Sleep and Dreams Megathread v2 - General

Fears, shocks, a few are recurring dreams, yes. And I've had the most beautiful, perfect days and they still happen. All are in color, some are incredibly realistic, and I've woken up crying and screaming. Most of it has to do with general horror and anxiety.

Both. Yet some of them deal neither with my fears or anxieties. One of my most horrifying ones was when I walked into a completely dark room, and then I saw a candle light. And then in the light I saw a little boy, white as a ghost, barely any blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes. He looked at me like he was going to kill me. I've also had dreams about anxieties like you're talking about, but I've had them when the issue is resolved, and also, the information is so twisted I don't take it as hints.

God, that's the worst part. Fear. Irrational fear. When it was little, it was fire. And now it's me fearing that someone's watching, someone's going to break in, something paranormal... essentially, I've got the monster under the bed. I try to avoid it by staying up very late, but here I am still, staying up because I can't go to sleep because I'm terrified. When I get scared my heart beats so fast, I start sweating... sometimes I sleep in the same bed as my mom (I'm fifteen and female) just because it's the only way I can do it.

Yeah, I've... tried all those things. I do sleep with a light on. ;_; And my parents tried to go about getting me to see a psychiatrist, but I never followed through because I've been so busy. And honestly, I'm in early college, I'm smart, I'm mentally stable- I'm happy all of the time. I don't have self-esteem issues. I've witnessed/dealth with trauma but so have everyone else. You think I really need to?

Heh, I've convinced a ton of me friends irl that lucid dreaming is pretty sweet. I know a ton of them want to try it, but are about as scared as me when it comes to SP. I'm hoping to try lucid dreaming maybe this summer, since I'm not really stressed then, like I am now.

I never get any decent dreams unless i'm sick with cold/flu/fever decent in the fact i remember them, i suppose this is the upside to when i get sleepy tonight

[QUOTE=Pedro the Fuzzy;25910056]Heh, I've convinced a ton of me friends irl that lucid dreaming is pretty sweet. I know a ton of them want to try it, but are about as scared as me when it comes to SP. I'm hoping to try lucid dreaming maybe this summer, since I'm not really stressed then, like I am now.[/QUOTE] Don't be afraid of SP. You probably won't even run into unless you try a WILD based technique, and even then it's not something to be afraid of.

I can never remember my dreams anymore. I haven't remembered a single dream for a few weeks now. :'(

[QUOTE=ConvolutedLogic;25909965]Yeah, I've... tried all those things. I do sleep with a light on. ;_; And my parents tried to go about getting me to see a psychiatrist, but I never followed through because I've been so busy. And honestly, I'm in early college, I'm smart, I'm mentally stable- I'm happy all of the time. I don't have self-esteem issues. I've witnessed/dealth with trauma but so have everyone else. You think I really need to?[/QUOTE] You're not mentally stable, and you're not happy all the time. Being happy all the time denotes not being stressed out or having your brain mindfuck you several times over seven nights a week. Something is really, really wrong with you. I don't mean that in a bad way, just a matter of fact kind of way. you really do need to see a psychiatrist. Make time if you don't have enough. If you're in college, go to the school sponsored psychological help. They're fantastic. Hell, I've been using my school's psychological services for a year and a half now. They know me by name. I just go and discuss things that have been happening in my life and interesting dreams and it helps me get to the bottom of issues I couldn't otherwise resolve. I highly suggest it, I'm considering working there myself next year. You owe it to yourself to fix this, because it's costing you more than just sleep time. You're probably afraid of going to sleep at this point.

So a few weeks ago, I had a dream about a girl I quite liked at the time, and the dream was just kind of confirming to me that she liked me - I was feeling pretty happy, when she just disappeared. The whole dream kind of collapsed then. I knew it was a dream. I started doing reality checks, I couldn't breathe through shut nostrils, my teeth were perfectly solid, I was literally yelling that it was a dream. All of a sudden, an elevator door, which had just appeared, opened, and a man in suit pants, shirt and waistcoat, looking a bit like an older version of me, burst out, raising his hands, trying to calm me. When he managed to get a word in, and I stopped yelling that this was a dream, he told me that I'd wanted to talk with him for a while now. I realized something - that man is my subconscious. It was a feeling, knowing it, the fact that I HAD wanted to talk to my subconscious since I started with the whole dreaming thing, that I knew it was true. After that, I just felt like I really... 'had to go'. Hard to describe it another way. I simply woke up. In another dream, but I managed to wake up from that pretty quickly and remember the whole thing. Is this kind of thing normal in the slightest? I thought that the whole thing couldn't really happen unless you summoned your subconscious, or you had a whole relationship with it, like in Jake's case. Also the part where I knew it was a dream, yet couldn't 'prove' it, or control it at all.

