Interpreting Dreams: Are Dreams Really Wishes Our Hearts Make Though?

[P2C2E]

I dream a lot. Some days I can remember multiple dreams from the night before. My dreams vary from the fantastical to the realistic and everything in between. Every now and then (last night included) I have a very specific dream about people I know and something affecting them. When I wake up, it leaves me wondering whether I just saw the future and if I should tell them about it. 

 

I've always been fascinated by dreams. What are they? Why/how do we experience them? Does everyone dream but not everyone remembers? I love the fact that I dream so much and in so many different ways. 

 

Does anyone here dream a lot? 

[Betweenyouandme]

I have very vivid dreams most every night, increasing in pregnancy. I dreamed last night that I went to go see my dad and move in with him. There was this girl my age who had apparently had his baby a few months ago. She was living in an attached apartment to this new house my dad had bought. I went to go talk to her and told her that I was going to crush her and she was going down.

I'm not a person who would say that. Though, I'd be upset at the situation (right or wrong). Anyway, I woke up in tears.

It was a rough night but glad it's not true....that I know of!

Oh, and no I won't tell my dad. It would start a fight probably.

Edited March 3, 2015 by Betweenyouandme

[magicdog]

Does everyone dream but not everyone remembers?

 

 

I'd always been taught we all dream the moment we hit R.E.M. levels.  Not everyone remembers what they dream about, but that doesn't mean they didn't dream.  Sometimes several different dreams during one sleep cycle - as opposed to one consistent dream.

[Athena]

Yes, I've read that most people dream, but remembering them varies person to person. I tend to remember my dreams most days, but I find if I am very tired/busy, I tend to forget them.

 

I am a lucid dreamer too. When dreaming, I tend to realize it, but I find it a bit difficult to control my dreams completely. I was much better as a teenager. Nowadays, I kinda let my brain do its thing and change "little" things. I find if I try to change the scenery or too many things, the dream/my brain resists.

[P2C2E]

In my dream last night I was banking my exta money (spare change, spending money) with wild rabbits in their burrows. Don't ask, I have no idea. 

[NutMeg]

Is this thread only about dreams when we sleep or are daydreaming and other dreams welcome too?

[DeLurker]

Not sure, but I am open to a broader use of "dream".

 

I don't dream much anymore, but last night I had a dream where I had hairy Hobbitesque feet - yikes!  The feet were my normal feet in terms of size and shape, but I had weird patches of hair growing - even on the back of my heel.

[Maharincess]

The weirdest, scariest dream I ever had was about a year ago. Right after I got out of the hospital from ny first spinal surgery.

In the dream I was walking to the pharmacy, on my way back I started being chased by an Asian gang. Their weapons were spoons. They kept throwing hundreds of spoons at me as I tried to run away. After about a mile of being chased I ducked in between 2 parked cars. I was sitting there catching my breath when I turned my head and came face to face with the gang leader.

Then I woke up.

Its one of the most vivid dreams I've ever had.

I was telling my Dr about it. She knew that my family filed a complaint on my behalf with the hospital because of how 2 certain nurses treated me. They were horrible. I had steel rods put in my spine and they were so rough with me, leaving me in bed pans for hours.

The nurses were Asian and my Dr thought the dream was about them.

I have no idea.

I read once that we only remember dreams that make us wake up. Do you guys think that's true?

[Qoass]

I have very vivid dreams which leave me exhausted many mornings.  Ever dream that you can't sleep?  That will mess with your mind big time!

 

I don't think dreams tell us anything we don't already know.  In my opinion, it's just the brain catching up on its filing.

[Betweenyouandme]

Last night I kept dreaming I was awake in my bed. My baby was kicking and moving against my skin so hard, he was pushing out an extreme amount. I could see his individual fingerprints and full hand. It was scary. There's a picture like this that is common to see on the Internet. Maybe the dream stemmed from seeing this fake picture.

[DeLurker]

Yikes!  Could be a combination of things - your little guy actually being active while you slept and the images you saw filtering in.

[janie jones]

I don't think dreams tell us anything we don't already know.  In my opinion, it's just the brain catching up on its filing.

I agree with this, but sometimes I think dreams tell us something we don't know we know, or we haven't yet articulated.

 

From late elementary school through high school, my friends and I would tell each other our dreams on the bus on the way to school.  I miss that.

[AltLivia]

I haven't been sleeping well at all.

 

You know how everyone's supposed to have the dream where they're falling, but they wake up before they hit the ground, in said dream?

 

I've only had this dream once, but I definitely hit the ground, in it. I could feel the pain. It was terrifying.

