Mystery Nightmares

Nightmares are a very common symptom of stress, and it’s something that I’ve seen NET help with a lot over the years! In many cases, people are aware that the nightmares are a problem and that they want them to stop! But in some cases, people aren’t even aware that they’re having nightmares until they stop happening. (“I thought that was just how I normally dream.”) Perhaps the strangest and most extreme nightmare case I’ve had involved a very sweet lady who was brought in by her daughter years ago. “This appointment is for my mom. She has horrible nightmares.” The mother then said, “Well, I guess so. According to my daughter. “ From the mother’s perspective, she slept fine and did not have any problems at all. Life was good, stress was low. The thing is…. every night…. the mother would scream in her sleep. Like, really really scream, in terror! But when the daughter would rush into the room to wake her and ask what was happening, the mom would be confused and have no recollection of the nightmare! While the night screaming didn’t seem to bother the mom, it was deeply disturbing to the daughter! (The mother had recently moved in with the daughter, which is why nobody knew about the night screaming prior to this.) I thought, wow, I’ve never had a case like this before, and this poor woman isn’t even aware of any stress or the nightmares. How in the world am I going to be able to help her?! I just trusted that if there was something wrong (and clearly, there was) the body would give up the answers. And boy did the body give up answers. Through the NET process, we discovered fairly quickly that her body was processing tremendous stress from the Bosnian war, which she had lived through. She has lost countless friends and many family members, and even though it had been almost 20 years since those events and that now life was safe and good, the body stored the trauma! As these stressors surfaced and were cleared, sure enough, the nightmares and the night screaming stopped! In another case, I was working with a child who was fighting a lot with her sister. With kids, depending on how communicative they are, it can sometimes be hard to tell how much the NET is helping. When I sked the girl if she noticed anything changing since she started doing NET, she said, “Well, I’m not sure. The main thing it does is no ore bad dreams.” For myself as a patient, I used to have recurring nightmares of being chased by monsters or driving around in a car with no brakes! After NET, these recurring dream themes stopped. I guess the moral of the story is, your dreaming life is a part of your health, too, and while it is “in your head,” it can very well be a mindbody problem that requires a mindbody approach! Food for thought.

-DK.