# Sleep and Dreams > General Dream Discussion > Nightmares and Recurring Dreams >  >  I've been having nightmares since childhood..help!

## LadyAkita

I know this is only like my 3rd post but I was wanting to get other people's views on this. I can't really talk to anyone I know because I don't want them thinking I'm crazy or freak them out.

Since I was maybe 10? or somewhere around there I've had a reoccurring dream of being shot in the side of the head. I don't know why. As soon as the sound of the gun goes off, I wake up. I'm 24 now and as I've gotten older I have the dream less frequently now but it still baffles me as to why I would dream something like that from such an early age. I would also have a dream about being kidnapped and then later killed. I still have dreams about being kidnapped to this day. Alot of times it envolves killers placing me in the truck of a car and taking me to a place, tying me up and them killing me. 

I had a dream the night before last about a man and woman coming into my house and taking my boyfriend and myself hostage. The contents of that dream scared me so bad that when I woke up from it I was crying uncontrollably. I haven't been able to sleep hardly any since then. Hopefully this post makes sense and someone can help me figure out why this is happening and what I can do about it. I'm at a loss. As far as I know, I haven't had anything traumatic happpen to me that would cause me to have these disturbing dreams.

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## JoannaB

One thing with reoccurring dreams I think is that once they start reoccurring (out of whatever reason) they are more likely to keep reoccurring. Your mind gets into a habit of producing this dream. You fear it, and start to expect that it will reoccur, because it has reoccurred in the past. The original cause of the dream may or may not apply to your current life, but by then this nightmare is self-propagating whether the cause persists or not. Your mind has learned to associate dreams with the place where you get shot or otherwise killed and kidnapped, and so this may be what it now expects from dreams.

If this is what is happening to you, then one of the best cures would be to learn lucid dreaming: learn to identify these nightmares as only dreams as they are happening, learn to control and change them to break this pattern. You have a great advantage in that these nightmares are so very different from your waking life, therefore once you learn how to recognize the differences, you may be able to recognize these nightmares consistently within the dreams.

Of course it is also possible that there is some deep insight for why these dreams are happening to you, and that you could resolve them through interpretation: make them stop once you understand why - which I think was the expectation behind your questions. And it is still possible that this is the case. What I am suggesting here is there may be no deep and profound cause, and even if there is, finding it may not suffice to make your nightmares stop. And whether or not there is a cause, either way, lucid dreaming would be one possible way to make it stop.

EDIT: Even if there is a deep and profound cause for why this is happening to you, lucid dreaming can also be a valuable tool in dream interpretation. For example, one you realize that it is a dream, you could ask your kidnappers why they are doing this to you, and you may get an answer which may help you with dream interpretation.

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## Chimpertainment

Welcome to dreamviews LadyAkita,

First of all, I'd like to mention that even the worst nightmares don't have to come from deep trauma. Dreams in general serve many purposes, including processing the day's memories, resolving inner emotional conflicts, and other utilities associated with the mind. 
It is interesting to note that even people who don't remember their dreams still benefit from this dreaming function. My personal opinion is that what we sense in dreams are just filled in stimuli based on whatever emotional/energetic environment is being experienced at that time. That is to say, that which creates a dream still exists without experiencing all the imagery, sounds, and feelings; so the basic building blocks of the dream are very subtle and complex.

As to your nightmares, recurring nightmares that I have experienced seem to be related to certain states of mind. In my case, I have recurring dreams about sailing in a ferryboat across a body of water. I only recently made it all the way; the other dreams always ended with the ferry running aground or sinking. I am sure this relates to something in my mind otherwise it would not be in the dream. The question is what. The imagery, and other sensory experiences we have in dreams are chosen by our subconscious to represent that subtle, complex environment being played out at night. 

JoannaB is right that you don't need to know the origin of the dreams to deal with them. The most important factor I've found is how the dream makes you feel. The emotion immediately following the dream, and the impression it leaves throughout the day. Think of the feelings as music. The negative feelings are dissonant music. Positive feelings are harmonic music.
My advice would be to use positive feelings to counteract these negative feelings. If you feel trapped, find a way to feel free. If you feel like someone is going to kidnap you, find a way to feel protected, and so on. Feel those feelings before you go to sleep, and that will bleed over into your dream time. Eventually, it should neutralize the traumatic emotions of the nightmares.
Good news is the feelings won't be as harsh. Bad news is, as long as you have this issue in your mind, the nightmare will continue presenting itself. The nightmare is a natural utility of the mind and is there to help. It is identifying an imbalance within the psyche and its popping a flare. 
The way to find where its coming from is to identify the predominant emotional theme, then track those feelings down in waking life. When do feel this way, where, how are the feelings being triggered, perhaps a who is involved in these feelings. 
Explore, discover, and definitely become lucid!  :smiley:  good luck!

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