 

I've dreamed that I woke up inside a body bag, paralyzed and unable to tell someone that I was still alive.

 

I've had dreams where I'm walking around places I'm familiar with, but for some reason, I keep encountering dead ends. Like, nothing's where it should be, everything's out of order, flipped, weird. For awhile I think to myself, "This is so odd," Sort of taking it all in stride But gradually it becomes terrifying.

Edited June 22, 2015 by AltLivia

[Maharincess]

This doesn't have much to do with dreams but has anybody ever been on the verge of falling asleep and your whole body jumps? It used to happen to me all the time.

[AltLivia]

I think those are myoclonic jerks/hypnic jerks Maharincess.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk

 

It happens to me a lot and it popped up as a symptom on an episode of House. I thought, "Oh, so that's what it might be."

[Maharincess]

Interesting, thanks for the link.

[Qoass]

I have two recurring themes in my dreams.  In one, I'm trying to get home or to work, usually from my childhood home, and I keep getting stopped.  In the other, I go to my closet to change clothes and find a number of pretty items I didn't know I had.  The first theme is obvious but I'm curious as to what my head's trying to tell me about the second one because I'm a bit short on pretty during daylight hours these days.

[DeLurker]

I have two recurring themes in my dreams.  In one, I'm trying to get home or to work, usually from my childhood home, and I keep getting stopped.  In the other, I go to my closet to change clothes and find a number of pretty items I didn't know I had.  The first theme is obvious but I'm curious as to what my head's trying to tell me about the second one because I'm a bit short on pretty during daylight hours these days.

I would think it is your subconscious telling you to recognize the attractive qualities you have and don't focus on.  They may not be physical but things like humor, kindness, gentleness...

[Qoass]

 

recognize the attractive qualities you have and don't focus on

Thanks, Delurker.  I recognize them but others don't seem to.

 

A-HA!

[blueray]

I had a dream the other night that I got stuck in an alternate reality, where everything was similar to my real life but slightly different. Like my parents never sold my childhood home, my brother had a different job and my grandmother was still alive. I knew that it was not my reality, and that things were different but didn't know how to get back. And of course nobody in the dream would believe me. Maybe I just watch to much science fiction lol.

[P2C2E]

I hate those hypnic jerks, they always scare me! Last night in my dream, I got bitten on the hand by an animal. When I woke up my hand hurt. I frequently have very defined dreams where I feel everything. It definitely makes the nightmares scarier. 

[Athena]

BBC Horizon had an episode on Dreams a couple of years ago called "Why Do We Dream?". I recommend it. They don't have a single conclusion, but they posit theories. For example, monster dreams by children could be an evolutionary byproduct of dealing with fear and predators. Dreams can be also good for problem solving. Lucid dreaming technique is also being employed to help with mental health issues such as PTSD.

[Sandman87]

Ha! Hypnic Jerks...so there's an actual name for that. Happens to me very infrequently, but it never occurred to me that there would be a term for it. BTW The Hypnic Jerks would be a great band name.

Also dream related: For quite a few years I suffered from occasional Exploding Head Syndrome (yes, another great band name). To get a picture of what it's like, imagine that you're asleep and close to the point where you're about to wake up, when suddenly someone sneaks into your room and fires a shotgun near your bed. "Startling" doesn't even begin to describe it. The odd thing is that my dreams would sometimes incorporate the "BANG" into the end of whatever dream I was having at the time. And for variety it would sometimes be the sound of a cell phone ringing instead of a bang, which was strange because I didn't have a cell phone back then.

[janie jones]

I don't understand what you mean.  You actually hear a sound (well, "actually," since you're dreaming) and it's really loud and wakes you up?

 

Dreams can be also good for problem solving.

I used to do this thing in college where I'd read the directions for an essay before bed and then plan out the essay while I slept then write it out in the morning. 

 

The recurring anxiety dream I have most often involves me needing to pee but being unable to find a bathroom that has actual stalls rather than bunches of toilets in a row.  And then the pee won't come out because I'm too anxious. This sometimes coincides with actually having to pee but not always.  In the most recent one, I was in a clothing store, and the bathroom there was set up like a lounge with all these chairs all over it, only some of the chairs were actually toilets.  The idea was that since everyone is just hanging around, you don't need stalls for privacy, because you wouldn't be able to tell who was sitting on a toilet.  (I think even in the dream I thought this was a stupid idea.)  I had to hunt around for a toilet by lifting up the seats on all the chairs to see if a toilet bowl was under there, and then when I finally sat down, these women came in and then I couldn't pee.

[Maharincess]

I have always had a fear of bridges, a horrible panic inducing fear.

