ATM machine and this flying, demonic cat creature held me captive. He threatened to slice my throat with his crossbow if I didn't watch it. Around the same age, i've also had these experiences where I was awake (Usually at 3:00 in the morning) and I started hearing these noises (A banging piano, a traffic jam of cars and a heavenly choir). They were so powerful that I couldn't hear myself scream and I could only move in slow-motion. I rarely cry but I always felt tears on my cheeks when the experience was over. Another thing is, when I was really little, I woke up one time to see that everything in my field of vision was a transparent light blue with dark blue spots. I think I was going to faint of something. That only happened once.

I'm so glad I found WP!

I started this post because I have VERY vivid dreams (not every night, but the nights I do, it's freaky).

Last night I had one about my car (I've had quite a few of these). It was TERRIBLE! I had dreamt that I had gone out to my car and it was parallel parked on a street...and someone had deliberately backed into it multiple times.

It was AWFUL! I guess I have this dream when I think that my car is in "danger" of being vandalized. It's really scary to me. I HAVE gone out to my car in the past and on more than one occasion, someone's done something to my car. Kicked in the passenger door, keyed it, ripped stuff off of it, etc. It feels like someone kicks you in the gut.

That's how I feel when I'm having these dreams about my car...or after I wake up. I always go out and check on my car.

Please don't laugh because I'm so attached to my car. I've put years of work into it...



Anyway...I don't ONLY dream about my car...but this was the most recent "wake-me-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night" dream.

I DID have one dream when I was younger, that I've never had since, but it was SO VIVID that I can remember it to this day.

I woke up in the middle of the night and I was doing what can only be described as a gymnastic move (up on my hands and feet with my back completely arched - stomach towards the ceiling) and I was screaming. I had thought that there were hundreds of tarantulas crawling around on my bed and I was trying to get away from them. I'm not scared of spiders, but I'm not sure how I'd react in real life if I was surrounded by hundreds of tarantulas. I would probably have a problem with that.

I don't always have the scary dreams, though. My favorite are the flying dreams. I'm always going somewhere, but flying gets you there faster!

Jen

When I was young I used to have nightmares about vampires and such....but ever since puberty, I can never remember any of my dreams. I can maybe wake up and remember a dream that I had twice a year.

Otherwise my mind is very spongue-like (spelling). I retain a lot of information (mostly useless).

My worst dreams involve being in dirty public restrooms or something happening to my cats. I had dreams so scary that when I woke up, I checked on my cats to see if they were oikay.

When I was a kid, my nightmares were very vivid and intense. Oftentimes, they were so realistic, that I had trouble distinguishing them from real life. Usually, although not always, they fit into one of the following categories. In most of my nightmares, there were no people present; I was the only person on the scene. If there were any people, they didn't interact with me, and minded their own business like nothing is wrong (while I'm scared sh*tless). From what I noticed, the more public a dream setting is, the less scary my nightmares seem to be.

The Chandelier
There was a chandelier in my childhood apartment that I terrified of. It often found its way into my nightmares. They were often set in my own apartment; everything would look normal, as it does in real life, except that chandelier. It would be disfigured in a horrifying way. For instance, it would be much larger than it really is, have pointy spikes that it doesn't normally have, be spinning around and making howling noises, or extend its metal decorations to my face (but not touch me). Whenever I tried to turn it on, the light would not work. These nightmares often took me days to recover from, and seeing the same chandelier in real life didn't help either. I think these nightmares fueled the fear of that chandelier.

The Apartment Building
Some of my nightmares were set in the public areas of the building I lived in, such the lobby, the elevator, or the hallways. Those weren't as scary as the ones set in my apartment, but the scenarios were pretty frightening. Sometimes, I'd be trapped in the elevator, and the control panel would be ripped out, with ugly wires visible in its place; hissing and sparks are coming out from where the control panel used to be. Other times, I'd be walking down a long hallway, trying to get out of the building, but the hallway would go on and on, never ending until I become really scared and wake up. It would take me a few hours to recover from these nightmares, and if I had to leave home in the morning, I would take the stairs instead of the elevator. I was fine by the time I got back, though.

The City Streets
On less frequent occasions, my nightmares were set on the streets in the city I lived in. These were more unpleasant than scary, but I was still afraid. Sometimes, I'd be standing outside a store, and dogs would come running at me from all directions; they would jump on me, but fortunately not bite me. In other scenarios, I'd be walking down the street in the evening (with streetlights on), and all the lights would suddenly turn off, leaving everything very dark. On occasion, I'd be minding my own business carrying some things, and thugs would jump from dark corners, grab all my possessions and clothes, then run away, leaving me alone in my underwear. These nightmares barely affected me at all, and fear would dissipate almost as soon as I was able to turn on the lights in my room.

Anyone ever have dreams/nightmares about self-mutilation?
Ex: in one that I had when I was 15 (I think... might've been 16, it was a while back) I was about to have my ass kicked and got fed up with the whole thing (in the dream, the cycle of ass-kickery/bullying had gone on for some time, I remember that much) and ripped off my own right arm (fortunatly I'm a lefty) and beat the living hell out of the guy who intended me harm. I then died from blood loss.
Woke up later, thanked my right arm for finally being useful and went about my day.
In another, a group of dream-friends (never met them, no idea who they are but in the dream I knew they were friends) were having a wagon-race (you know, those little Red Wagon-type things) up to the local 7-11 when some dork cut us off. Much yelling and rude gesturing occurs, dork gets out of his car and produces a Beretta 92 9mm pistol and, in dreamland, prior to this, I'd apparently had a pretty trying day and wasn't in the mood to screw around, so 'I' told him to either shoot me and get it over with or get the hell out of my way. So he did. 1 round, middle of my forehead. Then I kicked him in the nads, took his gun, placed several rounds at the base of his skull and continued on my way, probing my own bullethole with my index finger, saw my reflection in the glass doors of the 7-11 (in fact, I can still mentally see it, dimly... oddly, I only dreamt it once and that was 20 years ago) saw the bullet hole and trickle of blood, pulled the door open and woke up.
I've had dreams where I've ripped out my best friends throat with my teeth; where I've pulled out my still-beating heart and given it to someone; raped faeries (the sidhe, not gay men), etc...stuff that made 'Hostel' and 'Saw' look like Disneyland by way of comparison.
Anyone else or is this just another one of those weird 'only you, diseased' things?

