How come bad dreams seem stupid when you wake up,

[Beware the Beast Man]

but still freak you out during the day?
I had a bad dream last night, and when I woke, I realized how stupid it was. Yet it still bothers me somewhat. It had something to do with backward masking on records, and it makes little or no sense to me now, but still.

On a related note, does the way you sleep affect how you dream? I noticed I only have nightmares when I fall asleep face-down (usually in a pillow).

Hmm...:shrug:

[johnnie]

1. "Bad dream!...bad bad dream!!"

"You're a very bad dream, now go to your room right now young dream!"

[Mistra_Know_It_All]

2. The dream state is a funhouse mirror view of your psyche.

It is colored by your fears and lusts and rage. It is also clouded with your loves and sensitivities. The phantasmagoric visual stimuli and the flowing "narative" of the dream is carried, much like a bouyed cork in a tempestuous stream, on and about by a rush of chemicals and frenetic activity in your synapses, accompanied by the rapid eye movements.

Without your conscious mind to mediate the whole affair and separate "reality" from the manifest godhead that is your mind the unfettered exploration of your fears and fantasies can commence.

[Beware the Beast Man]

3. So, in other words, I have a latent lust for my mother?

:shrug:

[Mistra_Know_It_All]

4. I'm afraid that is what Freud would say. LOL

Seriously, however, you should explore your fears and your fantasies and look for the ghosts of your ancestors there. It is an ancient and universal quest. That, of course, assumes you are comfortable with making the journey.

I will resist the temptation to begin quoting Jim Morrison. :)

[Shrubhater]

5. Do your nightmares

relate to your sleeping position? Like when you sleep face down on a pillow, do you dream that your face down drowning, or sufficating etc? If so, change your sleeping position. That sleeping position might be giving you a deficet of oxygen.

[Beware the Beast Man]

6. My thoughts exactly.

Or perhaps it triggers some sort of axiety response, due to the lack of oxygen. Still, though, a dream where I am playing "Revolution 9" backwards is a silly basis for a nightmare.

[Nikia]

7. I have nightmares if my stomach is upset

Before I go to bed, especially when I had eaten recently (as opposed to empty stomach upset). It is not that I haven't had nightmares other times. Those are the times though that I have dreams scary enough to wake me up from the adrenal repsonse and leave me scared and unable to go back to sleep for a half hour or more. This can happen even if my nightmare was illogical or if I am obviously not in that kind of danger at the moment (being hit head on by a semi for example).