TeenHelp - Triggering: Rape dreams

TeenHelp (http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/)

- Rape and Abuse (http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f13-rape-abuse/)

- - Triggering: Rape dreams (http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f13-rape-abuse/t50519-rape-dreams/)

Lately, I've been having a reoccuring dream. I man is on top of me, and I believe it is my boyfriend. So I'm happy, and fine, and we make out comfortably. But he takes off a mask, and he is someone I knew a long time ago, who hurt me a lot emotionally. And I struggle to get him off and he says "Stop trying to act like you don't like me. Nobody will ever believe you." And...he hurts me.
For the last four nights, I've had this dream. It's freaking me out. Is there a reason for rape dreams, is it some sort of psychological cry for help? What is it?

Hey,
I'm sorry that you're having this dream. While I don't know if there's a factual reason we have them, I do know that after such a traumatic experience it's usually embedded in our heads and we never forget them. Something is probably triggering you to have this dream. Sometimes flashbacks happen in the form of a dream, but if you say you're happy with your boyfriend it's probably not a flashback. However, sometimes after experiencing anything traumatic, we can delevop PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and I cannot actually 'diagnose' because I'm not trained to or anything, but it could be the stress of what happened to you back then.

Have you tried to tell anyone about the dreams? If they keep happening you should definitely mention it to someone. A parent, adult, trusted friend? They'll be able to help you work through them, and maybe even going to see a counselor and facing what you went through will help them go away over time. Until then, I wish you the best of luck!

I've talked to my boyfriend, but not in detail, because I'm afraid it'll upset him as it's upsetting me. I'm afraid it's a flashback too, but I have never been raped that I remember. I keep thinking, maybe there's something that happened but I was under the influence of something. I don't know. :[ Sleeping has not come easy the last few days.