The difference between a scary dream and a nightmare

I'm really confused about this.

I am pretty easily scared in real life, and I don't really handle horror movies so well, but I'm not really sure about nightmares. I've had a huge amount of scary dreams, I think, but you know how every feeling is always a lot stronger in dreams? I have been really scared or anxious in several dreams and it feels much worse than in real life, but what would it be like if it was a nightmare?

Or have I misunderstood everything and nightmares and scary dreams are the same things?

Hmmmm... I don't really know. I get two types of scary dreams though.

One type (which I'm getting more and more often) is when my dreams are creepy on some level. I get a bit scared, but I don't count it as a nightmare because It's quite entertaining too. Usually I just get a freaked out feeling. It's like something feels a little off, but it's generally ok.

The other, is when I get a feeling of complete evil-ness in my dreams, that only creeps up once in awhile. It's horrible, but I get them less often now than when I was a kid. It's like a dark cloud smothering me, and I get terrified and feel regretful and guilty for no reason. I panic and become desperate.

Whenever I think of nightmares, I think of running and scary monsters. Not many of my dreams involve monsters etc, but I've come to realise what my type of nightmare is, which is more psychological.

I guess it's really how you percieve it...

Thanks for your answer.

You're right, of course it's how you perceive it, but I can't really place any of my scary dreams into those two types of scary dreams. They're kind of like a thing in between those two. Sure, it is scary, I am anxious and nervous as hell, but it's not like how I would react in real life, which would probably be a panic attack, screaming and whimpering and not being able to do anything. I don't get it, maybe I'm just a lot braver in my dreams than in real life. Or maybe I just haven't experienced a real nightmare yet.

Anyway I'm off to bed now. Sweet dreams to you all.

I'd say they are the same thing. If its a scary dream then its a nightmare, although I have lots of dreams that are intense and have people trying to murder me and stuff like that but I don't usual feel very scared for some reason and I rarly ever have nightmares.

Sweet dreams :)

I think people act a lot more instinctively in dreams. I run from things a lot in mine, whereas in waking life I would probably have stood my ground. Look over them, maybe they're all from survival instinct.

P.S: I prefer chicken :P

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Originally Posted by MadMonkey

I'd say they are the same thing. If its a scary dream then its a nightmare, although I have lots of dreams that are intense and have people trying to murder me and stuff like that but I don't usual feel very scared for some reason and I rarly ever have nightmares.

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Yeah, I probably just misunderstood the whole thing... Or it's a matter of how you perceive it, like Raspberry said. I don't think those dreams you described would be the "scary dreams" and the scarier ones you mentioned would be "nightmares".

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Originally Posted by Raspberry

I think people act a lot more instinctively in dreams. I run from things a lot in mine, whereas in waking life I would probably have stood my ground. Look over them, maybe they're all from survival instinct.

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Well, that's probably also true. I run from things a lot too, whereas in waking life I would probably just whimper and scream... However, in some of my dreams I have fought off a monster, somehow knowing its weak point. The dream usually ends before the fight is decided, though. But just saying, I would never be able to fight any kind of monster or crazy murderer in real life, I would be far too scared.

P.S: I prefer strawberries :P

The funny thing is that I don't actually like raspberries :lol: