Any tips on how to cope with nightmares??

It's really SAS but u know what write God's name on your pillow it helped me or pray to God every night

Same, I have also been getting a lot of nightmares lately...though I know my causes.

Possible causes for nightmares:
❋ If you eat too late RIGHT before bedtime. (Especially heavy or spicy foods...I'm guilty of this...)

❋ If you drink caffeine, alcohol or drugs. (I am also guilty of always drinking TOO much caffeine and well...I used to smoke MJ/eat edibles but quit...never got nightmares from it though...)
❋ If you do activities that stimulate the brain before bed time (ex. Watching TV, scrolling through phone, working on important stuff, etc.).
❋ If you're dealing with past trauma.
❋ If you're currently stressed or anxious about something.
❋ If you have a sleeping disorder (ex. sleep apnea, or restless leg syndrome...)
❋ If you're currently on any medication (I am currently on an SSRI, but today is my last day on it! I have been having nightmares ever since taking it to be honest...I need to talk to my doctor about this..)

How to prevent nightmares:
❈ Try not to eat heavy food and try to stop eating 2 hours before bed time.
❈ Do not drink alcohol, caffeine or drugs and or limit the amount. (ex. I tend to drink too much caffeine...so I am limiting it to 1 or 2 cups a day, that's it! Would love to quit caffeine though for my chest pain issue though...Just using it temporarily to focus on online classes...)
❈ Try lucid dreaming! I recommend trying it out. Pretty much, lucid dreaming is a way to be "aware" you are dreaming and allows you to control your dream. I used to be able to lucid dream and make a terrifying dream into a happy one {Here are steps on How to Lucid Dream or you can google search it online for more info).
❈ Exercise throughout the day (if you can, I am unable to do heavy exercises, due to extreme chest pain, I try to just stick to easy stretches...Hoping to recover enough to go back to physical therapy!)
❈ Keep a dream journal to analyze your dreams and reoccurring patterns. Sometimes, dreams are trying to tell us something! (You can google search dream interpretations as well if you're curious on what it means. and why it is reoccurring so often. I have been recalling my dreams by talking to my partner about it to be honest.)
❈ Practice meditation and mindfulness. (I use this: 11-Minute Breathing Practice for Awareness, however, I am lying down instead of sitting up while doing this).
❈ Build a bedtime routine away from electronic devices, maybe read a book, draw, or do a quiet hobby before falling asleep (I am also guilty of doom scrolling on my phone or computer... I read a lot, but unfortunately the books & comics I read are digital copies...so I have opted to using a "blue light filter" to allow my eyes to rest and allow me to read my favourite books & comics!)

And...that's all I can think of! I am guilty of using electronics before bed, eating heavily (and spicy) foods as well, I have some (repressed) trauma, lastly drinking caffeine and well...taking the SSRI meds prescribed to me by doctor while dealing with anxiety/depression for a while. I hope by changing my habits, that I won't have nightmares anymore...I'm sick of the nightmares. I'm also going to try and lucid dream more often! I think the meds were a HUGE contributing factor, because despite having PTSD, depression & anxiety, along with doing my bad habits (ex. drinking caffeine and eating late) my nightmares were NOT this frequent NOR as awful/bizarre as they currently are, it's crazy! I'm still going to try and not eat late nor drink caffeine before bed...I want to get regular sleep. It's stressful even trying to sleep, knowing I'm just going to get a nightmare...It bites...

Sometimes it's a sign by your sub-conscience that it's overwhelmed, it needs to let out, let go of heavy feelings etc... u might wanna confide some secrets to a real person u know... Or maybe just go to a church for confession..

U can ping me n just let it all out on chat if u aren't comfortable..

U need to start by first forgiving urself n then forgiving the person...

It feels like a mountain to climb, but u can break things into a. Separation of feelings and emotions n b. Separation of actions - little things u chose to change .. slowly it'll be manageable chunks n even progress.

@Tinywhisper11 I used to get frequent nightmares when I would sleep and would always wake up and not be able to sleep again. What I found helped is meditating before head and listening to calming music when I’m sleeping, it’s not 100% fool proof but it definitely helped me a lot. 

@Tinywhisper11: Sorry you’re having nightmares. As for ways to cope with it:

- Noises that soothe you, calm you, make/keep you happy, you can try keeping these noises ongoing throughout the night as you sleep or if you feel like you don’t need it on anymore you can turn it off just before you sleep if you want. It could be calming sounds like nature or something like that or a soft song that won’t excite you. It could even be your favorite episode of your favorite sitcom or any other comedy show that’s your favorite because the laugh tracks can help as they can make you laugh or at the very least smile and have mini conversations with yourself about it like “Yeah I remember that part. It’s my favorite.” or “Yeah. He/she is a great actor.” or something like that. But don’t make the noise too loud as not only could it keep you awake, it could keep others awake if you’re living with anyone depending of course on how far away the rooms you and whoever is staying with you are from each other and how good/sharp and sensitive their hearing is. 

- Have a joyful and happy day. 

- Try to calm and relax and your mind and try keeping it free of thoughts and emotions and excitement as you go to sleep. But doing this can be difficult sometimes so if you’re gonna have thoughts, have positive thoughts. It can be you telling yourself how great that (insert whatever positive thing or things you did here) was and how much you loved it. Or it could be wanting to go to a certain place but have never been there yet and what you’ll do if you were ever there and why you’ve always wanted to go there. Have positive conversations with yourself about happy stuff like this or anything else. 

I just learned about Imagery Rehearsal Therapy. It says to rehearse the new dream/ending for 20 minutes a day, every day. Try it <3

Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) is a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) technique that can help reduce the frequency and intensity of nightmares. It's often used to treat nightmares that are a result of PTSD, depression, or have no specific cause. IRT involves changing the ending of a remembered nightmare while awake so that it's no longer threatening, and then rehearsing the new ending in your mind. This approach can help shift your thinking to refute the original premise of the nightmare.

@Tinywhisper11 I don't really have dreams or nightmares.  One nightmare I had was a my dad was like a demon and it was like incesty.. I have no idea what I do to not really dream. But maybe  playing music at night would help?  It should limit nightmares imo.  

I use a relaxing sleep app and rarely get nightmares now..

@Tinywhisper11

Hi sweetie ♥️

As someone who also has trouble with nightmares, I see you and hope I can help!

So for me, I’ve been prescribed a couple of medicines for sleep and for nightmares (hydroxyzine and Prazosin), but I think you may have to talk to a doctor about those if you haven’t tried them out already. Outside of medications, though, I always make sure to have something soft and huggy nearby so I can easily reach out and comfort myself with it whenever I wake up from a nightmare. If you have a plushie companion, they can be a great comfort! Soft night lights may help as well, providing a little bit of illumination when you wake up. And of course, it’s important to try and get yourself centered again upon waking up- reminding yourself that you’re in a safe place now. ♥️

I hope this helps! Sending love~ ♥️🍁🍂

Nightmares are not fun #_# I usually have something playing in the background.. a comfort show or some kind of affirmations and it help and also that usually breaks me out of the nightmare if I'm having one. Also not sleeping on my stomach helps, maybe a glass of warm milk before bed helps too. And looking at nice things like kittens and puppies before sleep help as well :D