I had a recurring dream when I was young, in it everybody I've ever loved in my life was on a green school bus, and the bus went over a bridge into the water.

In my dream I could see all of their faces in the windows as they were drowning.

Living in the Bay Area it kinda sucks having panic attacks while going over a bridge, they're everywhere out here.

Edited June 26, 2015 by Maharincess

[Sandman87]

I don't understand what you mean. You actually hear a sound (well, "actually," since you're dreaming) and it's really loud and wakes you up?

I would suddenly hear a very loud "bang", and it would wake me up. It always seemed like a real world "bang", but it was all in my head. Also, for a few seconds after waking up my ears would feel like there had been a sudden loud noise. The first time it happened I was convinced that it was a real explosion, and got really annoyed when I couldn't find anything in my bedroom that had exploded.

[DeLurker]

I would suddenly hear a very loud "bang", and it would wake me up. It always seemed like a real world "bang", but it was all in my head. Also, for a few seconds after waking up my ears would feel like there had been a sudden loud noise. The first time it happened I was convinced that it was a real explosion, and got really annoyed when I couldn't find anything in my bedroom that had exploded.

Funny thing to be annoyed about...thanks for the AM chuckle!

[blueray]

The recurring anxiety dream I have most often involves me needing to pee but being unable to find a bathroom that has actual stalls rather than bunches of toilets in a row.

I sometimes have dreams that are similar, the bathroom is always open for everyone to see and has no doors.

Edited June 28, 2015 by blueray

[Qoass]

So last night I dreamed about two coworkers and then went on to dream that I woke up the next day and told one of the coworkers what I'd dreamed about her.

 

 

[DeLurker]

Dreamception as my daughter would say.

 

My former co-workers have shown up in my dreams, but they always show up with a celebrity boyfriend.  One co-worker, who I was not particularly close with, was with Mark Harmon (a younger version) and the two were making out publicly like high school kids.  My other co-worker was dating Robert Downey Jr.

[ari333]

I have nightmares about things that already happened to me in the past. During the day, I can make myself not dwell on it, but at night I have to relive it in dreams/nightmares. I started listening to podcasts at night and I leave the earbud in my ear the whole night. That seems to help. IDK why. Any suggestions? I was guessing that even though I finally fall asleep my brain hears whatever is on the podcast and it stops the nightmares.

Hypnic jerks. I didn't know it had a name. Also I have "the jimmy legs" aka  restless leg syndrome. I told my doctor about it and she kind of laughed and said that it wouldn't kill me. I didn't say that it was killing me. It is wrecking my sleep. That matters to me. Damn.

[ari333]

I used to have terrible sleep walking problems. My brother did too, but he seemed to grow out of it as an adult.

I would try to get out the door with car keys in my hand. My bf would catch me, wake me up, and stop me. He put extra locks on the door.

I'd try to cook while ASLEEP. It was terrifying.  And no, I was not taking any sleeping pills or any new medications. Just blood pressure medicine that was not anything new.

Edited February 18, 2017 by ari333

[DeLurker]

4 minutes ago, ari333 said:

I have nightmares about things that already happened to me in the past.

Does exercise seem to help?  I know that when I was in a state of constant high stress and had bad dreams as a result, I tended to sleep better on the nights when I had been able to go to the gym after work.  The timing of the gym visit was important for me, since if I went during the morning, it made no difference.

I know some people who swear by aromatherapy as something that allows them to sleep more restfully.  Lavender is the most well known, but ylang ylang, peppermint, jasmine and citrus are also supposed to be soothing.

[ari333]

8 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

Does exercise seem to help?  I know that when I was in a state of constant high stress and had bad dreams as a result, I tended to sleep better on the nights when I had been able to go to the gym after work.  The timing of the gym visit was important for me, since if I went during the morning, it made no difference.

I know some people who swear by aromatherapy as something that allows them to sleep more restfully.  Lavender is the most well known, but ylang ylang, peppermint, jasmine and citrus are also supposed to be soothing.

Wow, Delurker you so "get " me. :-) Yes, exercise did help. I was feeling my best about a year and a half ago when I had slowly worked up to 3 miles a day walking, every day rain or shine.  That was the best I had felt in years. However as I recall I still had nightmares even while getting execise, but somewhat fewer nightmares. However, ironically  (is it irony?) I developed bone spurs on my heels (exercising to help me actually ended up hurting me) and they will not operate to open my feet bc they said it will just come back and I see their point. Walking that long and far is not an option now with the dang bone spurs pain. I need to go swim.  You are such a caring person as are others here.. Thank you for all your responses.

