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Storm Chasing & Nightmares
I got trained as a severe weather spotter by the National Weather Service 2 yrs ago when I was 18. This past Spring Break I went on a organized tornado chasing tour and was there when that big tornado outbreak that hit Norman, Moore, and Oklahoma City plus a few other places. Flying debris actually broke a couple of the windows of the van I was in because we got really close and while I enjoyed the adrenaline rush and had fun doing it, that night I had a nightmare that instead of us just getting really close, the tornado actually got us...and I've having a lot of nightmares about tornadoes since then like several times a week. I've been ok during the day, but at night when I lay down...it all seems to get to me. What's going on and what can I do?
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Hello :) My sincerest apologies for the delayed response;I was away and didn't have access to a computer. Anyway, I hope I can still help.
This is actually the first time I'm hearing about this tornado outbreak, and it's horrible! I'm extremely glad you were not injured though.
You say this gets to you more at night. I believe this is because at night, you have more time to think and your emotions really hit you, which would be the most ideal time for you to recap what you lived through this past Spring. I believe you are having these dreams over and over because you lived through such an emotional tragedy. Though you enjoyed being there, subconsciously it probably frightened you and you still haven't realized/accepted that yet. Now, I don't know much about dreams/nightmares or the analyzation of them so I don't want to just base this on my opinion, for I am not a professional in the topic. I decided to do some research, and came up with the following:
"After a person has experienced a traumatic event such as natural disaster, participating in combat, or being a victim of physical assault or rape, he often re-experience the event through intrusive thoughts, dreams, acting or feeling as if the event were reoccurring and/or intense distress." and this seems pretty accurate to what you are going through, so these recurring nightmares are normal and expected. I researched how to stop recurring nightmares and came up with the following:
"1) Talk about the nightmare with someone. Give it a voice. Describe it fully, scene by scene, what happened and how you felt.
2) Write it out. Write out the whole scenario, including what happens when you wake up.
3) Act it out. Play all the characters involved.
4) Imagine a more pleasant ending. It sounds simple, but getting every neurological loop involved can help finish the business.
•If those rituals don't lessen the nightmares, take a closer look at your internal dialogue. What you tell yourself can have a dramatic influence on your subconscious. "
Since that was advised by a professional-Dr.Phil to be exact- I think you should try it. Some of the steps seem silly, but most likely they do work. :) So try these out and then if you want to, you can come back on here and discuss the matter further-whether or not it worked, and if not, we can try to come up with more solutions if you'd like. :) I'm sorry if this was not much help, but I really did try. Feel free to come to me with anything. I hope everything works out great and that you can get rid of these nightmares once and for all. :]
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