acs - I've always had a lot of nightmares too, though they are more rare now. For me, and DD, we remind ourselves in the dream that it is a dream. Then, we're free to modify what happens. I'm not sure what it is that allows one to step outside the dream enough to recognize that it is a dream, I started doing that spontaneously and somehow DD was able to do it after I described it to her. Sort of like a watch set in my head and sometimes it gets triggered. Sometimes I have wished it did NOT interrupt, as I wanted to see where the dream was going and was unable to settle back in. This is a lame explanation, I fear.
An example is a dream of driving fast and out of control down a crazy winding road with cliffs on the side, then clearly losing it and knowing that am going over the side. Interrupt triggered, scene grey out, voice-over reminder that this is only a dream, return to dream of car plunging through the air. Then the car bounces on its tires over and over. Seems silly instead of scary, dream continues to somewhere else.
This is called "lucid dreaming" and I have been able to do it almost as far back as I can remember. Here is how Wikipedia describes this experience:
"A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that he or she is dreaming while the dream is in progress. During lucid dreams, it is possible to exert conscious control over the dream characters and environment, as well as to perform otherwise physically impossible feats. Lucid dreams are known to be extremely real and vivid for those who have experienced them."
And here is what they say about them as a treatment for nightmares:
"People who suffer from nightmares would benefit from the ability to be aware they are dreaming. A pilot study was performed in 2006 that showed lucid dreaming treatment was successful in reducing nightmare frequency. This treatment consisted of exposure to the idea, mastery of the technique, and lucidity exercises. It was not clear what aspects of the treatment were responsible for the success of overcoming nightmares, though the treatment as a whole was successful."
Unfortunately, it used to control my nightmares, but does not anymore. The bad dreams are much less frequent, but, although I am aware they are dreams, I do not have the control I used to have. Sometimes I decide to wake up because I do not like how the dream is going or it is not responding as I want it to. Then I get up and walk into the kitchen to get a snack, open a drawer and it is filled with snakes. Oh, shoot, I'm still asleep. So I decide to wake up again. I wake, go find my husband who is working late in the living room. We chat for a bit and then he turns into a vampire. Oops, still asleep! So I wake up again, walk down the hall to the bathroom and the floor drops out. sometimes this will happen 8 or more times. It is terrifying.
But looking up some things for this post has actually been really helpful. I just found out about "sleep paralysis", which is clearly one of the problems I am having as I try to get out of these endless dreams. when I do almost wake up, I realize I am unable to move and feel like I'm choking to death. I didn't know this was common, but I found a lot of info on it. Here is an interesting link (it's not the most scientific, perhaps, but it is the most artistic.)
http://www.castleofspirits.com/sleepparalysis.html
