nightmare resolved - meaning what?

As a kid I used to live on the fifth floor in this house and for years I had this recurring nightmare where I would be at the bottom of the stairwell walking up when I hear someone/something running down the stairs screaming. I always became paralysed by fear and would wake up just before seeing this thing racing towards me. I must have been struggling to wake up, because I was not really curious to know what it was.

As you can imagine, during this time, walking up the steps in “reality” was quite unpleasant, especially if somebody was running down. I’d have my parents meet me downstairs sometimes, but I don’t think I ever told them why.

Then one time I must have had a lucid moment and for some reason decided to hurl myself to the ground as soon as the nightmare started. I woke up relieved. I think I had the same dream a few times after that and threw myself to the ground every time. I never had this dream since, but I’m still no big fan of stairwells.

I’m certain this all meant something, but what? A psychological knot that was untied? What was this thing chasing me? What would it have looked like? How did I come up with the solution to the nightmare after all those years? Was it a good way out or would it have been better to face the pursuer? I’d be curious to hear what people think.

Grammo. First of all, welcome to the forum, and congratulations on solving your nightmare issue especially that young. It seems to me that you’re still fascinated by something that was long gone. That’s pretty normal. Well, there are certain ways of reviving it. You could try to incubate a dream in which you talk to the scary thing. After all, now you’ve grown up, so it isn’t scary anymore, and you know the scary thing only exists in your dreams, so if it threatens you, you’d become lucid straightaway and be able to face it.

Anyways, most psychologists will advise you not to try to revive nightmares, and I think they’ve got a point. If the question is just too big inside you, maybe you could try to revive certain aspects of that time of your life. Try to remember the places and the moments, try to draw them. Write your memories and the old feelings you remember. Anything, really. Perhaps, if you can make contact with that child in the back of your mind, he can tell you what scared him to death back then.

Or perhaps you already know, and only want someone to post for confirmation. Well, I’m afraid dreams are quite personal, even if you told me all your childhood and all your other dreams, my interpretation to it would be no more than just a guess. It’s really up to you to find out what it means.

Now this is an intriguing thought, going back there! I think it might be really scary, though and I suppose that whatever happens there’s no way of telling whether I’m just making up these explanations. But it would be interesting, no doubt! On the other hand, if I ever manage to have regular lucid dreams there are quite a few things I’d rather do than star in this old horror flick again.

So don’t get me wrong, I’m not haunted by this issue - just curious because I think it must mean something and I have absolutely no clue. I’m also curious to know if it’s common to deal with recurring nightmares in this way, spontaneously or deliberately.

Re–enter them? I’m the only person I’ve heard of who does that kind of thing. And I’m pretty sure all the terapists I’ve told that frowned at the idea. But then again, I tend to face my dreams in a very different fashion than most people, so perhaps it really wouldn’t be recommendable for normal people to re–enter nightmares (especially not lucidly, like I prefer to).

Now, doing the whole past recollection and self–analysis… That takes effort and time to work. But it pays of really well. I mean it. It is recommended—in fact, that’s what one has to do to become a psychoanalyst. If you’re willing to embark on a journey into yourself, a somewhat spiritual quest, go for it. Start a journal. Get in touch with your past. Look at yourself and think about it. It rules.