"Chronic" nightmares?

[The Pinsir]

A friend of mine has nightmares all the time, almost every night. She says it's been happening since she was a little girl. I've told her about LDs and dream control techniques, but it's doing nothing for her. Any chance that ADHD or bi-polar disorder (or medication for them) can be a cause for nightmares all the time? any advice I can give her?

[sleepygnome]

Hi. I just found this website and this is my first post, but I really wanted to reply because I became a lucid dreamer as a defense against chronic nightmares. I used to have terrifying nightmares as a teenager and I began trying to gain control of my dreams as a way to deal with them. I didn't really know it was lucid dreaming at the time, but I began to do what everyone here calls reality checks during the day to see if I was dreaming in the hopes that I would start doing it in my dreams. I really don't think there is a magic reality check that works for anyone...I just picked ones that were recurring themes in my nightmares so I could recognize them and deal with them when I saw them. I do have a lot of success with trying (and failing) to read something in a dream and then realizing I am dreaming when I can't. I got really good at knowing when I was dreaming, but I had poor control. I worked in it while dreaming, and while awake. While having a lucid dream, I focused on something I really wanted to happen and worked and worked at it. One of my dream control issues was flying. My flying was Mario based...I had to get a running start, jump, and then after a short flight I would float down even if I wanted to fly some more. I practiced taking off from a standing position, which was hard for me at first. But confidence is key...you have to know you can do it, and then you can. I would also picture something like a lighthouse and try to change it. For example, I would think of a lighthouse and it would have red and white stripes for some reason. I really wanted it to just be white, but it was so hard to do! I couldn't just change the color; I had to do something to it. I wrapped it in giant white paper, but little red patches would show. I tried painting it with a brush, but the paint wouldn't stick. I tried shrinking it down, making myself larger, making lots of lighthouses in different colors and then eliminating all of the non-white ones, etc. I seriously spent hours trying to change the color of a lighthouse I imagined. But I eventually did it, and the confidence I gained from doing that helped me control my dreams and dispel my nightmares. Anyway, sorry for the long story. I just want to let you know that lucid dreaming really does help with nightmares. I have a lucid dream nearly every night, and I have not had a nightmare since I was 17, because I don't allow my dreams to scare me anymore. I hope your friend tries it and it helps!