Thread: The difference between a scary dream and a nightmare

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

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.

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".

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.

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

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