[QUOTE=Zinayzen;25910899]You're not mentally stable, and you're not happy all the time. Being happy all the time denotes not being stressed out or having your brain mindfuck you several times over seven nights a week. Something is really, really wrong with you. I don't mean that in a bad way, just a matter of fact kind of way. you really do need to see a psychiatrist. Make time if you don't have enough. If you're in college, go to the school sponsored psychological help. They're fantastic. Hell, I've been using my school's psychological services for a year and a half now. They know me by name. I just go and discuss things that have been happening in my life and interesting dreams and it helps me get to the bottom of issues I couldn't otherwise resolve. I highly suggest it, I'm considering working there myself next year. You owe it to yourself to fix this, because it's costing you more than just sleep time. You're probably afraid of going to sleep at this point.[/QUOTE] Crap. Yeah, I am afraid to sleep, which is why I'm still up on Facepunch. I dunno if my school will have something like that because it's a community college. I have a dance show I'm in and then I have to get my wisdom teeth removed, so I'll probably be able to do it at the start of next year. I hope that's not waiting too long. Also, the problem with seeing a psychiatrist, is that out of respect for others, I wouldn't really be able to talk about all of the events of my past. Would a psychiatrist want a full out history? Because I've seen things that, if I really talk about them, they would make other people look bad.

[QUOTE=ConvolutedLogic;25911372]Crap. Yeah, I am afraid to sleep, which is why I'm still up on Facepunch. I dunno if my school will have something like that because it's a community college. I have a dance show I'm in and then I have to get my wisdom teeth removed, so I'll probably be able to do it at the start of next year. I hope that's not waiting too long. Also, the problem with seeing a psychiatrist, is that out of respect for others, I wouldn't really be able to talk about all of the events of my past. Would a psychiatrist want a full out history? Because I've seen things that, if I really talk about them, they would make other people look bad.[/QUOTE] I know what you mean when you talk about being afraid to sleep. I've been there. Honestly, you just need to do it as soon as you can. It'll be better for you overall. They'll want a history in this case, but they have an oath of confidentiality. Doesn't matter if it makes other people look bad, they won't say anything about it. And BELIEVE me, no matter what you say, they've heard far, FAR worse. [editline]7th November 2010[/editline] [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlmj8jUn3V0[/url] This is my new LD goal. I worry myself.

[QUOTE=ConvolutedLogic;25909965]Yeah, I've... tried all those things. I do sleep with a light on. ;_; And my parents tried to go about getting me to see a psychiatrist, but I never followed through because I've been so busy. And honestly, I'm in early college, I'm smart, I'm mentally stable- I'm happy all of the time. I don't have self-esteem issues. I've witnessed/dealth with trauma but so have everyone else. You think I really need to?[/QUOTE] I used to (and still do to an extent) worry about the same things as you do when I go to sleep, and slept with a light on until about two or three years ago (I'm seventeen now). I have a ridiculously high functioning imagination, and used to hallucinate sometimes before I slept (things like whistling, when I was little I thought I could feel a man's arm in my bed which was pretty scary shit when it moved and I woke up for real). Things like intruders and the paranormal play on my mind a lot, but there's lots of things that I do to make sure this stuff doesn't affect me in my dreams. I have a sleep routine through the evening. I sit with my family and enjoy some tv for a while, then sit on the computer and chat to friends, check out facepunch, then sit with a small snack, warm drink, low lights and watch some good tv until I feel tired. Then I go upstairs, shower and then read a book. This should distract your mind a little, by providing you with a host of different things to think about, whilst relaxing you and preparing you for sleep. However, I think maybe talking things through to find the root of your problem is the only permanent solution. Obviously, if dreams are that scary, the more likely you are to dwell on them, and thus the more likely you are to dream about them (one big vicious circle). For lack of a psychiatrist, perhaps writing down your dreams, and isolating what scares you in them and thinking about their links to life/fears could help you understand them. I know some people use nightmares as easily reality checks in dreams. If you're interested in lucid dreaming, perhaps becoming lucid in one of these nightmares might also help you understand and conquer them.

hnng I've been trying to LD for 4 months now but to no avail. Needs that damn REM dreamer,

I once had a dream, where I was standing on the side of a road, in the city. I had a hunting knife in my hand. And then I stabbed myself in the chest. Everything got foggy and I started falling to the ground very slowly. When I hit the ground I was instantly alive again, standing at the side of a road, with the knife, and stabbed myself in the chest again. When this repeated for the fourth time I woke up and looked at the hunting knife, that I have hanging on my wall above my bed. I took it off the wall and put it away just in case.

