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153

When do the grief nightmares stop? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago by darkishgrey@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

43 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Basically the title.

Not to trauma dump, but my mom died almost exactly a month ago. I was with her for her last hours and it was...as peaceful as it could be, honestly. The facility was so nice and the hospice nurses did a wonderful job at keeping her comfortable. But her lungs were pretty damaged from the flu and lung cancer, so there was also a lot of gasping and breathing struggles, and the last two hours were especially rough (for her and for me).

I know I have some kind of acute traumatic something or another because of it. I can handle the daily intrusive thoughts and I do try to sit with my feelings as they happen.

But the nightmares are terrible. Out of the 29 days since she died, I've had nightmares for at least 23 of them. They range from disturbing to straight up "waking up feeling like I'm actively being chased by a serial killer" panic-inducing.

I have them at night, and I have them if I take naps during the day. It's getting to a point where I'm afraid to sleep because I just don't want to see those things or feel those feelings.

Has anyone else dealt with this? When did it stop for you?

P.S. I'm in therapy, and I know everyone is different. I'm just trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

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[–] darkishgrey@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

I thank you so much for the reply, for the kind words, and for the resources you provided. I will absolutely look into ACT and talk to my therapist about it as well on Wednesday. I will also be looking into A Liberated Mind to learn more about the exercises.

Could you tell me a little more about why those exercises resonated with you? And are there any exercises you would recommend for feelings of guilt, specifically?

Mindfulness has definitely helped me in the past with my anxiety. I think I've been subconsciously avoiding mindfulness exercises because I've almost been afraid of it making things worse? But maybe that's me running away from my feelings more than I realized.