Decoding your nightmares

You body jump starts you from a disoriented sleepless night and you’re barely balancing in the states of  sleep and awake - you bolt up straight in your bed - drenched in sweat - feeling hot all over - with goose bumps on your arms. You try to remember what scared you so much but the image fades from your mind’s eye.

You see the familiar faces of your favorite actors smile back at you from where their pictures hang on the wall, you see your study table scattered with books and pens, your closet and book racks and you realize that you are still in your bedroom. There is no one chasing you. You are not falling off the tall cliff onto the jiggery rocks at the bottom. You’re safe. Your bedroom welcomes you. Your breathing slows down and paces out.

Sound familiar huh? We’ve all had one of thee at least once, could be so long ago that you can’t recall it, but yes, you know it has happened to you.

Nightmares occur during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep that reflect feelings of strong terror, fear, distress or anxiety. REM sleep is a stage where the brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. Although we don’t even remember whether or not we dreamt, we tend to have three to five dreams per night and dreaming can go upto more than two hours.

Scientists do not know much about how or why we dream. Sigmund Freud, a major influence in psychology, believed dreaming was a "safety valve" for unconscious desires. 

One theory is that it is related either to physiological causes, such as a high fever or to psychological ones, such as unusual trauma or stress in the dreamer's life.  Some scary situations related to real life trauma are called Post-traumatic stress nightmare (PSN). This type is an indication of a fear that needs to be acknowledged and confronted.

But mostly, nightmares aren’t things to be scared of or taken too seriously. Nightmares reflect frightening elements from our imagination, sometimes stimulated by watching movies or television, reading books or even playing computer games. It’s nothing life threatening but is a part of sleeping and is normal.

What exactly do these night terrors mean? It’s mostly a boggle of random creations and images of the subconscious brain with no particular deeper interpretation, but what if they did have some sort of deeper meaning?

#5 - Natural Disasters

Ever dreamed of being stuck in storm, a cyclone or an approaching tornado that is ripping apart houses and trees? Could indicate a sense of impending fear or anxiety. The weather is often unpredictable and cannot be controlled and hence reflect anxiety or nervousness about anything from a test, to a doctor’s appointment, to a required speech.

#4 – The dead talk

You’re talking to someone and you happen to look down at his/her feet. Only to find that they have none.  Even in your dream state, you suddenly realize you’re talking to a dead person. So what, you’re talking to a dead person, how cool is that! But what does it mean? Perhaps the inability to let go and an emotional struggle to cope with the loss.

#3 – Missing an event

You’re rushing in and out of rooms, ironing cloths, getting dressed, but you end up never leaving your home and it so happens that you miss an important event. These are often linked to anxiety about failing or not being able to perform up to expectations.

2# Teeth falling out / being naked in public

Much being naked in public, scenes about teeth falling out are often signs of anxiety and inner turmoil about being judged by others on his/her physical appearance or you are not being heard or the inability to express yourself properly or a feeling that you are not in control of a situation.

#1 – Falling / being chased or being trapped

These are the most common types of nightmares.

Nightmares about falling often reflect of anxiety in your personal life about not being in control of yourself or a certain aspect/ situation in life.

Being chased could be interpreted as a sign of not being able to confront difficult scenarios in your life. This can be a pushy boss, an unruly teacher, an abusive parent or even an unhealthy romantic relationship.

Dreams about being trapped are quite common with those who suffer from claustrophobic anxiety, where you fear  being trapped in small spaces and you can’t move. Also with those who are afraid of not being able to get out of their current situation, including financial problems, a dead end job or a negative relationship they feel they cannot escape.

Well all that, is research I did over the internet.

The worst I’ve personally had is the loo dream. Where I really really gotta go, and every room I enter happens to have a toilet in it but my urge to pee does not go even after I went like a million times. I personally came to a conclusion that it’s my sleep conscious letting me know that my body needs to pee but can’t cuz I’m still asleep in bed. So I get up at the crack of dawn really annoyed about this crude wakeup call and making a stern mental note to pee just before I sleep the next night.

Also this nightmare where a giant crocodile was chasing me through my neighborhood.

When asked about what some people about their dreams, this is what they had to say.

·         “Weirdest was getting chased by a giant marshmallow.... I kid you not. Worst was death by drowning”

·         “Okay. Worst nightmare: When I was a kid I used to dream about a headless man who would come and try to talk to me” -

·         “I kissed one of the weirdest fellow in office. A nerdy sort.”  *shudders* -

·         “Mine was funny and scary at the same time. I’ve seen my grandparents as ghosts. An aunt took their bodies after they were buried and hid them in the basement. She used to clean them. and I stumbled on this secret in my nightmares. I saw it two or three several times and I got patta scared” -

·         “Once, I saw hell dogs talking to me. They had horns like goats. They were trying to tell me something. It was scary.” –

·         “I saw my girlfriend dumping me” -

·         “1. Falling into a bottomless abyss. 2. A death angel ( with a scythe and crazy dark robe ) appearing in the middle of the night while I'm asleep and slowly thrusting its hand or scythe into my chest. K” –

·         “I am walking in the corridor of a really old house. it feels like the room at the end of the corridor is my bedroom... when I’m nearly halfway there... I start to hear scary noises and suddenly a floating white figure appears out from the room at the end of the corridor...it’s the ghost of a women in her 80's ( someone I know and who passed away few years back ) ... it starts to come towards me ( doesn't look friendly ) and then I start to say some Buddhist chanting to chase the ghost away... at that time the ghost starts to repeat the chanting louder than me in a scary loud angry voice... at this point I realize that chanting doesn't work and then I run out of the house.” -

·         I saw this dream where I was waking up in a room full of snakes. All kinds of. Then I found an axe and  I started chopping them off like branches, a bit like a mad man. –

·         “I was on top of a rope bridge (wal palama) with a muddied river flowing very fast under it. A little monk came along while I was also running on the bridge and he tripped and fell down right in front of me.. I dreamt this more than two times when I was little. My seeya had to recite this gaatha every night so I could sleep better...” -

·         “Easy. I was married” -

 Email us with your crazy/scary/weird etc dreams on undeadceylon@gmail.com and let’s see if can conjure something out of them.