a terrible recurring night mare?

Question

I stayed with mother till she died of cancer for nine months to help her.a horrible time it was.I loved her so.It went to her brain and she went crazy .
now i dream of kittens attacking her,biting and scratching her, i am holloring and screamning and tearing them off her and throwing them down and they keep at her and she is screaming.as she did some times when i stayed with her.
what to do about these nightmares? i wake up screaming

I take something now for depression and something to go to sleep on

Answer 1

What a wonderful, loving son. Your mother could not have asked for any better than what you sacrificed for her.

She is at peace now and no longer in peril or fear. And you made sure she passed with someone who loved her dearly
and was willing to help make is easier for her. You are a wonderful son and these dreams will go away by themselves with time. Time will pass no matter what any of us do, and in your case, that is good. @8-) Be well.

Answer 2

My folks both died. Mercifully mom died quick. She didn't linger. Her heart stopped. But my dad died slow, and after his heart attack and stroke, it took 8 months for him to pass away.

He was miserable every day of those 8 months and prayed to die.

Though its been 10 years since mom died and 6 since dad died, I grieve for both of them every day.

Here is the answer to your question: You need to get off of anti-depressants and sleeping pills that cause your mind to be restless.

First of all, anti-depressents taken over a prolonged period of time can causenightmares in some people. It depends on which ones you're on.

Second, sleeping pills are generally not recommended for more than 2 weeks straight because they tend not to be effective after a while.

The recurring nightmare represents a restless mind. Perhaps there is some unresolved issue that you're not letting go of.

I don't know why kittens would be a part of this nightmare. But it seems like what you are seeing in your dreams is what your subconscious mind was imagining when you were awake and watching your mom waste away.

Thats the best 2 cents worth. But maybe you need to talk to the people prescribing your medication and see if the nightmare is a symptom of not having the right prescription.

Answer 3

Grief is a time of emotional upheaval, it throws emotions at you that you have never encountered before, and they can be very hard to deal with.
I am no psychologist, so I'm going to throw a bit of pop psychology at you:
Kittens: cute, harmless and helpless, yet in your dreams they are monstrous cruel creatures that you cannot control.
You watched your Mother pass away in a very hurtfull and extremely painful way, (I am so sorry) and you were the helpless, harmless creature that could do nothing to alleviate her pain and torment. No child (you will always be a child to a mum) should have go go through what you went through.
Maybe you have projected your anger at your inability to take her pain away, at a harmless creature - kitten.
This will pass in time, but please try this website below, I found it most helpfull, and I use the therapy in conjunction with meditation.
PS: It really does work !!
May your God go with you.
The site is free and you can download the instructions free at
www.emofree.com

Answer 4

Tom, the reason you're having these bad dreams is quite clear. But they will stop after a while. To explain why, it will help you to keep in mind why and how we dream.

When we sleep, the body and perception systems are shut down, but the brain stem continues to fire and the cortex remains active. The thoughts that have been most active during waking hours—perceptions, experiences, thoughts and feelings, processed consciously or unconsciously—are still “peaked” and they associate with other images already linked in your cortex. In other words, the brain references this content, but not in a rational way, not using input from the external real world as in waking hours. So the story connectedness isn’t like everyday experience, but rather a strange flow from one image to the next. Therefore, dreams aren’t magical messages to guide our life, but sequences of associated images taken from everyday experiences - thoughts and feelings that matter a lot to us during our waking life. So it’s a mistake to apply one-size-fits-all symbols, such as Freudian meanings or standard “dreammoods” formulas. All you need to do is think about what kind of imagery it is and how it relates to your daily life.

The kittens represent nature...in real life nature attacked your mother in the form of a relentless cancer. You are still grieving for her, and this process hasn't yet led you to accept her death, that this unfortunate thing is something that happened, and now it's over. So the feelings are still active when you go to sleep and associate images for dream sequences like the one you described.

Once you can focus on the good things in her life and not her painful end, the dreams will stop. I wish you the best, Tom.

Answer 5

I'm sorry for your loss.

I will second Jennifer's comments.... This is your mind trying to deal with a situation you haven't yet come to terms with. After 9 months of dealing with that situation, you haven't yet fully processed the loss nor have you found a new rhythm to your life that doesn't include dealing with such a devastating illness.

Give yourself time and permission to grieve and get through this. If you need to, see about getting some grief counseling.

Good luck to you.

Answer 6

specific, recently I been having in straight forward terms nightmares. I desire for it to provide up yet i think of that's attempting to inform me something. Bq: that's distinctive every time yet generally they're approximately my existence being ruined.

Answer 7

I am so sorry for your loss.

I would consider speaking with a counsler and get to the root of the issue.

good luck :)

Answer 8

get a kitten or two and your brain will see them as harmless and lovable...watch them sleeping pills,they may cause nightmares

Answer 9

go to www.dreammoods.com
very interesting site....I'm sorry hope you get better
some meds too can affect your dreams

Answer 10

I am sorry for your tragic loss.