Having lots of strange dreams...any thoughts?

[Thinkalot]

I am not really expecting anyone to be able to analyse and explain my dreams for me...but does anyone know why sometimes you dream more (or at least remember your dreams more).

 

This past week I have been dreaming frequently...maybe 4 that I can remember each night, all of them very vivid, in colour, and often a wierd collection of images from both my present life, and also from my childhood. Many of them take place in my childhood home, and often feature a dead grandparent. My partner and my mum are often in my dreams too (they are probably the two people I am closest too)...in one dream we were all kidnapped, and I was going to have to watch them be murdered.

 

In another, we were all swimming near my childhood home...when it started snowing...something unheard of in that area.

Then we went to meet with my grandparents (my grandpa is no longer with us) and I was preparing to go out with my partner... and I felt so sad...I was sad for my mum. I felt sad when I awoke, and still feel the sadness as I recall the dream. I was worried she was so alone, and that I was now moving in a different direction.

 

Weird stuff like that. Every night! Last night I got so consumed in my dream state, that when I woke, I thought I was single again or a child again or something, and when my partner moved next to me in bed, I screamed out, because I thought he was an intruder!

[Fedup&givingup]

Hey, Thinkalot!

 

Here's what I think...I think that when you/people dream alot it's due to stress, especially when the dreams are as vivid as the ones you are having.

 

My guess (and I am FAR from being a Freudian LOL) is that it sounds like you fear losing your mother and boyfriend like you've lost your grandparent(s)?

 

You just went through the turmoil of deciding not to see this ex, which actually strengthened your current relationship tremendously. I would say that situation (becoming closer to your boyfriend) makes you afraid of losing him all the more, and that you want him in your life for the long haul.

[carla]

I have read a couple of books on dream analysis, not that I'm an expert now but, here's my thought. To start with when we dream of someone who has past they are always alive in our dreams this is normal. I have a friend who is a

quadrepelgic (sp) and she can always walk in her dreams. This is normal.

 

Everyone dreams in colour we just don't remember.

 

As for having to watch your mum and bf being murdered, I bet you always wake up before this actually happens, am I right? This is an unconscience fear of losing your loved ones, or possibly saying or doing something that you fear that they may never forgive you for.

 

For your second dream it is simular to your first you fear of your mother being alone, simular as losing her. You say that you just moved out, does your mother now live alone? If you don't live far visit her as much as you can for the first little while.

 

Your mum and your bf are very lucky that you love them enough to be so concerned for their well being. Once your feelings or guilt of losing someone or leaving someone behind disappear so will the dreams. You may not even realise that you are feeling this guilty about leaving your mother.

 

Like I said 'm no professional. Just my opinion. Good Luck.

[brashgal]

Haven't you been worrying about a terrorist attack? Maybe that's the connection? You're worrying about those dear to you being lost due to a senseless act.

[Thinkalot]

Thanks for the insights all.

 

FedUp...things have been serious with my partner for some years...BUT it is true, I have recently been thinking a lot more about our future/marriage and so on. Also some big travel plans we have to take a year off. Part of me worries about how that will effect my mum. So maybe you are onto something. My Grandma is still alive, but my papa died about 6 years ago. He often appears in dreams.

 

Carla...nope I moved out of home nearly 10 years ago. BUT only recently (in the past couple of years) did I truly let go a bit more of my mum, and did she let go a bit more of me (forced change, owing to several circumstances, including my current partner). I didn't even realise how tightly we'd been holding on to certain things, even when I had other relationships etc. It caused A LOT of grief for mum and I, going through the changes, and I still worry about her a lot. I often feel quite responsible for her being happy. I know I am not responsible, but I still worry.

 

Brashgal- I'm not actually frightened of a terrorist attack...I was curious to see if others were, as I have a friend who is. Nevertheless, I would agree that fear of loss is obviously something coming through.

 

Another point- I often dream of my childhood home when I am stressed, or in a strange place. We lived on a waterfront, and I loved growing up there, and had quite a blessed childhood and was very loved. I often return to that home, or our old boatshed (we didn't have a boat, but filled it with old furniture and hung out there).

In one of my dreams last night, I walked to the end of a long jetty with my partner, then suddenly realised the jetty had reached my old boatshed, and my old neighbour was there waving hello.

[Fedup&givingup]

Ahhh, you are returning to the place where you felt SAFE and SECURE. That's interesting, really

[Thinkalot]

Dreams are fascinating aren't they? This week has been so busy in the dream dept! Every morning I wake up feeling a bit 'out there' from all the dreams, which I can remember so clearly.

 

Just a side thought- I'm taking anti-depressents to help control obsessive thinking, and I did read in literature somewhere, that they can cause strange dreams. I've been taking them for a few months now though without any such effects, so it seems unlikely the meds would be the cause all of the sudden.

 

P.S. Fedup..your user name is so sad sounding...i'm trying to think of a happier nickname for you! I hope things in your world are sorting themselves out

[Thinkalot]

There are also two full moons this month.

[Fedup&givingup]

Yeah, I don't think these dreams are suddenly in correspondence to your anti depressants. I think it's your subconscience telling you something, and I think that intense, vivid dreams are actually induced by certain stressors.

 

About my name on here LOL. It is pretty pathetically sad. I could initiate a thread on suggestions for a new handle LOL. Actually...that's exactly what I will do.

[Thinkalot]

StandingupandGivingall ?

[Fedup&givingup]

Hey, that's pretty good! I am embarrassed to say that I can't figure out/find out where to start a new thread LOL I only did that one time on here.

[Thinkalot]

Go to the top of the section you want and click on "new topic".

[gaia]

Thinkalot

 

I am on similar meds for OCD and they definitely make my dreams more vivid and memorable. Most of the time I don't notice so much, but occasionally I have a dream that's so vivid and realistic that I keep having to remind myself the next day that it was just a dream.

 

I think dreams generally reflect our anxieties. Maybe having a lot on your mind combined with the meds is the answer.

[FreeMe]

The meds are probably causing the vivid dreams. But that doesn't mean the content doesn't have meaning.

[Thinkalot]

HI FreeMe- hope things are going OK for you.

 

Well, I had another night of weird dreams! I had a notebook beside the bed at the ready, and when I awoke I wrote down what I could remember of the dreams. I'm going to start doing that- looking back over them then might help me understand what they mean.

 

Once again last night, my bf and mum both featured in the dreams. In one dream I was in Spain, and in another, I was in Russia!...but with people I knew around me. I was actually going to Madrid in one of them (obviously in my head owing to recent events). Mum was there to look after us.

 

I guess it's possible the meds, in conjunction with other things in my life, could be causing this.

 

I went to my meditation class last night, and the lady who teaches us said there was something for me to learn and let go of at this time, and to keep writing things down, because in time it would become clear.