I’m twenty-one. I live on my own, work full time, and have been addicted to heroin for the past several years. I have had the most horrible nightmares about three to five times a week since before I started to use. If I do a shot and pass out, I typically don’t remember my nightmares.

The dreams are variations of the same two stories every time. In one, beings without faces chase me and torture me. They usually rip off my arms and legs. I always try to play dead, but it never works. It usually takes place in front of the house I grew up in. In the other dream, a gigantic force, usually a bright glowing light, speaks and chases me. I try to hide in the house, but it shines through the window. The glow has a female voice, and it terrifies me. The light then pulls me (or my mom and then me) toward its center, where I am eaten alive.

I’ve had these dreams for a very long time, and even as a twenty-one-year-old guy, I very often wake up crying and ashamed. Please shed some light on what these could mean. Maybe if I could do something about them or know where they come from, I could stop them with healthy coping skills.