Why don't I get nightmares?

[The Blue Meanie]

Hello there. This has been bugging me for a while. I don't seem to get nightmares... at all. The only dreams that have come close to being nightmares for me are either in the third-person and not scary, or else they are dreams which feel like they are "supposed" to be nightmares, but which "backfire". In these "backfired nightmares", I'm not at all afraid, and even though all this scary shit is happening, I'm usually either just mildly interested, or being cynical and not taking the nightmares seriously, even though I'm not lucid, and don't gain lucidity. Another thing which may be of relevance, is that in a good many of my dreams, I am very self-confident and everyone seems to "revolve" around me; Dream Characters pay me attention, pick me for teams, listen to what I say, and seem to have a very high impression of me. So, what I'm wondering, is why don't I get nightmares? Is it something to do with a big ego? Self-confidence? What? As far as cries for help go, I know this is rather lame, because what I'm asking is the exact opposite of what most questions about nightmares are about, that being "Why do I keep getting these nightmares?" and "What do my nightmares mean?" and "How do I stop them?"... But I'm really interested. Plus, if people can help me to figure out why I DON'T have nightmares, maybe from this counter-example, ie me, this may be of aid to people who are looking to stop their nightmares... So... Whaddya think? Any ideas, anyone? Cos, other than the ego thing, I'm sort of drawing a blank...

[Chympara]

I know how you feel. I never get nightmares. For me, it's always due to the fact that I am usually deep in thought as I fall asleep, never thinking about anything scary. This could be the reason why I never get nightmares, or ever really remember my dreams. In retrospect, it seems that whenever I think of action, or events, I always seem to remember my dreams. I seem to remember my dreams when I think about the past or hypothetical situations, but never ideas. Thanks for this thread, it made me realize something.

[justme]

Well little kids get nightmares and they usally outgrew em sometimes, maybe you had nightmares when you were a really little kid and then out grew em all together? But you said theres still scary stuff in your dreams but your just not afraid anyways, that happens to me too sometimes, is it that your never scared in your dreams or when you wake up? Maybe you just find these dreams exciteing, but your just thinking they should be scary to you or something...? Like how people are suppose to be afraid of spiders and bugs or stuff like that. But I definaillty don't think not having nightmares means you have a big ego, maybe you just play to many video games, hell in one of my dreams I paused it and saved the dream then went back to it.

[Chympara]

Heh, the previous post also triggered a thought in my mind. How truly associative the mind is. I may have also programmed myself to not be afraid in my dreams, too. I play a lot of video games, and when I was younger, I would set up scenarios in my mind where I would, say, fight a whorde of zombies, or kill a vampire coven. When I was younger (I am sixteen now, each year in a young persons life is truly different than the previous years), I used to be very afraid of the undead. Either I slowly outgrew this fear, or these "video game action scenes" is what truly drove nightmares out of my mind.

[The Blue Meanie]

Originally posted by justme Well little kids get nightmares and they usally outgrew em sometimes, maybe you had nightmares when you were a really little kid and then out grew em all together? Yeah, I DO remember having nightmares as a kid. But yeah, maybe I outgrew them. Still, I'm perplexed as to why people my age still have nightmares, whereas I don't. I understand some people's nightmares stem from traumatic experiences, but the majority of nightmares seem to be just plain ol' nightmares... But you said theres still scary stuff in your dreams but your just not afraid anyways, that happens to me too sometimes, is it that your never scared in your dreams or when you wake up? [/b] Nah... I don't actually get much "scary stuff" happening in ANY of my dreams. All that happens is that occasionally I get the vague feeling I should be scared of something, but I'm not... Maybe you just find these dreams exciteing, but your just thinking they should be scary to you or something...? [/b] Well... I don't really get many "exciting" dreams. I'm never (well.. very SELDOM) excited in my dreams... it's weird. But yeah, I get the feeling that in some of them, I'm "meant" to be scared, but I'm not... Like how people are suppose to be afraid of spiders and bugs or stuff like that. [/b] Yeah... I dunno. I don't have any real phobias. I like spiders, actually, they're my second favourite animal other than cats. I have two black funnelweb spiders living in the hollow windowsill above my bed, Mr. and Mrs. Pider. They're great, they keep out the mosquitoes... But I definaillty don't think not having nightmares means you have a big ego, maybe you just play to many video games, hell in one of my dreams I paused it and saved the dream then went back to it.[/b] Nah, I don't play ANY videogames or watch TV at all anymore... I just don't have the time to waste. As for having a big ego... I don't know. I'm just looking for an answer or reason... I'm not really that egotistical, but I am very self-confident (except, I'm shy around girls...) but really, I dunno... I'm still interested in any reasons people might be able to come up with, or personal anecdotes, etc...

