Vanessa Unsworth was 37 when nightmares and panic attacks started to plague her nights and days. She was living a living a seemingly well-balanced life, with a steady job, family and a network of good friends.
But each morning, the former marketing manager would wake up shaking so hard she could not lift her arms, clenching her teeth so hard her jaw was fixed.
Anxieties and unknown traumas were causing terror in her sleep, manifesting in vivid, recurring dreams. "One nightmare is trying to get to somebody in time and then they get killed", Vanessa, of Stockport, said: "Or somebody is hurt and I'm trying to get them away to safety." Sometimes Vanessa, now 40, saw herself as a child, frightened of a man coming towards her.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk