Maybe, a physical “talisman” or ritual of sorts would help. It seems that throughout human history at a more primitive level we have girded ourself against psychic trauma and turbulence with spiritually imbued physical symbols. Maybe a physical completion of this troubling archetype in the form of an actual ritual (an excorcism through your own personal beliefs. I am not endorsing a particular religion.) or an icon may work for you; an invocation and a revocation, a symbolic ward, a symbolic act of the physical and thereby psychic destruction of the memory. Sometimes ghosts want to become corporal.
umm…I meant “corporeal”…not that they want to rise throught the ranks and be promoted! :rolleyes:
Crimson Teardrop, I’m glad you’re finding this discussion helpful. My reaction to trauma has been very different, and I feel lucky to have escaped nighmares. I have other trauma-related issues, including issues that interfere with my relationship with my husband, so I’m very sympathetic.
I hope you don’t mind a small hijack. Second Guest, I’m sorry about your past experiences with psychiatrists. My own were so-so until I found a woman who specializes in dealing with the particular issues I’m dealing with. When I say that there are medications that can help with trauma-related nightmares, I am specifically not talking about narcotics. There are at least two that I know of that are used in people with PTSD who also have nightmares. I know about them because of my personal experiences and because of the research groups I have worked with, but I won’t name them because that would come too close to the giving medical advice line. They are also not sleeping pills. Presciption and discussion about appropriate use should come from a psychiatrist who specializes in trauma, preferably the type of trauma that induced the problems in the first place.
Finally, when I say that Crimson Teardrop doesn’t have to go through this, I’m talking about the nightmares, which can be treatable. I don’t mean that she can swallow a pill and make the whole thing go away. As a woman with a history of sexual trama, I guess that was so obvious to me that it didn’t need saying. Of course she’ll have to work on the issues that are causing the nighmares. How she does that is up to her. But doing it in a context where the nightmares aren’t draining both her strength and her relationship may make working on all of it a bit easier.
Sorry for the hijack.
might I add…
Then you can kill the F**ckers and put them to rest.
“If you meet your master on the road…kill him.”
-Buddhist Saying
thankyou…and yes…I agree with you and am working on it. 
Check out the link I sent you, do a search on Lucid Dreaming. Once you realize that dreams can be controlled, it’s a pretty straightforward process to learning the skill. Realizing that you’re dreaming is the key to the whole thing, and there are a number of techniques that will trigger that realization.
And believe it or not, recurring dreams are the easiest way to get to that point.
Best of luck.
I’m not a shrink, nor do I claim to be an expert on dreams or much of anything else, but I can tell you this. I have had recurring nightmares, as well as a few free agents for many years. 9 of 10 dreams are nightmares for me. I’m often very afraid to go to sleep, which helps explain why I’m an insomniac. There are many times where, in my dreams, the nightmare begins and I have actually said, in my dreams, one of two things. It’s either “Oh no, not this one again” or “Well, at least it’s not that other one”. I’ve tried the “control your dreams” thing. Maybe it works for some, but not for me. What I do is basically accept the dream. You can change the outcome, sometimes, but it doesn’t make the journey any less scary.
What I’ve done is make “friends” with them. Dream happens, you wake up scared, you go back to sleep knowing that it was a bad dream. Sometimes you sleep, sometimes the dream happens again. Fear is fear. You live with it, or you don’t.
I’m not a shrink type. I probably should go see one, but I never will. Should you? I dunno. Based on your OP I am pretty sure of what happened and what your dreams are. Only you can come to terms with that. If you think that you need an outside influence to help you, then take it. After your nightmare, can you function the next day, or is it something you dwell on during your waking hours? My nightmares don’t make sense during waking hours. They do, but they don’t. You can talk about the dreams as much as you want, but until you come to terms with them yourself, and sometimes, even when you do, they will continue.
I don’t believe it’s possible to stop bad dreams. But it is possible to deal with them when they happen. Your awake hours is what matters. Make the most of them and don’t dwell on what happened when you were sleeping. If you can’t distinguish, talk to some people.
I concur with the view that your nightmares are brought on by your emotional turmoils, so your best bet is learn how to overcome the trauma left by that unfortunate incident, as you put it.
I’d like to second the mention that you may have PTSD.
I am not a pysychologist or therapist at all but I do have Post-traumatic-stress-disorder myself and it sounds like what you are experiencing is a classic symptom.
I would suggest reading up on it and consider getting some professional therapy. Also, you might want to look into Cognitive behavior therapy (I think that’s what it’s called, not too sure). The book, Feeling Good by Dr. David Burns has helped me alot. You can usually find it in a used book store on the cheap.
If you need someone to talk to about it, there are a bunch of great people at Cecil’s Place . They have helped me alot (more than they know, ach).
Good luck, let us know how it goes!
I agree with that. I find that music helps me sometimes…I have found that by letting out my emotions or worries in other ways…perhaps through music if it concerns anger…or…just by talking to someone…it helpes free my emotions and therefore prevents them revealing themselves in nightmares. I still get them however. I just have to get over the event I think…
yet again, thanks again for all the advice.