Dreams of torture through the eyes of another

For the past 3-4 years I've had endless night terrors where I end up being tortured to death in countless ways, in ways myself I wouldnt have imagined before, ive talked to many people and most people have told me they would always wake up right before they die , that doesnt seem to be my case ,the main issue being ...I could feel every thing and would wake up in immense pain and have no control over it or how to stop it . It became an every or every other night occurance and I got fairly used to it to the point where I wake up in pain and just shake it off. A few nights ago I began having a different type of dream , Dreams through others eyes . Most of them started off simply and by the end of it I would end up dying but in a different way . last night I had a dream of being at a funeral but I was someone I have never seen talking to someone else I have never seen and it just felt off . At the end of it I asked how the man had died and I dont remember what exactly they said but as soon as it left their mouth I dropped to my knees and began violently convulsing and in those moments i hadn't realized it was a dream yet and I went to a sort of limbo where it was just my thoughts bouncing around an endless void with a sense of dread hanging over me . Just worrying about what would happens to the ones I love . Waking up shaking in a pile of sweat and unable to breath steadily . My dreams have always been vivid , especially the torture dreams , but i prefer those to whatever I've had the last few nights , it's an entirely different type of torture and i dont know how long i can hold onto my sanity if it continues. To die through someone else especially multiple times in a night puts a damper on your mental state . My only question is what is going on , why am I having these dreams , and how can I make it stop ? I'm aware this is only a forum so I'm not sure how much I expect but anything is helpful at this point .

:welcome: Dwhite!

All dreams are based on a perception. To change these dreams, you have to change the perception they are based on.

To change the perception, you should first identify the perception. Clearly, this perception is something that you relate with death. You have held this perception for as long as you have been having these dreams.

Think about what you have related with death for the past 3-4 years. It could be something that needs to end like a habit, an aspect of your personality, or a situation you are in.

Alternatively, the perception could be of a physical disorder such as sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is where breathing stops during sleep. Waking up not being able to breathe steadily is a sign of sleep apnea. The stopping of one's breathing during sleep could remind them of death, resulting in dreams about death.

If you keep waking up being able to not breathe steadily, you should see a doctor.

It's clear to me you are torturing yourself, or being tortured.
And how you stop that is quite simple. You choose to. You start controlling it rather than it controlling you.
The recent progression is because it has taken a step further out of control. It's like you are observing the damage now, as if separate from it as long as you are.

So this explains why you die in your dreams. You do, menatally and emotionally.
Violently convulsing is the extreme reaction to losing control, and you remain in dreaded limbo.
So whatever mental state lead to this can be reversed as readily as it was developed.

As far as the not being able to breathe thing it's not usual. Normally i awake in varying amounts of pain so I'm not sure if it's related to apnea or anything else . And as far as the past 3-4 years they've been pretty steady and not much has happened , much less anything I see myself relating to death . More recently I've had existential issues with my own morality but that's only within a few months . I've become fairly good at controlling dreams over the years but no matter how hard I try I'm at the mercy of the dreams during these one .

:uhm:
Dolphin?:meditate::

What about some kind of control issue? These dreams may be showing you what you cannot control.
Maybe if you really try, you can think of something that changed 3 or 4 years ago, in your perception. A fear that developed.

I forgot to emphasize in my first post that I meant death in a metaphorical sense rather than a literal sense. That made my first post sound a lot more morbid than I intended.

I agree with Superman1, maybe a hidden fear has developed.

During your dreams, have you tried asking the dream (your subconscious self) why your dreams are the way they are? That could help give some useful information.

"Existential dread" comes to mind.
I wonder if one possibility is because nothing much has been happening.
The varying amounts of pain would relate to your mental pain, so bad it manifests with a sign it is not being paid attention.

Is it not knowing, so not being, yourself?
The funeral, which seems the development of this issue, is not knowing you, or the other.
Plus I had already thought that self-expression may be the key, as when you asked who had died (you), when he opened his mouth you went out of control and in limbo.
Hence maybe fear of losing loved ones, in that view.

You dont remember what exactly they said is a clue, the blank area.
First I thought it looked like anxiety. But is it more identity?
Anyway, to make it stop, you must at least become more aware of what it is, of yourself, examine yourself, to at least mitigate it.

Have you ever had any trauma happen to you? Like child abuse? Or bullies or something of that type.


This sounds a lot like my dreams I always have too.

But I’ve been thru the ringer so i completely know why I have them.

These dreams could be related to something physiological. A problem in your body somewhere - an illness or something wrong with an organ perhaps?

As an example, I have had periods where I experience violent and frightening dreams of soaring uncontrollably too high in the sky, or finding myself standing on impossibly high roofs or towers and I feel I'm going to fall to my death. Sometimes the platform I'm standing on tilts impossibly far forward and the wall behind me pushes me off inexorably. And I crash down to a rocky ground where my body is smashed. Or sometimes I survive the fall through some miracle, only to find myself again soaring or standing on some frightening perch far too high. The dreams would happen continually through the night. Of course, because after I fall, my body is still experiencing the symptoms, so the dream works them in. These dreams are accompanied by a sort of powerful rushing sensation in my body which is physical - when I wake or before I fall asleep I can feel it subtly, and in the dreams it becomes more powerful.

Eventually I self-diagnosed it as probably being related to pre-diabetes, and possibly to a related phenomenon known as metabolic disease, which is from too much sugar and too many carbohydrates for too long, the sort of stuff that causes diabetes and is a precursor to it. I scoured the internet until I found my answers and learned how to get healthy again simply through proper nutrition and exercise. Occasionally I'll start to have these dreams again, and I know it's time to get a handle on my habits.

I learned from reading a lot of Carl Gustav Jung that violent dreams like this often relate to physiological issues and that you should try to ascertain if you have some health problem. Are you expriencing any sort of pain or discomfort physically on a regular basis? How do you feel when you wake up after these dreams, I mean physically? Any problems with circulation or heart rate or anything?

That’s really good advice darkmatter.


My dreams are beyond horrible.


And I know I have a lot of health problems. It seemed after my gallbladder removal I started having violent dreams.

Yes, that may well be the source of it.