Saw lucid last night. I was at school, wrote answer to "how many zeros are in ten million million millions", the answer was "153,000,000" (not in real life) but when I wrote it, looked away and looked back, the number had changed. And it made me do a RC and it was a dream. Then I created a portal to Mars. I jumped in and arrived at the red planet. I saw darth vader and charged towards him on the red surface with my lightsaber out. Fighting him on mars has been my LD goal for a few weeks now. Then I woke up. I forgot to stabilize my dream with hand rubbing and sunglasses before starting to do anything, and it resulted in a premature waking-up :saddowns:

Haven't heard of FILD anyone care to explain?

I now Lucid Dream almost every night. Just working on improving the length now.

I LIIIIIIVE! [QUOTE=Fourm Shark;25914682][B]No, if i let one idiot do it, you will tell everyone and they will"[/B] I found this line very interesting. ZIN? [/QUOTE] ooo ooo pick me! Human beings are suggestible and copy other people by nature. It dosnt matter if you know this consciously or not, this is what happens. This is why, if you look in other LD forums, summoning a sub is a difficult and cryptic task. When people are introduced to LD'ing by this thread, they read jake's dreams. This subconsciously tells people that it is, in fact possible, and can go quite deep (lol pun :smug:). As a result, reading it sort of "primes" that person's sub and says "HEY! You can manifest as a human form and go on adventures with your conscious in dreams!" My point being, this thread is one big subconscious bandwagon. Your sub knows this, and knows that if you post something like that in here, it is going to affect other people. Your sub does not want to be responsible for steering the :bandwagon: Like K keeps telling me, "Your mind is what you make it. You don't have to follow the rules. Not that much is set in stone."

[quote="My Dream"]I was in my bedroom, my parentswere on my bed, watching TV with me. I went under my bed, and then realized, WTF is this? I did a reality check, then the dream started to destabilize, quickly. I rubbed my hands together since i was in a tight space, then did a RC check again to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I got up and went into the hall outside my bedroom, and then into my kitchen. I tried to spawn this girl from my school, but when I did this thought ran through my head "op says, (girl's name) is opsub", I think that means that my sub uses that girl as it's form? I was actually asleep on my couch, and one of my dogs made a noise with the blinds, which woke me up :([/quote]

[QUOTE=Jessbinx;25912356]I used to (and still do to an extent) worry about the same things as you do when I go to sleep, and slept with a light on until about two or three years ago (I'm seventeen now). I have a ridiculously high functioning imagination, and used to hallucinate sometimes before I slept (things like whistling, when I was little I thought I could feel a man's arm in my bed which was pretty scary shit when it moved and I woke up for real). Things like intruders and the paranormal play on my mind a lot, but there's lots of things that I do to make sure this stuff doesn't affect me in my dreams. I have a sleep routine through the evening. I sit with my family and enjoy some tv for a while, then sit on the computer and chat to friends, check out facepunch, then sit with a small snack, warm drink, low lights and watch some good tv until I feel tired. Then I go upstairs, shower and then read a book. This should distract your mind a little, by providing you with a host of different things to think about, whilst relaxing you and preparing you for sleep. However, I think maybe talking things through to find the root of your problem is the only permanent solution. Obviously, if dreams are that scary, the more likely you are to dwell on them, and thus the more likely you are to dream about them (one big vicious circle). For lack of a psychiatrist, perhaps writing down your dreams, and isolating what scares you in them and thinking about their links to life/fears could help you understand them. I know some people use nightmares as easily reality checks in dreams. If you're interested in lucid dreaming, perhaps becoming lucid in one of these nightmares might also help you understand and conquer them.[/QUOTE] Thanks to both you and Zinayzen. So Jessbinx, this stopped when you were around fourteen or fifteen? Do you think there was any reasoning behind that? Did you change your life drastically or did it just gradually decrease?

