Nightmares... please help me...

So, my friend was all depressed and sh*t and yea.. So we kinda talked and he told me that when he was younger (3years and he is now 15) he almost drowned in his grandmothers pool. But the problem is... He still has nightmares about it.. And I beleive it...

because he goes to bed real late and wakes up real early just so he dont have to sufer from that nightmare for long...
When I was little I got beaten pretty bad in the park by some older.. Probably like collage guys... Because I wouldnt have sex with them... And they said if I didnt keep coming back to get beaten... That they would kil me... So it happend a few times till I finally got the nerve to stop going... And I had nightmares about them comeing after me and killing me after they beat me one last time... I had night mares everynight for years... And I did the same thing he is doin... Almost no sleep...
Im telling you this because... I finally over powered those nightmares... I started hanging out where it had happened and just forgot about it.. Just remember it as something I've read or something... And I want him to over come his nightmares too... I just dont know how...
Any advice would be great...

Xema

go with him to a swimming pool or take swimming classes with him, if he doesnt know how to. I did this with my friend because as children we both almost drown, me in the ocean him by pool, so we went to one of the local rivers thats clean and clear and fun to be at, we went in to the comfortable depth and we held our breath under the water and we sat on the bottom and opened our eyes and looked around as we sat and held hands under the water, we found that our problem was the fear of not being able to control our breathing. and that water was overpowering us...to this day we still cant swim but were not as afraid of the water as we used to be, we just had to make peace with it.

he still swims.. water itself does not bother him... so I dont know how to help him...

a better place to look is your library find some books about it, how to get over it and all that.