When Dreaming Is Too Much

If you have narcolepsy like me, then you might also have vivid dreams. Chronic vivid dreams are one symptom of many that might indicate narcolepsy.

Meeting friendly characters in dreams

Sometimes these dreams are full of adventure and great characters. Since narcolepsy and being hard of hearing can be isolating, I tend to talk to more people in my dreams than when I am awake.

These dreams can be fun and even entertaining. Sometimes when I wake up from these dreams, I am sad – because I’ll never see my "dream friends" again! (Although I sometimes have dreams with the same characters, it is very rare.)

When I get sad about this, though, I try to remind myself that since these characters came from my own mind, they remain with me even if I never dream about them again. And I feel a little better.

The 'emotional hangover' of disturbing dreams

Sometimes, vivid narcolepsy dreams can be scary and disturbing and cause negative emotions. One of our Community Health Leaders, Elle, once coined the term "emotional hangover" to describe this feeling.

In the article, she mentions that our bodies process emotions that we experience in our dreams the same way we process emotions when we are awake. So, if we are having a scary dream where we are running from a monster, for example, our bodies will release stress hormones including adrenaline to help us escape the monster.

Except, the monster isn’t real. And these physiological effects linger! Even though we awaken and know, cognitively, that our dreams weren’t real — the emotional effects are still there. This can feel like emotional whiplash.

Constant vivid dreams can create confusion

Chronic vivid dreaming can make it difficult to tell the difference between dreams and real life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked my friend about a topic we had discussed, only for them to be really confused and explain to me that they never had that conversation with me. I had dreamt it!

Explaining this symptom to others is so difficult that I’ve never done it. I usually shrug it off and say something along the lines of, "Oh... never mind!"

If I could control my dreams, I would

I can’t control what I dream about – and that’s a bad thing.

In addition to narcolepsy, I also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I’ve been working with therapists and psychologists for years, but no treatment has made my nightmares completely go away. They’ve changed – become less disturbing – but I still have them and suspect that I always will.

My therapist has tried to teach me methods to change my nightmares, but when I practice her methods my nightmares become more frequent. If I could control what I dreamed about, I would!

Are there insights to be gained from my dreams?

Am I having an insightful spiritual experience, or am I just having an extremely vivid dream? This is a question I ask myself a lot.

Sometimes my dreams have themes that give insight into my unconscious mind. For example, if I feel deep down that someone in my life is untrustworthy, I might have nightmares about them. Other times my dreams are just a chaotic mishmash of brain junk. Which is which?

Do you experience vivid dreams, too?