Edited February 18, 2017 by ari333

[ari333]

Aromatherapy sounds like a great idea that I had not thought of. How do I go about it? Candles? Probably no candles while sleeping.

I used to live with a friend who would keep a candle burning 24 /7 . I mean while we were asleep, when we were  not in the house... ALL THE TIME. It used to scare the hell out of me.  I had dreams of the place burning down.

She used to glue holiday tinsel to the ceiling for Christmas- that long silvery kind right over that flame. The burning candle was a few feet below the tinsel on a table.  All I could think was... that candle is going to heat the glue, loosen it, the long stringy tinsel will fall in the candle and burn us all up. I know I'm a worrier, but it seemed like not a safe idea. But I'm still alive. Don't live with her anymore .

Sorry I went on a little rant there, but she used to tell me that I was crazy bc I was scared of the fire factor. Leaving an open flame burning while asleep and while no one is home seems crazy to me.

Edited February 18, 2017 by ari333

[ari333]

Here's one. I hope I'm not boring everyone. I still have nightmares about this one.

When I was five, my mom had a piece of shit car bc I guess that's all they could afford bc they were saving to buy a house.. Anyway, we were on our way far out in the country to visit my grandmother. My mother  stopped the car at a stop sign . The car burst into flames.

My mother yelled " (my name here) "RUN!! RUN! It's going to explode! GET OUT ! GO!" I was terrified.  I ran.  She told me to run. I ran. My mother found me hiding behind a gravestone in a cemetery several yards away. (I was 5. I wasn't going far or able to)

Then later back at my grandmother's house as my mother  recalled the whole story in front of extended family members and a bunch of neighbors, she said, " (my name here) ran like a little chicken." and everyone laughed their asses off at me.

I was five. Still have nightmares.

Edited February 18, 2017 by ari333

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, ari333 said:

Also I have "the jimmy legs" aka  restless leg syndrome. I told my doctor about it and she kind of laughed and said that it wouldn't kill me. I didn't say that it was killing me. It is wrecking my sleep. That matters to me. Damn.

That wasn't cool of your doctor.  No, it won't kill you, but it's uncomfortable and annoying and interfering with sleep is no small matter.  There are medications for it, and she should have discussed them with you.  If it's a real problem for you, talk with her again or a different doctor, because the medications work well.

[ari333]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

That wasn't cool of your doctor.  No, it won't kill you, but it's uncomfortable and annoying and interfering with sleep is no small matter.  There are medications for it, and she should have discussed them with you.  If it's a real problem for you, talk with her again or a different doctor, because the medications work well.

Thank you. What medications? I know I can google it, but I'd rather have a real person tell me their (your) experience.. TIA.

[Bastet]

I don't take medication (yet), because mine isn't that bad or that frequent (yet).  But my mom takes a pill every evening for it; I don't recall the name, but it's a low dose of one of the drugs used to treat Parkinson's Disease (that's a class of drugs commonly used to treat Restless Leg Syndrome, because the dopamine agents that help control the symptoms of Parkinson's are quite effective at treating the symptoms of RLS).  So, definitely something to discuss with your (or another) doctor if it's wrecking your sleep.

[Moose135]

9 hours ago, ari333 said:

Leaving an open flame burning while asleep and while no one is home seems crazy to me.

Me too...

[ari333]

On ‎2‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 0:08 AM, Moose135 said:

Me too...

Thank you.  I tried to gently suggest that it may be a hazard or risky. NOPE. The damn candle stayed burning and I was terrified. It was her apartment and I was just living there (read that as guest/ slash/roommate)  for a bit so I couldn't bitch too much, but I did try to say something.  It gave me nightmares of fire and I'd wake up several times a night and go check on the damn candle.  It was exhausting.

She also put garlic in all the windowsills for.... IDK something  paranormal. I never really heard the full story on that.  But that didn't bother me at all. No harm done.

Edited February 20, 2017 by ari333

[ari333]

On ‎6‎/‎27‎/‎2015 at 6:21 AM, Sandman87 said:

I would suddenly hear a very loud "bang", and it would wake me up. It always seemed like a real world "bang", but it was all in my head. Also, for a few seconds after waking up my ears would feel like there had been a sudden loud noise. The first time it happened I was convinced that it was a real explosion, and got really annoyed when I couldn't find anything in my bedroom that had exploded.

I have never experienced this, but someone I know was describing this. It sounds like the same thing. He called it a, "bang" but he said that it was in his head.

Edited February 21, 2017 by ari333

[DeLurker]

On 2/18/2017 at 1:43 PM, ari333 said:

Walking that long and far is not an option now with the dang bone spurs pain. I need to go swim. 

