Lived Experience Forum

[Gwynn]

I have different nightmares every night since my psychosis and was wondering if this is normal, and will they ever stop?

[greenpea]

@Gwynn  Hi Gwynn all I can do is give you my experience. When I was deep in psychosis I would wake up during the night in the middle of a nightmare (the same one) and perform this bizzare, sadistic ritual and then go back to sleep again. It went on night after night until I had the right mediction.  I am sure that everyone is different though. Hope they stop for you. Love peaxx

[Gwynn]

In other ways, my medication seems to be the right medication - maybe I need to go back on the mood stabiliser for the nightmares, but that makes me sleepy through the day. I'm a lot better than I was, though.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4542515/ - apparently it's not uncommon, which is something at least. I had hoped it was my brain healing, but this seems to think it's a bad sign.

[greenpea]

@Gwynn  Hi Gwynn yes I am on mood stabilizers and they give me insomnia some days and other days I cannot get out of bed but hey at least I am not dreaming these half nightmares/half hallucinations any more. It is a tricky one. I have schizoaffective disorder and I think it has done permanent damage to my mind (I think my pdoc thinks the same lol ...) I think the mind (what do I know ....) takes along time to heal and can make different pathways but other times cannot. I know this though my pdoc said that left alone it destroys the brain..... she was being blunt with me and I have no reason to doubt her words.

[Gwynn]

Was she talking specifically about nightmares, or schitzoaffective disorder in general? I've raised the nightmares with my psychologist and she doesn't seem to think they're a big deal.

[greenpea]

@Gwynn  I gather she was talking about mental illnesses like schizoaffective disorder which is not properly treated with medications. This was her opinion I am just the messenger. When I told her about my vivid hallucination type dreams she just looked very concerned and yet not surprised. I think she meant the more all the issues are controlled the better off the patient's outcome will be.

[catladybookworm]

Hi @Gwynn ,

I used to have the weirdest nightmares before I was diagnosed.  Once I started taking medication, the nightmares stopped.

[catladybookworm]

P.S. I have schizoaffective disorder.

[Gwynn]

@greenpea @catladybookworm I heard back from my psychologist today and she says they're not proof that I'm having a relapse of psychosis, so yay! I don't need to fear them as a symptom, I can just treat them as bad dreams.

[catladybookworm]

Hey @Gwynn ,

That's great news! I'm so happy for you!!