Julia, you sound like you have some form of paranoia. Smoking weed might make it worse.

I think you need some ...

This was just on the front page of Yahoo:

Six Reasons We Have Bad Dreams

1. Anxiety and Stress

2. Spicy Foods

3. Fat Content of Food

4. Alcohol

5. Drugs

6. Illness

http://www.divinecaroline.com/artic...-reasons-dreams


I found it interesting that it specifically mentions the use of Ketamine as being an issue...

___________________
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

---JFK---

A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard.

Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life. Do not be concerned with escaping safely - lay your life before him.

---Bruce Lee---

that explains everything!

That's called lucid dreaming. It's a skill that can be developed. I used to be able to take control of my dreams as a child, and I'd always use it to fly. Those were great dreams.

I tried to get the ability back when I was in college and started reading about it and trying to force out of body experiences. I had some strange sensations while drifting between the conscious and unconscious states, but inevitably would get to excited in the act of taking control of the dream and wake myself up. The best trick I found was to constantly get in a habit of asking myself 'am i awake or am i dreaming?'. The easiest test for me was to look at my watch, check the time, look away, then look back at the time. If I'm awake the time stays the same. If I am dreaming, the time has completely changed.

Get in the habit of asking yourself this question constantly and doing this test and soon enough you will find yourself testing this in a dream...and you'll have it. Conscious dreaming. Just try not to get too excited and wake up as i ALWAYS DO. ...bothers me

quote:

Originally posted by djjoshuaallen whenever I have a nightmare, or a dream for that matter, I am able to figure out that im dreaming in my dream. So then i just start to fuck around with my dreams and its not that scary at all. Is anybody else able to figure out your dreaming during your dream, and then start to control it or just fuck around in your dream?

something that puts me in a good dream state is just looping the same song over and over that makes me happy and relaxed. For about the past 2 months it is listening to a live Bob Dylan performance of Mr Tambourine Man from 1964 Newport Folk Festival. Before that it was 'Paradise' by Magic Island. Just hearing Dylan's voice is like a massage to my psyche. I don't know why. When I hear him I just feel like everything is alright. I mean the whole Universe is alright. People dying and getting born and stepping in bubble gum and bumping their funny bone and everybody getting older...is all ok. I don't know why he has that effect on me but he does. Especially on that recording he has this hypnotic ebb and flow to his vocal tone that reminds me of waves crashing on the beach.

I hope you can find your Bob Dylan. If not, feel free to use mine.

quote:

Originally posted by Miss Julia I know you guys will think I'm crazy, but I have to share what's been going on with me.... I have intense, disturbing, visual, vivid dreams/nightmares practically every night. I even have nightmares when I lay down to take short naps. In my nightmares, I can see colors, remember faces, conversations, names, numbers, details, textures... I can hear sounds, music, peoples voices, and sometimes even smell. I'll wake up a couple times a night (depending on how bad the nightmare was), and sometimes my heart is pounding out of fear, and I'm sweating. Sometimes when I wake up from a nightmare, I'll be thinking, "Holy shit, did that just happen"???? And I'll want to go online to google it or check my email to see if what I just dreamed happened or if it was just my imagination. I also have sleep paralysis maybe once or twice a year (I haven't had that in a little over a year though... and I hope I don't have to go through it ever again). Here is some background info about me... 1. I've been having vivid dreams since I can remember, but I don't remember having them every night like I do now. 2. I had a concussion when i was 12 years old, in a coma for a couple days (maybe this causes nightmares?) 3. My first intense sleep paralysis experience was when I was around 20 years old. I remember having it a couple times before that, but not as intense as this one. 4. My nightmares have become unbearable within the last 2 years. 5. When I finally get out of bed in the morning, I feel like I didn't get a good nights rest, and sometimes the dream is so disturbing, that I'll be in an upset mood in the morning. 6. I'm always tired through out the day, and always want to sleep early. I told all this to my doctor recently, so he had me take an MRI brain scan. He said my results looked a little "different", so he got an opinion from a 2nd doctor. The 2nd doctor said he noticed some brain shrinkage (aka early signs of Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's). The 3rd doctor said my brain is ok, and there is nothing to worry about. So in conclusion, my doctor said my brain is "ok". Well, I guess I'll trust my doctors opinion. (I did some research, and brain shrinkage starts showing when you're about 60 years old, and can be caused by drinking alcohol or being a vegetarian. I'm only 27, I don't drink alcohol often, and I'm not a vegetarian). So then, my doctor had me take a sleep study at the hospital (this was a few weeks ago). Basically, they check your heart rate, breathing patterns, and they video tape you while you're sleeping. The nurse called me a couple weeks saying I have a little sleep apnea, but in general, my results came out "normal". I asked her there MUST be something my doctor can do... perhaps another sleep study that specializes in brain activity when you're asleep? She said she would ask the doctor and call me back, but she hasn't followed up with me since. (go figures... the medical insurance system these days) I can't imagine having more stress in my life than the average person... so I don't think nightmares are directly related to stress. I don't know why I have nightmares. I just bought a Tempurpedic pillow top for my mattress, and a humidifier for my bedroom, hoping these two things would help, but I've still been having nightmares. I'm not on any medication. I don't usually eat food late. I don't drink. I work out moderately a few hours before sleep. I usually relax before sleeping... either by watching TV or reading a book or magazine. What can be the cause for my intense nightmares? What can I do to stop them? I wish my brain would just shut off at night.

Where's the "Every Time I View TranceAddict" option?