When Nightmares Attack

I’ve always had rather vivid dreams — or at least been very good at remembering my dreams. Sometimes, this is a good thing. A dream inspired my first published piece of fiction. Sometimes, this is a bad thing… like when I have a nightmare that makes me turn on all the lights, afraid to go back to sleep. According to the National Library of Medicine, nightmares are more common in childhood than in adulthood. (So are night terrors!) However, as much as fifty percent of adults (mainly women) still experience occasional nightmares. Tips to help prevent nightmares: Make a bedtime … Continue reading

Night Terrors vs. Nightmares

I’ve always had vivid dreams: happy ones, sad ones, nightmares, weird ones, dreams that eventually got turned into stories. But every once in a while, a dream leaves me in an absolute panic. I wake up in a sweat, heart pounding, afraid to move and even more afraid to go back to sleep for fear of being back in the dream again. I had one of those last night. While I used to think nightmares and sleep terrors were basically the same thing, they’re not. What’s the difference? Night terrors tend to happen within the first few hours of falling … Continue reading

Sleepwalking

When I was little, I used to sleepwalk. I have always been pretty active during sleep. That may sound ridiculous, but it is true. I would sleep walk as a child, I have had many lucid dreams (where you are aware in your dream that you are, in fact, dreaming), and even now, I have very busy dreams. But, that’s for another blog. I remember my mother telling me once that our dog stopped me from going down the stairs one night when I was sleepwalking by barking until my parents woke up. One night not too long ago, I … Continue reading