Clusters of upsetting dreams

Hugo Stiglitz

Black Swan wrote: »

Had a bit of a horrific incident when very young, and the memory would often follow me into sleep and dreams, so the "light" was a must for several years while growing up. Later in life this all reversed, and now that I'm a creature of the night I no long want night lights while sleeping.

There's no shame in needing the light. I've had to sleep with the light on many times after having upsetting dreams.

northgirl

Widdershins wrote: »

I get that. I haven't seen the old man and the woman, but I know what you mean when first you say you awoke to see them there, and later managed to rouse yourself. To all intents and purposes you are awake when whatever it is in whatever form it takes, is happening. My 'apparitions' for want of a better word were never as clear as that and there has only been one at a time for me. Could you see them really clearly? Mine would be like a dark, backlit silhouette against the cream coloured blind (a blind that doesn't actually exist on any of my windows!), the noise of footsteps hammering up the stairs really loudly, or a menacing sense of a presence in the dark.

That was the first time I've had such a clear "experience". The man was definitely clear and then the woman was more vague and I guess I was sort of coming out of it by that stage (thankfully).

I was sweating and gasping for air too when I woke. I sleep very badly in general and have a lot of anxiety/stress dreams to the point where honestly I've almost forgotten what a deep restful sleep is.

The exception to that is sometimes on the weekends I might have a nap in the afternoon and for some reason those sleeps are much better quality.

Have you had many experiences of apparitions?

donkeykong5

Black Swan wrote: »

donkeykong5 wrote: »

If you put salt lightly sprinkled around the perimeter of your bedroom and sprinkle holy water on your bed including pillows. Your bad dreams will stop. Before posters start saying I am a nut job. Just try it. !

Well, occupationally as a research methodologist I would be very skeptical of such approaches to solve the incidence of nightmare dreams, there being no empirical evidence of rigour to lend support to such practices. Then again, we can cite the Thomas Theorem (1928), whereupon William Isaac Thomas suggested that if persons define situations as real, they are real in their consequences (for them). I would clarify that such defined situations may fall under faith or what has been often considered superstitious belief systems, that in turn raises the question if you believe something, could it affect your dream content? (We could have fun with this contrast and comparison of faith and empiricism I bet.)

Don't knock it till you try it. !

Hugo Stiglitz

northgirl wrote: »

That was the first time I've had such a clear "experience". The man was definitely clear and then the woman was more vague and I guess I was sort of coming out of it by that stage (thankfully).

I was sweating and gasping for air too when I woke. I sleep very badly in general and have a lot of anxiety/stress dreams to the point where honestly I've almost forgotten what a deep restful sleep is.

The exception to that is sometimes on the weekends I might have a nap in the afternoon and for some reason those sleeps are much better quality.

Have you had many experiences of apparitions?

I hope I never have sleep paralysis. Your own account of it, coupled with those that I've read on Reddit etc, make for very disturbing reading.

I hope that they are only a phase for you and that they'll leave your life forever soon.


Speaking of apparitions, I once woke up to see an alien standing in my doorway. It was your typical grey alien, although in this case it was more of a dull lime green. I wasn't afraid though, which is strange as aliens frighten the absolute poop out of me. I wonder if it was just a dream or perhaps just something brought on by stress or whatever. I'm not suggesting for one moment that it was an actual encounter though! I've no things like fresh scars or lost time etc.

Black Swan

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

I wonder if it was just a dream or perhaps just something brought on by stress or whatever. I'm not suggesting for one moment that it was an actual encounter though! I've no things like fresh scars or lost time etc.

Were you dreaming that you were dreaming Hugo, like a scripted line from the Ladyhawke film?

Fathom

Black Swan wrote: »

Were you dreaming that you were dreaming Hugo, like a scripted line from the Ladyhawke film?

Got DVD. Classic dreaming line.

Gremlinertia

Weird one earlier, was in the countryside on some kind of tour, in a wooded area, quite hilly and came across what originally appeared to be the ruins of a castle.. As i wandered it turned out that the further in i went the more modern the castle was though still very hilly. Eventually got to an area that was clearly lived in and then all of a sudden it became impossible to move about. Every time i turned a corner or reached a step the angles went all crazy and i got very bad vertigo. Struggled to wake from that one and quite jumpy for hours after. An extreme version of the falling type dream i think perhaps?

