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Unfortunately for me, this would just make things worse. I'm in some in-between state of dreaming and waking and if I can't see physically then my mind will fi

Unfortunately for me, this would just make things worse. I'm in some in-between state of dreaming and waking and if I can't see physically then my mind will fill in the blanks. For me it's crucial that I be able to see when the night terror happens. So I have a nightlight.

justinsaccount 10y ago
For me, not being able to see was what made it possible to tell the difference between what was real and what was not. If I have a dream about a 'swarm of aggressive insects' and I wake up and can't see anything, then I know that it wasn't real. Are you sure your nightlight isn't making things worse by blurring the dream world and the real world? If the real world is pitch black then anything you thought you saw couldn't have been real.
- DigitalJack 10y ago
  The high level thinking parts of my brain aren't active in my night terrors. It seems perfectly rational to think the ceiling is made of compressed junkyard cars. Much like it would in a dream. You aren't really awake when you are running around in the panic state of a night terror. Not being able to see would simply allow my semi-dream state to continue while I fumbled around in the real world wearing a sleep mask. But you are right, some things seen do filter into the dream state. When I would think my condo was on fire in florida it was often when I'd take an afternoon nap on a Sunday and the sunset would color the whole place yellow-orange, and I often thought that might have been why the idea of fire popped into mind. However, I think the more reality I can get into my system, the faster I'll realize the nonsense of the night-terror-fugue. I could be wrong, it's just my personal theory about me.
  - justinsaccount 10y ago
    Ah, yes, I think our dreams were quite different.. Mine never involved 'nonsense' as you put it. I used to have dreams like a giant spider crawling across the ceiling directly above my face. When I would wake up I would jump out of bed and try to find the spider that was there a second ago. The mask helped remind me that there was no way I could have seen anything in the first place.

justinsaccount 10y ago

For me, not being able to see was what made it possible to tell the difference between what was real and what was not. If I have a dream about a 'swarm of aggressive insects' and I wake up and can't see anything, then I know that it wasn't real. Are you sure your nightlight isn't making things worse by blurring the dream world and the real world? If the real world is pitch black then anything you thought you saw couldn't have been real.

DigitalJack 10y ago
The high level thinking parts of my brain aren't active in my night terrors. It seems perfectly rational to think the ceiling is made of compressed junkyard cars. Much like it would in a dream. You aren't really awake when you are running around in the panic state of a night terror. Not being able to see would simply allow my semi-dream state to continue while I fumbled around in the real world wearing a sleep mask. But you are right, some things seen do filter into the dream state. When I would think my condo was on fire in florida it was often when I'd take an afternoon nap on a Sunday and the sunset would color the whole place yellow-orange, and I often thought that might have been why the idea of fire popped into mind. However, I think the more reality I can get into my system, the faster I'll realize the nonsense of the night-terror-fugue. I could be wrong, it's just my personal theory about me.
- justinsaccount 10y ago
  Ah, yes, I think our dreams were quite different.. Mine never involved 'nonsense' as you put it. I used to have dreams like a giant spider crawling across the ceiling directly above my face. When I would wake up I would jump out of bed and try to find the spider that was there a second ago. The mask helped remind me that there was no way I could have seen anything in the first place.