Hi all,

Little by little I am gaining understanding of what happened with my A ex-bf.  I no longer feel the guilt for breaking up with him.  I no longer accept his words of blame.  And although I still miss him, I feel the progress of peace and healing.

I do, however, relive some of the moments over the last year of our relationship and have been wondering if any of you have experienced anything like this.

D~ has HORRIBLY violent nightmares since I've known him.  A year ago his dreams consisted of violent thrashing, kicking, etc. and yelling (yelling!) "Shut the f**k up!" over and over.   This occurred several times when I stayed with him. 

Most recently, his dreams seemed to escalate.  He was making choking sounds, asking the subject how they think it would feel to be shot by a 45, made the gunshot sounds, and then screamed at the top of his lungs - several times.  His eyes were wide open the entire time and he just wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I tried. 

Of course, I was absolutely terrified!  Each time this has happened I've asked him if he's aware of his dreams and who he is so angry with.  He claims to not remember.

My questions:  are these dreams a result of his alcohol abuse?  Does he really harbor deep anger toward someone and it's manifesting itself in his sleep?  How much does the chemical dependency affect one's sleep?  Does he truly not remember? 

Any experiences or thoughts you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Hollie