Had a dream last night about my ex. We started talking again and she was being a great person, like everything I thought was wrong with her wasn't wrong with her. I wanted to try and start something back up, but she stopped talking to me immediately and left me sitting in the cold. Damn. [QUOTE=Fourm Shark;25914682]FILD ROCKS During FILD, The SP part started out scary, but i kept calm and it died down. I Did it again just now. i summoned my sub. he kept appereing non human. i asked him why he doesnt talk. "throat hurts" I then ask him to go human. the dream felt real. he answeres a bunch of questions. I remember almost waking up, but then rubbing my hands and things clearing. i ask him about that dream last night. he says that he had a real fun time making it. The setting of the dream was on a giant stone pillar over a sandy island. I then ask why the girls face was so clear. he replies "she was a robot." I question him about one of my childhood nightmares. The one where im tickled for hours. "People blame others....mistake" thats all i remember. I ask him if he can make me lucid tomarrow night. [B]No, if i let one idiot do it, you will tell everyone and they will"[/B] I found this line very interesting. ZIN? also, I asked "Hey, is it possible for you to control how fast cells reproduce, or make my skin grow 2 times faster?" he shook his head. he then shows me a chart. i dont quite remember it. but here is my best shot I dont know what it means. it was a bunch of numbers and symbols. EDIT: Ill give it my best shot. i dont remember writing that. or thinking that. [editline]7th November 2010[/editline] sucks. I remembered for the first time in a long time. i only have full control during FILD attempts. [editline]7th November 2010[/editline] The only way is FILD or WILD. any other way i find myself still questioning myself.[/QUOTE] Our subs seem to be realizing that they're not exactly private anymore. This worries me slightly, what we're doing here is verging on communal dreaming, which is impossible. But at the same time, we're making revelations that haven't been made before. Also those numbers are telling you why he can't help you reproduce things or be superhuman. I can but don't want to interpret the chart for you. Long story short, there's a way the body is built to do things and he can't fix that or change it for you.

[QUOTE=Fourm Shark;25914682] I ask him if he can make me lucid tomarrow night. [B]No, if i let one idiot do it, you will tell everyone and they will"[/B] [/QUOTE] I loled irl. Did your sub just insult your intelligence? :D I just try to ask with the knowledge that my sub has its own stuff to deal with, so it might not want to set up an LD. Or, it might plan an LD but something might mess up the plans (dogs anyone?). Anyways, people probably should try to be sincere in their question, and not expect an good answer. [QUOTE=Zinayzen;25922058]Our subs seem to be realizing that they're not exactly private anymore. This worries me slightly, what we're doing here is verging on communal dreaming, which is impossible. But at the same time, we're making revelations that haven't been made before.[/QUOTE] I fail to see why this is something worth worrying about... though I might be alone in that thought [QUOTE=Zinayzen;25922058]Also those numbers are telling you why he can't help you reproduce things or be superhuman. I can but don't want to interpret the chart for you.[/QUOTE] I know why you wouldn't, but what I want to know is how you could. [i]HOW[/i], I SAY Also, on the subject of subconscious bandwagons, part of my LD last night had zombies. I was trying to fend them off with a bolt-action rifle, but I suck with guns, and don't particularly enjoy being bad-ass. I wondered what part of me planned this, then my sub showed up and said it was him. "Other people mentioned they had fun with zombie dreams, so I wanted to see what it would be like. But you don't seem to like it, so I'll get rid of them." I actually did a lot of hanging out with my sub last night.... but we didn't really talk about anything important. -~-

I think my subconcious tried to make me realize I was dreaming last night, in which case, I was pretty thick. It was towards the end of the dream. First, I randomly switched sexes. My reaction was I asked a nearby dream character how to change back, because they had changed as well and changed back again. I don't quite remember the conversation quite well, but I think once it was clear I still didn't know I was dreaming, he tackled me and tried to force me to read something. The letters were readable, but still gibberish. So I read it out loud, still not realising that I'm dreaming. Then, everything kind of froze. It gave me the feeling we were surrounded by enemies, and then my vision was completely filled by a sign (which was either unintelligible or I just don't remember what it said). At that point, I also lost feeling in my dream body. A few seconds later I woke up.

