Out of curiousity, how does this apply to nightmares ending in certain death or grevious injury (driving off a bridge, falling down a well, being chased by zombies and unable to move, etc.)?
Every few years I experience a recurring nightmare, where I am being chased by some kind of giant monster, but I've never gotten a look at what it is and I don't know specifically what it wants but always just assume it wants to do me harm. After a long time running from it and panicking, eventually I realize no matter how hard I try to run, it's futile - the monster will catch me eventually. So I just decide to accept there's no way out and give up. Either I jump off a cliff to go ahead and kill myself (in which case I always wake up before hitting the ground), or I just stop, sit down, and begin to turn around so I can finally get a look at the monster before it catches me (in which case I always wake up before it gets me, AND before I can see it).
I have scary dreams sometimes, but this is the only one I'd classify as a real nightmare. Nevertheless, I find myself waiting for the nightmare to come again, because I really just want to finally get a look at what it is that's chasing me.
Sometimes I wonder if, when I finally get to see it, I'll somehow be changed as a person.
Is there anything else going on in the dream? Other people you are with/could be with/what kind of location/can you fight this thing or are you sure it will get you?
I was having the free fall "nightmare" once in a while and i was on my bike falling free. But. Every time i touched the ground i kept going on them wheels no problem. Then it hit me, once in a while i had been playing this game on my phone Hill Climb, where i found myself with the motorbike on the moon which is a great way to farm gold coins. There is a lot of falling down on that map.
Since i had this revelation many years ago i started to "decipher" most of my dreams.
Makes me feel life is now a bit more boring though.
That this nightmare has never been fully resolved could be why it reoccurs.
I would guess when you see the monster it will stop, but depends what the monster is potentially standing in for. What you could consider is what triggers it - is there something during the preceding waking hours that causes you to revisit that dream?