# Sleep and Dreams > General Dream Discussion > Nightmares and Recurring Dreams >  >  How can I stop my nightmares?!

## rainyatsu

Lately I've been having these reoccuring vivid nightmares that I cant wake up from until im killed. Most of the time I can tell im dreaming but I cant wake up. I try spinning, I try to scream or close my eyes and concentrate on something positive but no matter what I do I cant wake up frome these nightmares.

Every night they are the same. 
Im stuck in an old empty building(like an apartment or a ware house. its hard to tell. the layout is odd) and there is something with me. I dont know what it is but it hunts me down everytime. The building looks real, the dreams are veary realistic, but thats not the worst part. I can feel pain like in the real world. If I get cut or stabbed or bit I can feel sharp pain in the dream. Often I try to kill myself in hopes that will wake me up but one time when I tried to stab mysilf it hurt like hell and I didnt wake up, one time when I tried to jump off a staircase I broke my leggs and I couldnt move because of the pain(Isn't the sensation of falling supposed to work? Like that movie Inception?). I cant wake my self up from these nightmares and the only time I can wake up is when this thing in the building kills me. 
And when I wake up. Im sweating, my heart is pounding and whatever part of me I hurt in the dream feels sore.

Can anyone help me? I've been losing alot of sleep over this, and im afraid to go to sleep. Im worried that ill eventually die in my sleep or something crazy.

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## jgae110

maybe its not a dream O_O jk..
the only reason you would be feeling pain is because your assuming you're going to feel pain when it stabs you or when you stab yourself. when you're having a nightmare of something chasing you just stand there and shoot a kamehameha at it... (i watch too much anime) XD so anyway the main thing is if you believe you feel pain YOU will feel pain, just do the opposite kill it before it can kill you because somehow you cant wake up. i dont have that much with nightmares because im always lucid

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## Kilpikonna

What is the "thing" in the building and does it always kill you the same way? In what way does it kill you?

Falling in a dream for me does not wake me up, but instead helps me to become lucid.

As you are lucid, state out loud something like this: "I am dreaming. This is all a creation of my mind. This is completely made up. I did create this."
Then remember the rules are different in dreams. When you get hurt and you feel the pain, try to relax. Do not try to kill yourself. But you can face the thing that kills you and allow it to kill you. I would try to have it eat me, as in shamanic journeys and dreams to be eaten does often mean a transformation. You come out transformed.
So you could dare the "thing" to eat you. Even if it is not big enough, in a dream it can grow and devour you. I once tried this and had myself eaten by a little kitten - it did feel a bit creepy.

If you manage to stay dreaming even when you get killed, then those nightmares might stop, in any case they will loose their power.

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## yuppie11975

Pretty much what that guy said ^^^^^^^^^^^^
YOu can take advantage of this and tell yourself "When I will "say the dream" I will be dreaming"
When you're lucid, shout out "I am dreaming! NOthing can hurt me!" And then slay whatever it is. 
Studies show, that confroting your nightmares nearly always rids them.

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## Darkmatters

Or ask it what it wants with you. Running from a predator (or _attacking_ it), in a dream just like in life, tends to spur them on into a killing frenzy. But again, in a dream just as in reality, if someone is after you and you stop and ask them what they want it calms them down. Many many people have done this in lucid nightmares and they say it causes the creature/attacker to grow smaller and become friendlier... sometimes it has an important message for them from their subconscious that they've been ignoring, and that's why the nightmares have been happening. Communicating with the dream character rather than being in constant fight-or-flight response to it, causes it to react to you in a different (less aggressive) way. Sometimes they even turn into friend rather than foe.

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## Ermac

I just tell myself before i sleep that im not a pussy, ill kick anyone's ass in my dream, im boss and some other bad ass lines :p

And if i do get a nightmare soon enough my dream character says something like, "im not fucking scared of you" and fights the nightmare and dream changes scene and i never get that scary nightmare again

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## ancientfeelings

i know the feeling. i've had a few nightmares of wild animals like bears or lions trying to break into my house and kill and eat me and my family. what worked for me lately is getting a gun--a big one like a rifle or shotgun, no handguns--and shooting every bullet in it into the animals trying to kill me. it is scary but it gets easier each nightmare. i dont always kill the animals, but i always at least make them stay back in fear, if not in pain, and i live. 
next time i will stay armed, but i wont fire--at first. i will try and do an rc (reality check). if that doesnt work i will fire, then do another rc, over and over.

maybe if u have a hard time defending yourself in dreams, it means your warrior spirit is weak. stregnthen  your warrior spirit by exercising, eating fruits and veggies and lean meat, loving your family and friends, and imagine (or practice irl) fighting, even with weapons in your waking life

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## Darkmatters

> I just tell myself before i sleep that im not a pussy



LOL @ Ermac laying in bed mumbling "I am NOT a pussy" over and over...  ::lol:: 

ancientfeelings - those dreams are very common archetypal experiences. I had a bunch of them during my adolescence. They represent intrusions from the scary outer world breaking through into the former security of your safe family life, and I think it's got something to do with beginning to realize that the security itself was an illusion and that the scary things exist in the big bad world. Might not be the best idea to just kill them, though I suppose it might work. If it happens again, I think that would be a perfect situation to ask the creatures what they represent or why they're there. That should reveal some VERY interesting results!!

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## Ilumirath

Just show it who's the boss

Provoke it, curse at it, search for it as a rampaging lunatic. 

Once you found it or it found you, ask it questions. If it doesn't care to speak or what so ever, beat the shit out of it.

Basicly... don't run from it, face it

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## Marm

The most effective way of conquering a fear is to basically throw yourself right into it.

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## AD0123

The best way to is to explore it. Ask the dream for an answer as to why this is happening, ask a DC in the nightmare. If you don't want to do that then I guess you could just try to change the scenery. The best way for me is to find a ledge to jump off, then close your eyes and rub your hands together and ask for a new scene when you land. 

The feelings of pain and inability to escape all have to do with your beliefs in the dream. If you believe something will hurt then it will hurt, etc. Remember NOTHING is impossible in the dream state.

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## Mancon

_Moved to Nightmares and Recurring Dreams_

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