I know you are here because you have a lot of questions in your mind right now. You might be getting the same dream over and over again. Initially, you ignored them but now they have occurred so many times that you are eager to find out the reason behind them. Some of you might have the same dream every day and for some, it might occur after every two to three days. Today we are going to understand what these dreams mean.
Before we begin let us start with some FAQs about those dreams.
FAQs of recurring dreams
Ask yourself these questions and see what answer you get.
- Do these dreams have a common pattern?
It is not necessary that you might have the same dream as someone else but there might be some instances that are common from person to person.
- Flying
- Being chased
- Being attacked
- Falling endlessly
- Finding yourself naked
- Got trapped somewhere
- Going back to school
- Teeth falling off
- Being unable to speak
- Missing or failing a test
- Being late for an important occasion
- Not able to run
- Crashing a vehicle
Even if the place changes it still counts as a recurring dream. It is most likely that these dreams start in childhood and might change a bit as your experiences are changing.
- Do they mean anything?
I bet you were having this questioning since the first time you noticed those recurring dreams. Dreams need a lot of studying but some theories suggest that a person can have a supernatural ability to see the future. While scientists deny this fact, we still need to go to the deep end to understand dreams.
- What daily occurrences could explain them?
Your day to day activities might be the reason for those dreams. You might have unmet needs, frustrations, fears, past issues, etc. Suppose you have a dream about failing an exam long after graduation. This might mean that you are looking to succeed in life about something and you are fearful that you will fail. You might be getting that dream every time someone or something provokes a similar feeling.
- Is there a way to stop them?
There is possibly no way to resolve your dreams. But it is possible to resolve things in real life. If you are facing any difficulties, fears, any unwanted emotions, take time to understand them and resolve them. You can also consult a therapist to help you find the root cause, address the effect it has on your life, and figure out coping methods.
Some of the daily habits and emotions are major causes of recurring dreams. Many childhood traumas are also the reason but in such cases consulting a therapist is important. Because what is done is in the past and you no longer have a hold onto it. But what is happening in the present can be changed or controlled. While you might not be aware of these listed feelings, but they play a significant part in recurring dreams. Let’s have a look.
- Daily frustrations – Yes I am right. Frustration towards a friend, family, or at the job can be affecting you deeper than you think. You might be having the need to have control over your life, the need to have a meaningful impact, or you need to care for or be cared for.
Your relationships with family, your partner, at the office might be the reason you are having such unwanted feelings. Your unmet needs cause those negative dreams.
- Unresolved issues – Picked up a fight with someone? Or are you having a cold war in your house? Apart from these bullying, disasters, family traumas, conflicts which are left unacknowledged or unprocessed can be some other reasons.
Let us take an example:
Suppose you dream of drowning. It might be because in real life you are feeling completely helpless, or uncared.
It can happen that you are feeling uncertain or struggling to make an important decision. It might reflect in your dreams.
- COVID-19 – I have seen people getting obsessed with COVID-19 figures. Day and night they are watching the news and discussing the negative results. It is good to be informed but we can’t do anything about the increasing numbers. Keeping precautions, maintaining social distance and the most important rule of washing hands is enough to be safe.
It has been hard especially for people with Cleaning OCD. You get dreams of insects and viruses climbing on your body and you couldn’t get rid of them. The more you let go of the unnecessary news and keep precautions, the more you will feel better.
Real-life stories of recurring nightmares
I have come across some stories of recurring dreams that were very unpleasant but people were able to get rid of them with some effort. I hope hearing their stories might help you all in some ways.
‘One of my friends, Sarah’s elder sister had recurring dreams of her teeth falling and her hair falling everywhere she went. She would scream and wake up in the middle of the night sometimes. Sarah wouldn’t understand the reason behind these dreams. Her sister would say that these are occasional dreams and would go away but they didn’t. One day Sarah found her sister was rigorously putting her makeup on. She would worry about every fine detail. That’s when it hit her that her elder sister entering her 40s was worried about aging. They soon made her understand that she looked beautiful and was strong. Aging is like wine, the older the better. Slowly those dreams started fading away.’
I know many of you might be having the same dream, or dreams of weakness, grey hair, etc. Now you know that you can throw those dreams away.
‘My sister-in-law keeps getting these weird dreams about failing in a simple school test. Well, we all know that dreams aren’t true because it’s years since she left school. But why was she getting those dreams all of a sudden? There had to be some explanation. After some weeks she discussed the pressure she had been feeling on work because of promotions coming up. She feared failing and that was reflected in her dreams. After realizing this, she started working smarter. She would take time to calm herself, do a little self-care, and get on with work feeling fresh. She started performing better at work and her confidence boosted up. On the day of promotions being announced, she excelled in it. And she realized that her dreams stopped coming a few days after she started working for her goals.’
You see, dreams are sometimes reflecting what we are experiencing in real life. All we have to do is figure out what they mean and what they indicate and you can get them away. Because getting such frightening dreams do affect you more in real life. You wake up feeling exhausted or sad and that affects your work.
There is another brilliant way that can help with recurring nightmares.
Lucid dreaming to help your nightmares
If you can get a hold of your dreams through lucid dreaming (LD). In lucid dreaming, you are aware of what’s happening in your dreams. You can control your dream and the environment. Studies have shown that lucid dreaming can help with recurring nightmares and PTSD.
Lucid dreaming is a therapeutic session and might take around 6 or more weeks to learn. But it can show some effects since session one. So if a nightmare does come up, it will be less distressing depending on how much you have learned.
The LD therapist might ask questions to understand what triggers the nightmares. Some people have difficulty in lucid dreaming. In such cases, they are helped to learn critical thinking over their dream content.
The overall agenda is you help you understand the root cause, being able to recognize that it is a dream and not a reality, and helping you find a way to solve your real-life and remove those nightmares. The more you understand your dreams, the better hold you have over them.