"How do you tell a dream from a nightmare?"

[itrytobe]

How do you tell a dream from a nightmare?

a dream is just stressful and unpleasant, and the dream-stress doesn't usually linger more than a few minutes before the regular waking life stress kicks back in. i'd say a nightmare distinguishes itself from a normal dream in that it is more distressing, and the distress sticks around for a longer time after waking up.