Widdershins

donkeykong5 wrote: »

Don't knock it till you try it. !

It's a form of taking some control over a situation. Empowering. Maybe it settles your subconscious before you drop off, or something. But who knows..maybe there's more to it. ''More things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in your philosophy'', and all that. I've experienced enough strange things to keep an open mind.
In folklore, salt has protective qualities.

Black Swan wrote: »

Were you dreaming that you were dreaming Hugo, like a scripted line from the Ladyhawke film?

Whereas with Sleep Paralysis, you're dreaming that you're awake. It's mad.

Fathom

Gremlinertia wrote: »

An extreme version of the falling type dream i think perhaps?

Nearby cliffs. Pacific coast. Appear in dreams.

Fathom

Widdershins wrote: »

Whereas with Sleep Paralysis, you're dreaming that you're awake. It's mad.

Confusing dream content.

Widdershins

Fathom wrote: »

Confusing dream content.

Typical dream, then ''Dreams, like stories, are there to show us what we need to know''. Or what we already know on some level.

By the way, this is general, but I was re-reading the Jungian dream theories and archetypes. Makes total sense to me. Except, now it's bugging me that I don't remember ever having seen myself in a dream. I'm always 'in' my own body, looking outward, as in life. I assumed everyone else is this way in their dreams, until I read this:
''The Persona is the image you present to the world in your waking life. It is your public mask. In the dream world, the persona is represented by the Self. The Self may or may not resemble you physically or may or may not behave as your would. For example, the persona can appear as a scarecrow or a beggar in your dream. However, you still know that this "person" in your dream is you

Fathom

Widdershins wrote: »

By the way, this is general, but I was re-reading the Jungian dream theories and archetypes.

Dream interpretation? Art not science.

Hugo Stiglitz

Black Swan wrote: »

Were you dreaming that you were dreaming Hugo, like a scripted line from the Ladyhawke film?

Fathom wrote: »

Got DVD. Classic dreaming line.

Not sure if I should google that movie.

Gremlinertia wrote: »

Weird one earlier, was in the countryside on some kind of tour, in a wooded area, quite hilly and came across what originally appeared to be the ruins of a castle.. As i wandered it turned out that the further in i went the more modern the castle was though still very hilly. Eventually got to an area that was clearly lived in and then all of a sudden it became impossible to move about. Every time i turned a corner or reached a step the angles went all crazy and i got very bad vertigo. Struggled to wake from that one and quite jumpy for hours after. An extreme version of the falling type dream i think perhaps?

Jesus, I vividly imagined the dream as I read your post. Unsettling.



I had a weird dream last night. There was nothing scary about it per se, but it was unsettling for a different reason. Basically it was just me hanging out with a girl. She was totally random, as in I don't think I've seen her anywhere before in the waking world. It was just a dream where I loved her and I felt loved in return. Upon waking up, it was momentarily difficult to accept that it was just a dream. Like I immediately missed her or even mourned for her. It passed after a while, but it was like a little heartbreak.

Widdershins

Fathom wrote: »

Dream interpretation? Art not science.

A fun art. Very interesting that the symbology is common to most if not all cultures.. I wonder if we internalise this symbology from the childhood stories we knew, and it reappears in our dreams.

Black Swan

Widdershins wrote: »

A fun art. Very interesting that the symbology is common to most if not all cultures.. I wonder if we internalise this symbology from the childhood stories we knew, and it reappears in our dreams.

Internalised and memory stored stories may be a source of dreams.

Black Swan

Dressed too warm for sleeping and methinks this triggered yet another dream of someone stealing my laptop at our locale javahouse.

Widdershins

I've had two upsetting dreams in recent weeks. The first: I brought a very close friend to hospital because she had a bad cold in the dream. When I went back to visit her that evening, I entered the hospital through a different door, and it was the width of a train carriage, with beds against the walls, under large train style windows. I approached the bed I thought was my friend's but it had become a cot, and the baby in the cot was my friend. I didn't realise this was not right, in my dream. I was talking to the baby for a while when I suddenly realised it couldn't be my friend and I jumped up in panic, apologising to the nurses in embarassment for having sat there talking to someone's baby for ages. I then ran in panic through the hospital to try to find my friend, thinking something had happened to her. The dream started to improve. The corridor opened out and my friend came running toward me and hugged me. She was completely well.

