Normally, I am a lucid dreamer, but lately, I've been having nightmares that I can't control and can only wake myself up from. And if I go back to sleep, I'm right back in the nightmare. I think it's stress, my cousin died, my rabbit died and I had a miscarriage, all in the space of two days. Eh, thanks subconscious for making my sleeping life hell, too.

In reply to this comment by Doc_M:
Practice lucid dreaming. I'm a very vivid dreamer and I used to have absolutely terrifying nightmares. Now, I'm able to end them because I recognize they are dreams while I'm dreaming them. It wakes me up, but it ends the nightmare. It takes time to master it, but it's worth it. Read up; practice up. Lucid dreaming can be fun too.