DS,9, Started nightmares, now seeing the things whilst awake

[wonderfultykes]

Can anyone share experiences here? DS, 9, started having recurring nightmares, three of them, 9 nights ago. He has also started to 'see' the things he dreams of whilst awake.

I've asked the obvious - anything troubling you at school/home/freindships/worried about poorly grandparents, and he can't pinpoint a thing. Yet tonight he was happily playing then came hurtling downstairs saying 'it didn't happen it didn't happen' terrified and crying.
He'd seen the things from his nightmares in the room. The nightmares sound horriffic.

The most scary thing he watches is Merlin. We don't even watch Dr Who.

I will get him to docs as it is affecting him nightly and then in the day he's scared to go the places that he dreamed about (school, town centre, gym, everywhere). He is, of course, scared to go to sleep.

What is going on here?
Could it be hormones?
Anyone any ideas?

I'd be eternally grateful for any insights.

Poor him. Sounds horrid. I don't have quite the same with my ds (7) but similar. He frequently has terrible nightmares and he goes quite nuts, pulling at his hair, heart racing, hitting out with his arms etc. If I walk him into the light slowly he seems to come out of it but can then go even more weird where he grins inanely. Terrifies the hell out of me. The only time I've seen similar behaviour when he's awake was when he watched Mars attacks. It freaked him out (incidentally it was his dad that let him watch it - I would not have). It was as though he just kept seeing the aliens in the film vividly in his mind afterwards and he just couldnt calm down. Maybe your son has a very vivid imagination? Is he quite sensitive about other things? My son is. Not sure if that is part of it.

Are the nightmares stopping him from sleeping? If so, sleep deprivation can lead to hallucinations. The cure is to get more sleep. That was what happened to me (though I was younger than your ds).

I have suffered from terrifying and frequent nightmares since as far back as I can remember. Although in my case I was always very stressed and anxious, sometimes people can just be prone to them (even when I am not stressed/anxious I stil have nightmares 4+ times a week).

I do agree you need to take him to a doctor. They should be able to offer him help in dealing with them if nothing else.

It does sound like there is something troubling him, but he may genuinely have no idea what it is.

It may help in the meantime to teach him relaxation exercises and techniques to help him calm himself down. Having experienced hallucinations as an adult and child, they are very scary and upsetting, even when you know they are not real and it can be difficult to calm down without help.

A very high number of the population will experience some kind of hallucination during their lifetime - its something ridiculously high like 1 in 3. They are not considered an indication of a serious/extreme issue as long as the person experiencing them knows that they are not real. Stress/anxiety and sleep deprivation are the most common causes.

Oh thank you joshand jamie and the armadillo

J&J - yes he is quite sensitive and has a fab imagination, but it's not led to this before, though when he was 4 ish he did have a spate of night terrors like your DS. the common theme to these mares seems to be from dr who (no longer watched!) weeping angels - all the monsters move when he's not there. Grrrr! never used to be so scary i'm sure

Armadillo - this is fascinating info thank you so much. Mares must stop him sleeping - i think he tries to stay awake as long as possible then they must wake him up. it's a bit catch 22 isn't it. REally useful what you say re hallucinations

I have put him down tonight with a 'deep sleep' ap on my ipod and for first time in days he's OK without my old teddy (which he borrowed 'to look after') - has to be a good sign. i think he's really brave - he says the mares just keep getting worse, but he doesn't kick up about it like I would.

He's just identified he thinks he's not spending enough play time with Daddy. THis links in as DH has just started new work after being much more available to him...could be this, which we can strive to change.

THank you so much both, fingers crossed tonight may be different

As a young child 4 -5, and a couple of times when I was older 7-10, I experienced hallucinations like this. I still remember a couple and they were very frightening although i knew they weren't real. It was always when I was very tired and was in some way related to an anxiety I had. But the anxiety was often quite a small thing, it was the tiredness that seemed to be the real trigger.

I think the advice above is very good. But just wanted to say that I have experienced no issues as a teenager or adult with this, no matter how tired I was. So please don't think this necessarily means anything is "wrong" with your DC or that it is a worry for the future - although I am sure very difficult to deal with at the moment.