[nightshade]

I don't have nightmares either. I also didn't have nightmares as a kid, except when I was sick. Originally posted by justme hell in one of my dreams I paused it and saved the dream then went back to it.

[Burns]

Originally posted by The Blue Meanie Another thing which may be of relevance, is that in a good many of my dreams, I am very self-confident and everyone seems to "revolve" around me; Dream Characters pay me attention, pick me for teams, listen to what I say, and seem to have a very high impression of me. Well, this make perfect sense since it's YOUR DREAM. Of course the world is going to revolve around you (hell, some people even think the world revolves around them in reality...). But I don't think this makes you egotisical - just normal. Not really sure about the lack of nightmares, though. Maybe your mind knows ahead of time that you don't get scared easily and doesn't waste it's time trying.

[Gwendolyn]

Well Matt, if you enjoy having nightmares, then they aren't nightmares...Are they? Anyway, I think your problem is probably due to the fact that your thoughts are focused elsewhere, as in, on your objective of Lding. Your mind probably doesn't have time to focus on the bad stuff in you and your life. I'd take it as a good thing. When you learn to LD, you can make nightmares yourself, also. Don't worry.

[Asclepius]

Not having nightmares seems like a good thing. Nightmares relate to fear. Your life may be nice and safe at present with nothing causing you distressing fear. Some psychology studies suggest that level of fear is part of basic temperament. Some people are very fearful while others are extreme risk takers. A study with genetically engineered mice, found that the fearless mice had a high mortality rate since they failed to accurately assess risks. For people the environment may be less deadly.

[Chympara]

Originally posted by justme Hell in one of my dreams I paused it and saved the dream then went back to it. I'm curious, did this dreamstate get saved to your "hard drive?" Do you think you could pull it up again? Make a Main Menu and go to load and see if it is there. Some people say everything you experience is saved in your brain, it's just sometimes the paths to this knowledge are lost, as time takes away its relevance.

[Courtney Mae]

Originally posted by The Blue Meanie So, what I'm wondering, is why don't I get nightmares? *Is it something to do with a big ego? *Self-confidence? *What? It's because you're weird. End of story. Ok, really? I don't know. Maybe you just don't get scared easy...and so it's hard to get scared in your dreams. Or the first reason....

[Sebbels]

The only way I know to induce nightmares is to sleep in a really warm bed. Why? I don't know! But it's working for me and for a lot of other people. Put on your socks in bed and cover yourself completely in your blanket. Or putt a warm water- thingy (don't know the word, sorry) on your feet or on your belly. Go try it. Good luck .

[Gwendolyn]

Originally posted by Sebbels The only way I know to induce nightmares is to sleep in a really warm bed. Why? I don't know! But it's working for me and for a lot of other people. Put on your socks in bed and cover yourself completely in your blanket. Or putt a warm water- thingy (don't know the word, sorry) on your feet or on your belly. Go try it. Good luck * . I sleep with like a million blankets at night throughout the year, no matter what temperature. Part of it is a security thing, I suppose, but I can't sleep without having lots of blankets on. Anyway, I've never had nightmares as a result.

[Wolffe]

I dont have 'em either, but I think this is because all my dreams are dark and disturbing in the first place, and the ones that appear to be nightmares are just these dreams with particularly emotionally damaging events, such as a relative being killed

[TygrHawk]

I haven't had any dreams that scared me since my first lucid, when I was 8 or 9. I always figured it was because I now fully realize that nothing in my dreams can hurt me, and my subconscious knows this even when I am not lucid. Just my theory.

[Sebbels]

Originally posted by Gwendolyn I sleep with like a million blankets at night throughout the year, no matter what temperature. Part of it is a security thing, I suppose, but I can't sleep without having lots of blankets on. Anyway, I've never had nightmares as a result. It won't work for everybody. When you're used to warm blankets, it's different. It will work best with people who are sleeping under normal or thin blankets.

[danbarber]

I have alot of dreams that I think would scare most people. They are alot like scenes from resident evil and Condemned, but I love these dreams.

[Frosty Chaotix]

I think nightmares are somehow related to your actual emotional state. I had my worst nightmare when my grandmother died and my girl left me. It was terrible, but now i'm okay, and i don't have any nightmares a long time ago.

[The Blue Meanie]

Originally posted by Frosty Chaotix I think nightmares are somehow related to your actual emotional state. I had my worst nightmare when my grandmother died and my girl left me. It was terrible, but now i'm okay, and i don't have any nightmares a long time ago. Huh... okay, this sort of makes sense, thank you. I tend to be very emotionally stable. This isn't necessarily a good thing. It takes a lot for me to be upset, but it takes a lot for me to be happy too... not necessarily a good thing, like I said. Given this, if you're right, this may be why I don't have nightmares...