How do you get over a bad dream/nightmare?

I try and substitute the not so nice images for nice nicer ones. If that doesn’t work, I wake up and read.

You have to gain control of your mind. You have to have confidence. You have to have more knowledge about yourself than something else does. When you know everything about something, you don’t fear it because you are in control.

I remember hearing something that said if in your dream you’re getting chased by a T-rex and you’re so scared it will eat you, just stop and let it eat you. If the T-rex eats you in your dream, then who cares because it’s just a dream (and the dream ends). You conquered the fear because you understood that an imaginary T-rex is nothing to be afraid of because it can’t actually do anything. By being scared of a T-rex eating me in my dream, I’m letting something else be in control of me. When I’m in control, I have enough knowledge to know that nothing can/will/could ever happen.

Deep stuff lol but it all boils down to this: if you know everything that can logically happen, you’ll never be surprised by anything (i consider fear a form of surprise in this case).

When it’s something really bad or disturbing I try to block out the images or give a better reason for them, even if it’s ridiculous. If I can’t do that I do something that wakes me up a little bit or lets me forget about it for long enough that it doesn’t matter anymore, like watching TV, reading or doing something on the computer, like solitaire.

I had a horrible and nightmare that my boyfriend passed away in a car accident (very very realistic) I woke up in tears and called him right away. Just talking to someone and sharing your horrible nightmare with them makes you feel better… Makes it seem silly sometimes. (althought that nightmare of mine was terrifying).

I hate to say it, and I am no way being weird or emo haha, but I haven’t had a “good dream/ normal dream” in about 5 years. I am sick of having bad dreams but every one seems to have a shitty twist at the end. I have just gotten over it but I am awaiting that day when I have a “good” one… the best way to escape is to get drunk and then you don’t dream at all, win!

I am bad at memory and that helps!

If I wake from a bad dream, I get up out of bed and write about it very briefly in my journal (often while peeing, because I like to multi-task! Sorry for TMI). Just the motion of getting up resets my thought process and writing it down allows me to peruse it the next day for clues as to what’s bothering me. I wish you sweet dreams cdwccrn.

I get up, go to the bathroom, have a drink of water, stretch a little bit (not too much or I’ll start waking up too much); maybe turn the light on my bedside table on and read a little bit, which always puts me back to sleep.