Broken Bones After a Nightmare

by Weeka
(Bremen, Germany)

It started about eight years ago when I was 23. One night I found myself standing in the middle of my bedroom, screaming out my lungs and banging with my fists on a wall, trying to escape the room where I thought I had seen a door just seconds ago (there wasn't). I had dreamed being in a sports hall filled with huge spiders and other creepy animals attacking me. It took me at least 15 minutes to clear my head and get calm again after waking up.

Since then I experienced more or less intense night terrors, about five to ten a year. I had to go to a hospital three times, one time I hit my spine pretty hard, the second time I hit my head and the third time I broke two fingers.

I found myself in places like the middle of my bedroom, the hallway, my balcony (I had to open two doors to get there) or trying to jump out of the window.

When I wake up it's like changing the TV-channel. Jumping from the night-terror-movie to the I'm-awake-now-movie. One second I dream I'm in a life threatening situation like a burning house (everything feels so real then) and I try to reach the window to escape, the next second I'm standing on my open window ready to jump, realizing that I had a nightmare that almost made me jump out of a third floor window because I dreamed I was in the first floor.

Over the years I got used it and I'm not as terrified as I was when it started. But I'm still scared. It is so unpredictable! I never know when I will have the next 'episode' and I know that I'm quite smart when I'm dreaming. I can open windows, doors, even locks. Honestly, it scares the s*** out of me.

I asked my doctors for help but they don't seem to know what to do about that problem.

Is there any treatment for night terrors, especially the running around part? I can get used to scary dreams, but I don't want to act on it anymore. My biggest fear is to hurt myself worse than just some broken fingers. Is there any medication, training program or special hypnosis?