Night Owls thread

I finally got sleepy at around 12:30, woke at 5:30am, 5 hours is a very good night for me.  I woke after horrible nightmares,  so I both lack sleep and I'm afraid to go back to sleep because I fear a return of the nightmares.  Help!

I finally got sleepy at around 12:30, woke at 5:30am, 5 hours is a very good night for me.  I woke after horrible nightmares,  so I both lack sleep and I'm afraid to go back to sleep because I fear a return of the nightmares.  Help!

I'm sorry to read you are experiencing nightmares.

So the other day a similar thing happens to me, I awaken from a nightmare in a terrible sweat adn psychologically upset and it's so unpleasant that nothing else will do but a nice bath.

Reset my my head and get nice and clean I think. 

I pull back the curtain and it turns out that SOMEONE has crapped in the bath!

The below NHS article includes 3 strategies for managing dreams and nightmares.

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/our-services/service-finder-z/lancashireandsouthcumbria-traumatic-stress-service/information-leaflets/managing-disturbing-dreams-and-nightmares 

I used to to get a repeat nightmare (one where you realised it was a nightmare during experiencing the episode).  Before going to bed I used to remind myself the nightmare might happen, I knew it was a nightmare,and I could decide to wake up rather than experience it again.  I gave myself a physical cue to enact within my repeat experience of the nightmare "my eyes are open because I have awoken".  After a while I was able to recognise the nightmare, decide to open my eyes within the nightmare and wake up from it.  It might sound unlikely - yet it worked for me.  After sometime; I ceased experiencing those repeat nightmares (appreciative of that outcome).