I am a high school graduate. I will go on and admit i suffered alot growing up as a child and have low self esteem for the way i was treated in many ways. i would say it started last year in october i had to have a kidney stone removed it was my first surgery ever. i started having panic attacks after the surgery. even waking up and just the thought of the sun coming up would make me paranoid because the lighter my curtains got the less time i had before i had to get up. i read that the anesthesia use to put me under during my surgery can cause panic attacks as a side effect but now i have maybe 1-2 a week. sometime none at all for a week or two if im lucky. they can be small and then i can be hating and pitying myself crying my eyes out and hiding under my covers till my eyes swell and i fall asleep. i will say i went through a up and down relationship that didnt do my condition any good because i kept having nightmares about it and now i still have night mare 7 months later after they started but they do not relate to the the situation of my past relationship. i mostly dream about random problems in reality to fantasy nightmares with creatures or what ever is in my dream, i have no controll. but i have nightmares every time i sleep now but i can wake up from a good dream and go back to sleep and have a nightmare or i can have a nightmare go back to sleep have a good dream or not even dream again (i know we all dream sometimes we dont remember). either way i wake up exhausted and worn out. almost like i didnt sleep at all sometimes. and the last thing is i CANT sleep at night unless ive force myself to stay up all night and get through the day and pass out around 8pm. if so i STILL wake up at 1am and wont get back to sleep anywhere from 6-9 am. my "normal sleep routine is 6am to 4pm. this was always my sleep pattern on the weekends while i was in school and now its is what i go through every night. but i actually enjoy being up all night and sleeping during the day i find no problem with it but its not normal. i get more things done around the house and get done what ever it is i need to get done with ease. but its not how normal people should sleep. ive tried telling my parents all this stuff (i still live with them) but im concerned for myself. they know of my panic attacks and only tell me that i shouldnt act like a kid and stay up all hours of the night and get my sleep pattern right, but if i tell them about the nightmare disorder or delayed sleep phase they will only say im trying to diagnose myself and i think too much and worry too much and im a hypochondriac like my aunt. someone please try and give me good advice and tell me what i should do im sick and tired of being like this. if anyone knows how i can practice having lucid dreams then god bless im all ears.