r/books discussion

I find dreams fascinating and go through phases every now and again where I read extensively about them. Does anyone else find the subconscious mind as exciting as I do? Any great book recommendations on the subject?

Do you: Keep a dream journal? Have recurring dreams/nightmares? Have recurring themes in your dreams? Notice dream patterns? Lucid dream? Dream in B&W or color? Smell in your dreams? See faces?

I've never really read all that much about dreams though I'd be interested in any recommendations.

I myself have suffered from terrible recurring nightmares since I was 8, it really affects my sleep so maybe I should read up on them.

I'm sorry to hear that you've been dealing with nightmares, but I agree that knowing what you're up against might help. Also, maybe try a few things from this article in the mean time? I've only ever had two real nightmares and they both occurred during a stressful time in my life which is a common thing. Nightmares may be the way that your body/mind is dealing with stress too. Best of luck, I hope that you can get them under control :).

Seeing that I had a dream about my SO giving me macaroons (the colorful ones) last night, it has left me confused. I never even tried them -_- Weird. Although I had a nightmare last week that a mouse burrowed into my ear, I woke up from that scared >_> My dreams make no sense!

Ashley wrote: "I'm sorry to hear that you've been dealing with nightmares, but I agree that knowing what you're up against might help. Also, maybe try a few things from this article in the mean time? I've only e..."

Thanks for the article, i'll try some of the things suggested but i'm not really that hopeful its been 11 years. i know why i have the nightmares i just don't know how to make them stop.

I hardly ever dream at all. What makes it even weirder is I took melatonin to help sleep which has vivid dreams as a side effect (even possible night terrors :/ ) and yet never had a single dream while on it at all - even less than usual!

It's strange that it seems to vary so much between people - although I suppose during REM we all have the same neural activity and some people simply recall it better when conscious?

@Alex, from what I've read EVERYONE dreams as long as they get into REM but, like you said, it's the recalling that differs from person to person.

I know that when I've been obsessing about something a lot I'll start dreaming about it in some way or another. My dreams are usually like Annie's, super weird and abstract, make little to no sense, but if I've been doing something a lot it will usually surface in my dreams.

I've also been keeping a dream journal since I was 13. There's some weird business in there hahaha! Since I like to write my dreams down I get very frustrated when I know I had a long, interesting dream but I can't bring it with me when I wake up to write it down. Just happened the other day. Grr.

@Andrew, if you know what is causing your nightmares a therapist and/or sleep specialist might help you out. Not just someone that wants to listen to you for 30 mins and then take your money, but someone who actually cares to help you, they exist. It may seem like a long shot but if you have the money for a session or two it -could- help.

I have honestly the most effed up dreams of anyone I know. I will have someone tell me about "the weirdest dream" that they had, and all I can think is "if you think that is weird, take a step into my subconscious..."
I have a lot of dreams about zombies-- usually I have a large knife or some other weapon and I am kicking ass, but after a certain Walking Dead episode, I had a dream I was stuck on a bus with no weapons and zombies coming at me. That was not OK!
I also have what I call night terrors but that I know aren't really night terrors. I sometimes wake up and see something along the lines of a tarantula or maggots or hundreds of tiny spiders or some other terrifying insect in my room. I am awake and tell myself that it isn't real, but the image doesn't go away. That's usually when I freak out, wake my husband up, pull the covers off the bed and run for safety, or something like that. Then my mind fully realizes I am imagining it. Has anyone else had anything like this or have any tips on how to NOT scare the crap out of my husband once a month?

And while we are on the topic, last night I had a long dream that involved my husband trying to kill me. I was crying in my dream and kept waking up crying in real life. This morning I was exhausted :( Any tips on how to keep my dream from bothering my real life would be appreciated!

@Jennifer, You may be suffering from sleep paralysis. Here's a link about it. And like we were discussing above, bad dreams are often a bodies way of dealing with stress. Maybe try some stress relief exercises before bed :) Here's the link for dealing with nightmares, hope it helps!