This applies to me. It's probably because I'm bi-polar.

I've tried to watch TV, in my dream.

I'm narcoleptic. So that means I sort of have an edge when it comes to the whole sleep and dream thing- I sleep a lot more than the normal person and I also have a lot more REM sleep during my sleep than a normal person. I have tons of dreams- including nightmares and other wierd ones. Always have. I also have a lack of REM paralysis so I sometimes need to act out part of my dreams.

I have noticed that certain things help me out with avoiding nightmares. I use a nightlight- it helps. And I stub my toes less. Not twilight zone for me after it is dark out (I love the twilight zone). No stephen king movies. Ever. No depressing novels before bed. I have to be a good girl and try not to think too much about topics that could become nightmarish before bed or sleep times. Since I have recurring nightmare that revolves around an 8am swimming class ( I am an extremely poor swimmer. And I am also quite bad at getting up at 8am... Put the two together and add in some memories from swimming units from PE growing up and a lot of cold water and it can be very scary. Especially since I am always failing the class and it prevents me from getting a degree in the dream. But as I refuse to go to class, or if I do go, to swim (its wet and I don't want to) they keep insisting they have to fail me and then I start to argue about my accomodations for my fibro and stuff... Anyway this means I also need to avoid things relating to swimming pools near sleep time.

There are "normal" nightmares. People always seem to want to kill us in our dreams (sometimes they want to eat me too). But I'm pretty sure this won't happen in real life. And if it did I am also sure I wouldn't run nearly as long or as fast as I do in my dreams. Plus in my dreams I can do these cool kickboxing moves I so cannot do at all in real life.

Then there are the bits of dreams when I am awake- that is an REM thing with me. Anyway, focusing on good and happy and soothing things before sleep times tends to be a good idea.

I have what most people call "movie dreams". They are very vivid, detailed and hav very intense storylines, often repeating or picking up where the last one left off (sometimes in reverse order). I dream in color and I am also a character in my dreams, but I'm often male in my dreams/nightmares.

alot of interesting posts here:)
my dreams i can remember in detail alot of the time, and i dream about 80% of the week at least, and some of them carry on from others.
alot of them are of normal things, of me doing normal things but weirdly, ie, me being with a friends girlfriend, me causing trouble/not being my usual self, or me being a superstar (sport/anything) ive also had alot of emotional dreams where people die.
and heres something id like to know if anyone else experiences:
If i ever get involved in a fight in my dreams, when i go to punch someone, my arm feels like a house, and it moves SO SLOW, and it wont hit them, I cannot understand this, and i dream about the same scene about 100 times, AND everytime i CANNOT punch them, my arm moves stupidly slow and feels so heavy, it is very frustrating. also similar experiences with things like scoring a goal in soccer, i CANNOT do it lol, it will always miss, even if i try walk the ball in the net, it will rebound of the line. I try to force myself to punch them faster, or score the goal, but it is impossible. anyone?

My dreams seem to be a lot like you two's. When I remember them (which is rare), I have amazingly realistic dreams. I can actually induce dreams some times. When I'm lying in bed waiting to go to sleep, I let my imagination run wild over whatever subject or story line I feel like dreaming about and as I get closer and closer to sleep the thoughts turn into a dreamlike reality even though I am still more or less conscious that I am in bed dreaming. However, sometimes when I am half asleep, I get this falling sensation like I was floating a foot above my bed and I drop onto it just as I wake up. It is a very realistic feeling.

I dream about large and elaborate buildings I have never specifically seen before (they are usually loosely based on buildings I know). I wander through them and they are completely vivid down to the last little brick or spot of paint on the wall. I can remember still images from many of them in great detail.

However, my most vivid dreams happen when I am napping, not at night. Probably because I can remember them.

i often have bad dreams. very vivid. i write them out and draw what i can in a book i have... for several years now.

i often have dreams of someone attacking me and while not slefmutilation.. i have this dream of having a random abdominal surgery... i think cause i have daily pains from endo or something (yay... im starting to think doctors cant DX anything)... both are scary.

but i like the whole dreamlife thing. sometimes i feel like i am sitting and watching multpile tv screens with diferent shows in front of me and i have to pick which screen to pay attention to.

i think dreams are very close to what the "afterlife" is... that is why i practice on trying to have lucid dreams where i realize that i am dreaming and can manipulate the dream and do stuff. i practice actually making myself go to sleep and just learning how to relax and get to that point... but i get pretty good when i have time to do my "dreaming" routine daily. it's amazing what you can do.

i do dream in color... i fly... breathe underwater. read. do math.... all sorts of things and i remember HOW to do it too and i can speak in other languages! i can hear well as it is... but i can never speak so well... writing ok.. but in my dreams, it at least seems like i speak fluently lovely

I find that I have vivid Nightmares, as well. It's probably due to all the Artwork that I work on.