Quote:"The out come is always the same" I have these, in my case it doesn't matter how they start they always trigger a trigger within. In other words they always open memory to what memory thinks is the answer to the trigger. In my case since they can vary so much how they start and since they are going to trigger the same conclusion it is the conclusion I have to change only. Mine are always exaggerated claustrophobia. Things from my past but pieced together in such a way that they are worse than they were. One is being under a truck and I can't get out. It is pieced together from two incidents. One is from when a jack slipped and I got hit by a fender changing a tire. I was wedged under the fender for a couple of seconds is all. Now add to it being under a truck with lots of room welding on it, and just use the worst parts. Being under a truck and being wedged under it. The end is always that I am stuck. Second trigger. The first is always being tangled in blankets or crowded by a cat. So the first trigger is that I can't move and the second is possible reasons why I can't since I'm dreaming and don't know it is only the blankets. There may well be another trigger that triggers these. It might be a harmless recollection even of something pleasant. But that pleasant recollection may have a remote connection to something that is not. This is where for me "that could never happen" or "I would never do that" breaks the cycle. It doesn't stop the shaking but it allows me time to add the visualization so I think about something more acceptable and leave the bad dream behind. Over time I have got so I can usually skip right to the visualization right after the first trigger. If it doesn't work because of medication induced panic or as happens sometimes it is food related I will add more than one possibility visualization. This would only be necessary with a very bad panic attack from the dream and I might get two of them a year if at all. This gives me more than one option in memory and will in time block the usual bad outcome thought. After all if you always have the same outcome and it is only one them having more than one possible good outcome will push the bad one aside. You have to concentrate on good outcomes rather than the fear that you will have the bad one or you will. Fear is rather like calling it, asking it to be there. There is no magic here, it is repetition and conditioning. But that is changing thought patterns. This is CBT in that you are changing both the behavioural (tendency to fear) and cognitive. (thought, vision) It is a dream and not real so there is nothing to fear but fear.
This works for me and is just information in the form of experience.
I have tried twice to change the outcome of the dream in the past couple of months. The dream never starts out the same, nor is it the same vehicle. It's different every time, but ends with the same results "Uncontrollable" and I wake up in a panic attack. It seems I have this type nightmare at least once a month. I'm waiting to see if I can change it the next time. I can say I'm not looking forward to having this happen again. It is not productive for my driving exposure as I end up avoiding driving for several days after the nightmare.
Sorry to hear about the nightmare. That sounds like a scary dream!
Trying to change the end of the nightmare was an intuitive strategy. Look into changing "nightmare scripts". There is evidence to suggest this is an effective way to control nightmares. It's worth a shot anyways.
Here is a little excerpt I took from: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/features/when-nightmares-wont-go-away?page=2
3 Steps to Nightmare Control
As described by Krakow and Harris, IRT is a three-step process:
Jot down a brief description of a recent nightmare. If your most recent nightmare is too upsetting to think about, pick another.
Think of a way to change the nightmare. Krakow declines to
tell his patients what sort of change to make, encouraging them to rely
on their intuition to make an appropriate change.
Set aside a few minutes each day to imagine this altered
version of the nightmare. Simply paint a mental picture of the altered
version.
Woke up in middle of night having a Panic attack. I had a nightmare about driving. In the nightmare my arms and legs went numb after the brakes went out. I tried to change the outcome of the nightmare, but it was too late to stop the Panic attack I awoke to. This tends to be a reoccurring nightmare, always has the arms and legs going numb and I'm unable to control the vehicle. I dislike having Panic attacks and these nightmares. Any suggestions on how to quickly change the dream before the bad stuff starts to happen?
