Posted by Lynne on July 04, 2000 at 07:00:01:

In Reply to: nightmare disorder posted by david on July 03, 2000 at 14:07:34:

If you have had these nightmares since childhood, have you considered the possibility that the source of these nightmares might ORIGINATE from experiences in your childhood? If your childhood was not the greatest, you might try exploring some of your worst childhood memories, especially whatever memories you might have avoided talking about. But even if you thought you had had a happy childhood, it's possible that you may have forgotten or buried one or more frightening and/or violent incidences. Such memories can "chase" or "attack" a person for the rest of their lives in the form of nightmares of being chased or attacked.
Even though I couldn't remember much of my own childhood, I grew up thinking I had had "a happy childhood" because that was what my mother had always told me. Nightmares I had had since childhood of being chased by dark, shadowy figures were one of the few indications that not all was as it appeared. Then I developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at around 30 years of age, and the nightmares came much more frequently than ever, among numerous other problems that surfaced then. With therapy and a lot of work on myself, I learned a lot more about the sources of my nightmares and eventually the nature of the nightmares changed until they became merely dreams with recurring themes, but were no longer so terrifying. As for books, there are countless books that can be found in any bookstore on dream interpretation, psychology, "self help" for recovering buried or forgotten memories, etc., etc. And I'm sure there are numerous professionals in your area who could help you, if you feel inclined towards psychotherapy. My experience with therapists is that the best therapists are the ones who've done the work on THEMSELVES, and not necessarily the official "credentials" that they may have. There are also plenty of self-help groups available almost everywhere, depending on what focus or direction you want to take. I found the 12-Step programs to be enormously helpful, and there's a program in almost every major US city for dealing with almost every imaginable problem. You might want to start with ACA, Adult Children of Alcoholics. This program is open to anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional family; your parents do not need to have been alcoholic for you to join and benefit from their program. Anyone is welcome to attend if they grew up neglected, abandoned, and/or emotionally, physically or sexually abused, or otherwise mistreated. Any local AA group should be able to put you in touch with one or more ACA groups.

Best of luck to you! And if you feel so inclined, please feel free to write to me.

Lynne

Follow Ups:

• Re: nightmare disorder david s. 7/04/00 (0)

---

Copyright ©1995-2004 Sleepnet.com, All rights reserved.