The difference between night terrors and nighmares is that during night terrors you often scream or thrash about and will scare the shit out of anyone living with you but upon waking you don't recall any of it. (I had one apparently when I was very young, my mum told me.) Nightmares, however, are very vivid and upon waking you will be terrified, possibly sweating/crying/you can feel the pain/emotions/etc fading away as you wake up and you will remember the nightmare, likely in great detail.

I have zombie dreams fairly frequently too! So odd, maybe it's because zombie movies are the only "scary" thing I watch (I refuse to watch horror movies). I've only had two nightmares, one ended with a zombie person bringing a weapon down on me in a death-blow and the other ended with me bleeding out after getting shot. Fun stuff! Strangely enough, these nightmares were months apart and the person/zombie person killing me in both dreams I'm fairly certain was the same person, and not anyone I recognize from real life.

Also, I did some poking around and found this, sounds interesting!

I used to have recurring dreams but as a grew older they decided to cease and now I barely recall anything. Which is probably for the better, in my opinion.

I do have the occasional zombie dream and I think they're pretty darn awesome. Like watching a movie in my head.

In The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Carl Sagan explains UFO abduction stories using Sleep Paralysis, it's really interesting.

Ashley wrote: "@Jennifer, You may be suffering from sleep paralysis. Here's a link about it. And like we were discussing above, bad dreams are often a bodies way of dealing with stress. Maybe try some stress rel..."

Thanks! I don't think it's paralysis, because I can move, it's just like having a waking nightmare for a bit. The article on how to stop nightmares was helpful-- I also have restless legs, and my cousin recommended doing yoga, so maybe a bit of that can help multiple sleep issues! Essential oils is also a great idea. I had some in my humidifier a few times this winter, and it was lovely...

I love how a bunch of you also have zombie 'nightmares'. I agree with Rose-- usually they are pretty awesome! My most vivid one was me killing zombies with a butcher knife. The dream ended when I got scratched on the forearm. I was just about to filet the skin off my arm to stop the spread of infection when I woke up. I sort of felt like a warrior queen after thinking about my dream....

Alex wrote: "In The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark Carl Sagan explains UFO abduction stories using Sleep Paralysis, it's really interesting."
I definitely need to find a copy of that! Sounds absolutely fascinating!

Weird! I wonder what is is about zombies that they get into our *teehee* brains?

And I agree that In The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark sounds interesting, will be taking a look at it!

Andrew, if you know what is causing your nightmares a therapist and/or sleep specialist might help you out. Not just someone that wants to listen to you for 30 mins and then take your money, but someone who actually cares to help you, they exist. It may seem like a long shot but if you have the money for a session or two it -could- help.

the cost of counseling isn't really an issue (NHS) but i don't really know if they'll be able to help me, or if I'll even be able to talk about it :(

I've heard both great stories and horror stories regarding therapists from people I know...you just have to find one that actually cares and that you click with. I don't think they expect you to walk in a spill your guts, it's something you work up to.

I'm not trying to badger you by any means but if I were having nightmares every night I'd be trying anything to get them under control so I could move on. And anyway, it's not like they lock you to the chair either, if you get too uncomfortable you can always nope the fuck outta there!

Ashley wrote: "I've heard both great stories and horror stories regarding therapists from people I know...you just have to find one that actually cares and that you click with. I don't think they expect you to w..."

its not every night, it used to be, but now its only every few days and I don't wake up screaming any more so thats good at least, i still can't get back to sleep but at least i don't wake everyone else up.

Oh man, I'm glad someone mentioned The Demon Haunted World! Such a great book! Highly recommended!

I have a recurring nightmare of monstrous human-type beings coming towards me whenever I have a fever. I have read parts of Jung's Interpretation of Dreams, very interesting. but I don't think that I want to know to much of what my dreams mean! Too scary.