Last night, I dreamed I'd put my friend into her taxi and waved her off. Then half an hour later, realised it wasn't a taxi at all, it was a stranger's car. Complete panic, wondering how to find my friend. I don't remember how the dream ended.

Hugo Stiglitz

Widdershins wrote: »

I've had two upsetting dreams in recent weeks. The first: I brought a very close friend to hospital because she had a bad cold in the dream. When I went back to visit her that evening, I entered the hospital through a different door, and it was the width of a train carriage, with beds against the walls, under large train style windows. I approached the bed I thought was my friend's but it had become a cot, and the baby in the cot was my friend. I didn't realise this was not right, in my dream. I was talking to the baby for a while when I suddenly realised it couldn't be my friend and I jumped up in panic, apologising to the nurses in embarassment for having sat there talking to someone's baby for ages. I then ran in panic through the hospital to try to find my friend, thinking something had happened to her. The dream started to improve. The corridor opened out and my friend came running toward me and hugged me. She was completely well.

Last night, I dreamed I'd put my friend into her taxi and waved her off. Then half an hour later, realised it wasn't a taxi at all, it was a stranger's car. Complete panic, wondering how to find my friend. I don't remember how the dream ended.

Two scary dreams there.

Widdershins

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

Two scary dreams there.

There was another one, scarier, I can't even type it out. My friend is what some would call vulnerable. Out of all of the dreams I've posted about in this thread, these ones are worrying me.

Hugo Stiglitz

Widdershins wrote: »

There was another one, scarier, I can't even type it out. My friend is what some would call vulnerable. Out of all of the dreams I've posted about in this thread, these ones are worrying me.

*hugs* Sorry to hear that, W.

Widdershins

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

*hugs* Sorry to hear that, W.

Thanks, Hugo. Posting in this thread is catharthic!

Hugo Stiglitz

Widdershins wrote: »

Thanks, Hugo. Posting in this thread is catharthic!

It really can be.

Fathom

Widdershins wrote: »

Thanks, Hugo. Posting in this thread is catharthic!

Hugo Stiglitz wrote: »

It really can be.

Good purpose.

Fathom

Upsetting dream. Dying. Taking out brains. Still alive. Freezing them. Saved for future studies.

Black Swan

Fathom wrote: »

Good purpose.

Agree.

Fathom wrote: »

Upsetting dream. Dying. Taking out brains. Still alive. Freezing them. Saved for future studies.

Yikes, what a nightmare having your brains removed while still alive. :eek:

Widdershins

Fathom wrote: »

Upsetting dream. Dying. Taking out brains. Still alive. Freezing them. Saved for future studies.

Yours, or were you doing the procedure? Do you work in neurosurgery, or as a psychologist? Sorry if I'm being very nosy! It's fascinating but sounds like a very upsetting dream.

Last night I went back to my usual running around a strange house with endless twisting corridors, attic rooms, stairs and improbably shaped rooms. The strange house was empty. From what I remember of these dreams when they first started, they used to be set in dated, 60s or 70s style houses, there'd be beds with retro floral duvet covers, and tired looking spider plants in plastic hanging pots. Nowadays the houses are usually unfinished grey plasterboard. This one was all clad in light brown plywood, even the ceilings and around the window(which were very small and most of them were triangular and high up on the wall). What hasn't changed is that they always turn out to be even bigger than I thought, I find another door, a new passage, whole new wings to the house. I've only got out of the house once.

I ended up in a strange young woman's bedroom, she left and I stole her hairbrush and a fleece hoodie from a radiator. I tried a pink fleece on and actually saw my own reflection in a mirror (first time in a dream) and thought ''not my colour!'' and stole a brown one instead. I felt like I had to do it because I didn't know where I was and didn't have any of my own things.

Fathom

Widdershins wrote: »

Yours, or were you doing the procedure?... It's fascinating but sounds like a very upsetting dream.

Operating on self during dream. Scull cap already removed. Using scalpel, retractors, forceps, clamps, etc., before a mirror.

Widdershins

Fathom wrote: »

Operating on self during dream. Scull cap already removed. Using scalpel, retractors, forceps, clamps, etc., before a mirror.

That must have been awful. Did the dream seem to go on for long?

Hugo Stiglitz

Fathom wrote: »

Operating on self during dream. Scull cap already removed. Using scalpel, retractors, forceps, clamps, etc., before a mirror.

Jesus.

Black Swan

Nightmare indeed!