Dreams

Hi everyone :) 

I have a question about dreams. 

Aside from having autism, I also have a number of mental health issues like depression and complex PTSD so I don't know if this is a ND thing, a trauma thing, or just a 'me' thing, but does anyone else have the most intense, wild and lingering dreams? 

Often my dreams are extremely distressing and I can clearly delineate these as PTSD type dreams because of the content/themes, etc. However a lot of the time my dreams are just hyper-realistic and extremely rich/detailed but non-scary. I wonder if this is a ND thing? It is like a whole new paradigm is created in the hours I am asleep, the people I meet aren't 1 dimensional, they have history and true, textured lives. I don't forget these dreams once I wake up, I can ruminate upon them for days and days because of the way they seem so realistic. In some ways, I wonder at time if the dreams are actually more like hallucinations? (even thought I haven't necessarily taken any drugs before sleeping). 

Sometimes I also have lucid dreaming but this is usually when I am having to escape a scary or threatening situation. My father (also autistic) has these lucid dreams - often within which we are both able to fly. 

My mum says she doesn't think she dreams really - which i find deeply, deeply frightening. 

Anyway, just wanted to share and see what people think!