"You have nothing to fear but fear itself."...Okie Dokie Mr. President...

I have always had abnormally vivid dreams. They are these amazing technicolor wonderlands that I for the most part thoroughly enjoy. For example, I once dreamed about being at a Barbecue and woke up salivating from the aromas emanating form the smoker/grill I had been standing next to in the dream...(I am a food-aholic but thats an issue for another post)... So in saying that, just imagine what my not so great dreams are like. I wouldn't call them night terrors (I don't know, maybe they are) but sometimes, every once in a while, I experience what I believe to be true evil in my dreams. I wake up in a sweat or crying from the emotional turmoil I've just been through. So why is it then that we are able to dismiss nightmares as a dark flight of fancy or a chemical reaction from a late dinner, when they often times produce a visceral conscious reaction? Is the fear in my dreams somehow made less because it was my subconscious that saw it rather than my waking eyes? I don't think so. I think my dreams help bring whatever the particular fear is to the surface so that I can deal with it and quickly. Yes I know that dreams can't harm you but not dealing with the problem behind some of the nightmares can in fact have a negative effect on your life. Just a thought...:)