Stress/Anxiety Dreams

[Anonymous]

I can't remember if I've asked this question before so bear with me...if I did ask it then...sorry, brain not doing too well these days.

Does anybody else have dreams/the sensation whilst falling asleep, that something, either themselves, or part of their body is really really huge (no jokes, you lot! ) and that they or their mind is incredibly small? Or that their mind/surroundings are huge and their body is incredibly small?

This sounds like gobbledygook to anyone who doesn't know exactly what I mean. My sister has these dreams also and leapt up and said 'Yes!' when I described one particular episode which was associated with sensations of utter panic and confusion about what was what. She told me that my above description was entirely adequate for a fellow dreamer to recognise what I meant.

We also have dreams about 'The thread' which with mine was a black wiry thread on a white background which writhed in an sentient evil manner as my panic increased. My sister said hers is white on a black background and she's trying to pick it up, but can't, with the associated feelings of frustration and panic.

I know this can't be genetic wierdness as a friend I had who had a traumatic childhood confessed to having the same 'Thread' dream which freaked us both out.

Is this some kind of wierd atavistic fear, or what? Is this common for stress dreams? Does anybody know what I'm banging on about or do you have other wierd stress dreams?

As I say, I can't remember if I've asked this before but I don't remember if I have and my sister asked me to ask everyone as she's now convinced it means something and we have to find out what it is, or where to find out what it means. Cheers, angels!

 

[elffriend]

My sister and I have similar dreams.

Our stress dreams always involve being on a toilet in a public place, like an office, and not being able to stand up or 'wipe' for fear everyone will notice.

We also have the same nightmare about the pond in the garden containing a giant fish that is too big for the water. We both have a fear of large, ugly, slow moving fish anyway. Going to aquariums with the children is a nightmare :eek!!!!:

But Dream Moods has an interpretation of a thread dream

Thread

To see thread in your dream, signifies that your road to fortune will be a complicated one. You will need to bind together and strengthen commitments and relationships.

To see broken threads in your dream, forewarns that you will suffer a loss due to the faithlessness of friends.

 

[Anonymous]

As a child I used to have occasional nightmares about some parts of my body being really big and other parts really thin; for example having really big heavy hands and stick thin arms that couldn't support the weight. It was frightening and I mainly had it when I was ill.

I think the toilet dream is supposed to be your brain's way of stopping you going in your sleep and that it is quite a common dream.

 

[Leaferne]

I haven't had one of these dreams in a while (maybe the meds are working?!) but for most of my life I would have very upsetting dreams about being held somewhere against my will and unable to leave. I wouldn't be locked in, per se; it would be more like some sort of an authority figure forbidding me to leave and ignoring my entreaties. *brrr* Actually, my grade 5 teacher probably exacerbated them; he was a f*ckhead who used to do things like make us clean up the classroom 20 minutes before lunch or the end of the day, then we'd stand silently by our chairs while he sat in the middle of the room looking around at us. He'd dismiss us when he felt like it and it was almost always after the appointed time; we'd still be standing there silently fidgeting while we heard the voices of departing kids in the hallway. Never did figure out what his damage was, to coin a phrase. He didn't create those dreams, because I had them when I was younger, but he surely made them worse.

And people wonder where my anxiety disorders came from.

 

[OneWingedBird]

I've had the falling asleep thing where parts of me are very big before, thankfully not very often and almost always after I'd smoked a bit of pot.

One time I'd eaten this really hot curry which had started to disagree with me, and it felt like my stomach had got so big that I was my stomach (and not much else), that was quite horrid.

For a while I'd have these anxiety dreams where I discovered that I had multiple personalities and the 'alters' had been doing things I didn't know about. In the worst one, they were having a conference up in the attic(!).

 

[elffriend]

I think the toilet dream is supposed to be your brain's way of stopping you going in your sleep and that it is quite a common dream.

In our case I think the toilet dreams are more about self esteem as the whole tone of the dream is mortified embarrassment and shame at being seen in such a vulerable position.

Oh and last night I dreamt about a giant leech in our pond. Definatley because of this thread and the news article about the land leech.

Another common dream I have is I am either trying to run away from something terrible and can't make my legs work, or I am trying to see into a room and even though the light is on I can't see properly, it's too dark.

 

[Yithian]

I found it interesting to read a few dream accounts from 1939 that were recently published by the Mass Observation Twitter Account.

It had been clear for some time that war was in the offing, the only question was when, how long and how close to home, and there is some evidence that it was troubling people by night as much as day.

 

[Victory]

@Yithian

That last writer has very vivid and varied nightmares!

When stressed and overloaded, my dreams involve me being chased.
Sometimes I get caught and die.
Other times when I am fighting the stress, I get caught, but fight back and win.

 

[AgProv]

Usually - not as often now as it was - my stress dreams involve going back to my old university (UEA Norwich) and interacting with the place and the people. It takes on different forms in every dream - going back to the Fifer's Lane residences only to find, for instance, the place has become a vastly upgraded version of what it was - almost luxury apartments spaced widely on immaculate green fields and gardens. (the original was ex-RAF barracks with a bit of new build). Reactions are things like a sense of growing unease, that something bad is going to happen, or else "imposter syndrome" sets in and I wonder how long it will take them to realise I'm there under false pretences, or else a growing weight of things neglected and work not done (near-panic sometimes), or a feeling I'm actually in a benign open prison. People I knew there might blank me or are hostile - although in the later dreams, people with no reason to think well of me at the time have started becoming helpful and supportive). Going to the main campus and discovering the Teaching Wall is ten times higher, like a grey fortress wall viewed from outside, and approaching the main entrance is daunting. Wow, there's a lot to work out there!