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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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[–] Kraiden@piefed.social 5 points 3 days ago

Looks like you're been given a lot of good advice here, and it sounds like you're already doing what you need to. In the short term, what helped me was to focus on basic sleep hygiene. Avoid caffeine and alcohol as they can cause more vivid dreams (REM rebound). Keep to the same schedule every night, reduce screen time before bed, make sure you're properly hydrated, make sure you're getting enough exercise etc etc etc. All the usual things people tell you to do. They're all good things to do anyway, but I found that having a plan and sticking to it helped me a lot