 

On 2/18/2017 at 1:52 PM, ari333 said:

Aromatherapy sounds like a great idea that I had not thought of. How do I go about it? Candles? Probably no candles while sleeping.

 

On 2/18/2017 at 2:03 PM, ari333 said:

Then later back at my grandmother's house as my mother  recalled the whole story in front of extended family members and a bunch of neighbors, she said, " (my name here) ran like a little chicken." and everyone laughed their asses off at me.

Since you recently decided to start swimming again, that seems settled.  I don't know if I ever swam hard enough to tire me out, but I do find it soothing/calming in my own non-effective manner of swimming.  I like being in water.

I've seen aromatherapy things all over the stores for a while - candles seem like a bad idea as you noted.  The ones I was thinking of were like little humidifiers - you add a cup of water, some essential oils and off it goes.  I would probably put it on a timer so you could fall asleep with it on, after a while it goes off and comes back on periodically through the night.

I'm beginning to picture your mom, family and those neighbors with bad & missing teeth, sitting on the front porch (sagging), requisite hound dogs sleeping nearby and swilling hootch from a jug (the people, not the hounds).  Mom wears an eye patch.

[riley702]

On 6/27/2015 at 6:21 AM, Sandman87 said:

I would suddenly hear a very loud "bang", and it would wake me up. It always seemed like a real world "bang", but it was all in my head. Also, for a few seconds after waking up my ears would feel like there had been a sudden loud noise. The first time it happened I was convinced that it was a real explosion, and got really annoyed when I couldn't find anything in my bedroom that had exploded.

It's called "exploding head syndrome". It's real (google it), but apparently harmless. I've had it for about 30 years, but with LONG stretches between occurrences. It seems to happen more when I'm tired and stressed.

[Sandman87]

As I pointed out in the post two days before the one you quoted.

[riley702]

My bad.

[ari333]

21 hours ago, DeLurker said:

 

 

Since you recently decided to start swimming again, that seems settled.  I don't know if I ever swam hard enough to tire me out, but I do find it soothing/calming in my own non-effective manner of swimming.  I like being in water.

I've seen aromatherapy things all over the stores for a while - candles seem like a bad idea as you noted.  The ones I was thinking of were like little humidifiers - you add a cup of water, some essential oils and off it goes.  I would probably put it on a timer so you could fall asleep with it on, after a while it goes off and comes back on periodically through the night.

I'm beginning to picture your mom, family and those neighbors with bad & missing teeth, sitting on the front porch (sagging), requisite hound dogs sleeping nearby and swilling hootch from a jug (the people, not the hounds).  Mom wears an eye patch.

I get what you're saying. My parents are college educated and live in an affluent neighborhood in a huge house that is worth  about a half a million. That's why my brother wants to run me off and get me out of the family (incase I'm in the will and who knows if I am or not. I don't ask) But if I'm in , he doesn't want to split anything with me, his only sibling. YEP, my brother. He is one greedy, angry dude. I steer clear of him in recent years. He actually told my parents that they needed more life insurance and he should be the beneficiary. He actually said that. That is pretty fucked up imo. like "Hurry up and die already" so he can get paid. He is well off already as I mentioned ,and his wife is stinky rich,, loaded. But he needs more.

Edited February 22, 2017 by ari333

[ari333]

I love the water too. Sometimes when I'm not having nightmares, I have good dreams about Aruba and the Bahamas and the ocean,. I was working there as a musician, but it didn't feel like work. :-) Good times, happy times.

[DeLurker]

That sounds pretty much like a daydream and you lived it - nice!  And a wee bit of envy...

Have you tried one of those sleep sound machines with nature sounds?  I got one for my daughter and it has stuff like rain, forest sounds and ocean waves - it was maybe $20.  I think my therapist said some of her other patients use downloaded apps on their phones.  Maybe something like that generates white noise can help keep some of those nightmares away.

[Blergh]

Maybe I'm different but I actually look forward to my dreams as I often return to see folks and places I hadn't seen in a long time and sometimes I delay waking up just so I can see how the dream turns out like a movie. Also, I can't recall not dreaming in color. Not to say every single dream of mine has been pleasant or had a happy ending but I think I'd feel deprived if I no longer dreamt anything at all.

 

Oh, case in point, a few days ago I dreamed that this store I'd worked for decades ago until its closing had reopened for a single day and despite in the dream knowing I've had another job for a long time, I felt compelled to ask if I could have my old job back. What was weird  was that everyone else looked like they'd had decades earlier but I looked like my current age!