[QUOTE=teh_1337_r0XX0r;25924957]I loled irl. Did your sub just insult your intelligence? :D I just try to ask with the knowledge that my sub has its own stuff to deal with, so it might not want to set up an LD. Or, it might plan an LD but something might mess up the plans (dogs anyone?). Anyways, people probably should try to be sincere in their question, and not expect an good answer. I fail to see why this is something worth worrying about... though I might be alone in that thought I know why you wouldn't, but what I want to know is how you could. [i]HOW[/i], I SAY Also, on the subject of subconscious bandwagons, part of my LD last night had zombies. I was trying to fend them off with a bolt-action rifle, but I suck with guns, and don't particularly enjoy being bad-ass. I wondered what part of me planned this, then my sub showed up and said it was him. "Other people mentioned they had fun with zombie dreams, so I wanted to see what it would be like. But you don't seem to like it, so I'll get rid of them." I actually did a lot of hanging out with my sub last night.... but we didn't really talk about anything important. -~-[/QUOTE] It's not something to worry about, it's just really unusual. As for the chart...it's really not that hard. He's explaining cell cycles and brainwaves and other things that basically you couldn't change if you tried because it's how your body works.

[QUOTE=Zinayzen;25926065]It's not something to worry about, it's just really unusual.[/QUOTE] My point exactly. I think its fucking awesome. a little non-private, but fucking awesome nonetheless. And when you said "communal dreaming" I instantly thought of shared dreams via constant voice narration through skype.

God fucking shit I just remembered last night's hypnagogic images and sounds that I heard when going to sleep. As I was falling asleep I kept seeing horrible burned faces and whatnot flashing in front of my eyes, and then I started hearing steps. Steps from the stairs that lead to my bedroom, they came closer and closer until I heard them just 2 meters away and then I just intentionally snapped out of it because it was too fucking creepy.

[QUOTE=ConvolutedLogic;25919524]Thanks to both you and Zinayzen. So Jessbinx, this stopped when you were around fourteen or fifteen? Do you think there was any reasoning behind that? Did you change your life drastically or did it just gradually decrease?[/QUOTE] It was at about that time I became a lot more happy in my life. At about thirteen, I got quite depressed - I'm not a person with that many friends, which is something I now value, because the friends I have are close (I'm not a 'friend collector'), but at the time this very much affected me. I got very socially withdrawn and figured the only person I regularly had contact with was actually just using me as company when no one else was around. I got myself together and got my priorities in check and realised that I actually had a pretty nice life, thankyou very much, and I got rid of the clingers-on and made sure I kept in touch with the people that cared about me. That was step one in that. Feeling comfortable with yourself gives you a great sense of wellbeing that helps you be so much calmer and more relaxed, and positively influences things like school performance and sleep. Also, it was about this time I properly confronted sleeping with the light on. I went through my reasoning. I found comfort being with my family, so I thought about it as: my bed, apart from the walls, must only be about 10ft from my parents'. Remembering that people are close is good. I also considered the intruder side: I'm not scared of it when I'm sat downstairs. Why should being upstairs be different? How likely would it be? Also, it would probably be more obvious that the tiniest noises I was trying to interpret in suspect ways. I would have plenty of time to do something about it. Chances are that, even if it was an intruder, they'd want items, not you. As for the paranormal, I found most of that was rooted in being scarred by mom watching horror movies in front of me when I was little. I sat and reasoned them out, remembered all my friends talking about them, watched interviews with the actors and things, which made it feel more fake and comfortingly fabricated. I got comfortable in the dark when other people slept in my room for a while (I had an exchange student, and then a lodger and things, the latter taking my sisters' room, so she had to sleep in mine). I got used to being able to sleep in my room in the dark with company, and tried to hold on to that feeling and get used to it. Now I can only settle in the dark. I'm not saying that it went away completely. If I think for too long about scary things, it can unsettle me. But I now can sort of balance it out with logic, and find ways to find comfort that make sure that I don't dwell on it subconsciously. I just recommend that you start trying to erode away some of whatever it is that is contributing to your dreams. Talking or something, trying to break the cycle. I wish you luck with it, too :)

I get into funks sometimes where I start thinking about unsettling things and then I just can't stop and it sort of snowballs from there. When this used to happen, I just wouldn't fall asleep because it was easier to just not sleep than to face these fears, irrational as they may be. As time went on, though, it got easier. I thought about it and realized most of the things I was worried about were either irrational or something I could take into my own hands and deal with. So I did. It took a long time, but I'm better now. I still do it from time to time, but when I do I can make it less difficult to deal with by reasoning it out and thinking about it. If all else fails, occupy your mind. Start with 2 times 2, then double that, then double that, then double that. Repeat until either too big of a number or you fall asleep. Works for me. (Note: do not start counting things like breaths or footsteps. I'm OCD so when I start, I can't stop. Literally.)

I'm starting to notice my most common dream signs. 1. I'm at my old school. 2. I'm in a bus or plane. 3. I'm at my old house. One of those usually appears every second dream or so.