Escaping From Nightmares

I have had dreams, and I have had nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams.

~Dr Jonas Salk

Take a closer look at the nature and meaning of nightmares, where they come from, and how to stop nightmares. The next time you suffer a bad dream, you can knowingly smile at the bad guy and show him the door...

What Are Nightmares?

In the western world, nightmares are merely viewed as dreams gone bad. The meaning of nightmares is to reveal your darkest inner fears in literal and symbolic forms. We all put up with them, but few people consider lucid dreams for escaping from nightmares.

Most of us have had the nightmare of being chased or pursued by some evil entity; a monster, witch, demon, vampire, madman or other. According to dream analysis, this represents our evolutionary fear of being hunted - resembling the predators from our ancient past.

The word nightmare even derives from the Anglo-Saxon word mare, meaning goblin or incubus. You can see the incubus in medieval paintings as a small demon that attacks and impregnates sleeping women. The female version was known as the succubus. They can also be recurring features of sleep paralysis.

What Causes Nightmares?

Around half of the population report occasional nightmares. Children are more prone, who understandably feel more vulnerable than adults. And a small, unfortunate number of people report nightmares every week.

You are more likely to suffer from nightmares when you are:

• sick, especially with fever
• stressed out
• having relationship problems
• traumatized by violence
• taking drugs or alcohol

Drinking alcohol takes its toll by suppressing REM sleep for the first few hours. By the time the alcohol wears off, you will go on the REM-rebound, with dreams that are more emotionally intense than usual.

Certain medications increase nightmares, such as L-dopa for Parkinson's Disease, and beta blockers for heart conditions. However they may also raise dream intensity - which could lead to more lucid dreams.

Lucid Dreams To Stop Nightmares

The monsters in your nightmare can't hurt you. Yet without being conscious, you can't apply this kind of logic to a bad dream scenario. Instead, you run and hide and do everything you can to avoid the perceived threat. You think the creature will harm you, and this creates anxiety.

That's how a normal nightmare plays out, right? But what if you were to realize you were dreaming, and that the source of your fear wasn't real? This is the obvious realization when you enter lucid dreams. This insight gives you two options for escaping from nightmares:

1. Wake yourself up - this is the knee-jerk response. If you are terrified to the core and can't think clearly, a moment of lucidity gives you the ability to shout "WAKE UP" and return to consciousness.

2. Face your fears - this is not as hard as it sounds! Once you become fully lucid, you will realize that the evil dream character is imaginary. This will bring instant relief from your torturous dream. You can face your fears however you want: kill the creature, laugh at them, make them wither away, or otherwise prove to yourself that you are no longer afraid of it.

Escaping From Nightmares

When I first used lucid dreams to stop nightmares, I went with option one: waking myself up. Admittedly, this is the weaker choice. When escaping from nightmares, simply open and close your dream eyes (which will translate to your real eyes) or tell yourself to wake up. However, know that you can escape your fear but it is only a temporary relief. In doing so, you prove to yourself that there is still something to fear.

Later, I heard about using lucid dreams to face your fears. By confronting the nightmare monster, you send a clear message to your unconscious mind: you don't have to be afraid anymore. It is a personal triumph and provides you with a healthy mentality of dealing with fear.

So I vowed to face my fears in future. While I was never particularly prone to nightmares, they would happen from time to time. Here is one example of how I used lucid dreaming for escaping from nightmares:

I am running around an old, dark house. I have a class of young children with me who I must protect. We are being chased by an ugly male creature with long fingernails and gray skin. Every time he catches up with us, he smiles at me and I sense he is about to do something terrible. Then another child goes missing. I keep running away with the children. The walls keep moving, creating small hiding places for us, but I know the monster will catch up with us. Every time I think of him chasing us he appears in the hallway. The nightmare continues. I am down to four children now, we are hiding under the bed. The monster has lost us... for now. Then I realize it is morning, and light is streaming in. I climb out and dust myself down. I realize the monster can't come out in daylight... and then... that I'm dreaming! It was all a bad dream! I move into a bright room and there he is, standing awkwardly, like he is embarrassed about the whole thing. I realize I have absolutely nothing to fear - plus, I'm inside a lucid dream! I float through the big window, laughing at him and his stupid chasing game and he looks ashamed. He doesn't even attempt to follow me this time. I float out into the sunlight and begin my lucid adventure.

As soon as you are familiar with lucid dreams, you can use this mentality for escaping from nightmares or bad dream situations. Although waking yourself up is useful, I urge you to take charge of your nightmare manifestations and show them who's boss. It will give you confidence and even more opportunities for lucid dreams. Good luck!

Sleep Disorders
False Awakenings
Escaping From Nightmares
Sleep Paralysis
Sleepwalking