As someone who has put a stop to his nightmares, there is lots you can do.

Because there is no fence between you and your nightmares, you can touch them just as they touch you.

You can intervene. I’ve intervened personally, but I imagine a therapist can also work assuming you are OK with collaborating.

In my view, and this is what’s worked for me, becoming conscious that you are dreaming while you are still dreaming, is the best intervention. That’s called “lucid dreaming.” Lucidity is a choice. You can decide to be conscious instead of on autopilot for any one or any set of dreams.

Imagine you are having a nightmare, but unlike the usual automatic responce, your mind, which you have dilligently programmed during the day, recognises your state for what it is: a short-term nighttime dream. Even as the nightmare unfolds, you stop running, tave a breath, and say to yourself, “Ahhh, so this is a dream! I have a body resting in bed right now. I live in such and such city where the resting in bed body is. The name of the body in bed is such and such. And this circumstance here is a nighttime occurence, occuring in my mind while my long-term body rests in bed. I don’t need to be afraid of anything here. This is my dream and I am free here. I don’t have to buy into anything here. The rest is up to me.” Now that nightmare either has no power whatsoever or at best a minuscule fraction of its former power.

That’s not the only possible intervention, but that’s what’s worked for me.

This is an executive summary. The actual journey to conscious dreaming, aka lucid dreaming, is very involved, rewarding, and worthwhile. There is plenty of info on it if you search it out.

I struggled with night terrors from PTSD for a long time. Developed a binge drinking habit to try and cope, because I didn’t want to sleep anymore and had to knock myself out.

Eventually I was able to get help. Two years with the right therapist (many more trying to find her) and I actually only get night terrors once a month or so now. That might sound like a lot, but weeks of refreshing sleep between episodes makes life so much easier to live. Things have taken a slight dive since the start of the year, but I know once politics and security are stable again I’ll be okay. Being able to rephrase my brain from “torturing” me to “coping any way it can” has helped, but I think the journey to dealing with nightmares is different for everyone

We do our part to keep social security solvent by working until right around the exact same time the bad dreams release us