Are Your Nightmares Never Directly About The Trauma?

[Deleted member 1860]

I have nightmares (or should I say daymares as I never have them at night, only during the day, but perhaps that's another topic for another thread).... And these nightmares are NEVER directly linked to the trauma. I mean, in some sort of way they are the emotions that I have suppressed being expressed in another way, but my nightmares are never about being molested or dealing with an alcoholic mother or being beaten. (Ok, save one from 10 years ago where I was beaten to death.)

Today when I napped...ok, stupid on my part, but I had a flashback which gave me a sudden onset migraine so I needed to sleep it off... Well, today when I napped I had this horrible dream where I was a student in catholic school and I was being harassed by nuns. Well, I'm not catholic, nor have I ever attended catholic school, let alone had any bad experiences with nuns! I'm still trying to figure out what this one means.

And it's always like this! My anxiety is expressed in my dreams. I HATE these dreams (really, who wouldn't?)

Is anyone else like this? I mean, in that you don't have nightmares that directly relate to the trauma?

 

[TeaLeaf]

My nightmares are generally not directly related to the trauma though they sometimes have similar characters. They are generally always related to the same theme though, not being able to escape a particular circumstance, feeling trapped, having no help. I used to have the same dream over and over again where I was not going to graduate from high school, I was too behind to get enough credits and there was no way out. I never had that experience so it took me awhile to relate it too the common themes to my trauma. One day it ended differently, I did have a way out and I was going to just barely graduate and move on. That was symbolic of me being able to connect to my trauma in real life and move on.

I wonder if your nightmare was related to your mom, your mom being an authority figure (the nuns) and harassing you (from what your trauma was).

 

[Ricanoland]

I will get a lot of dreams that have not a damn thing about my past, but hurt me just as much as the dreams about my past. I don't know why, but PTSD works in wonderful, or not so wonderful ways lol.

 

[shell]

I went through a stage where I had lots of nightmares, of crashing cars, bridges falling from under me, snakes attacking me, people attacking me, being trapped and lost, several times a night for two years, everytime I was about to die I would wake.

Once I got my anxiety more controlled they eased. Some of them I was told they meant my life felt out of my control, and I felt unsupported.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

None of my nightmares have anything to do with my traumas. But I go to the same places in them. I have several places that I go to. They are the same themes. I have dreamed about a catacomb with dead people and I had another one last night only there were alot of people in there that were still alive with the dead people. I hate it.

 

[piratelady]

Funny you should post this. I had a doozy of a nightmare last night that was not really related to my trauma. It was a bad nightmare though and I didn't get much sleep after it.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I had two nightmares last night and they do not have anything to do with my trauma. The feelings were very intense. It was about great loss and a very bad thing that was going to happen. I was missing my son yesterday. He was in the nightmare and something bad was going to happen to him. It has been four years since he died. I hope I do not have another nightmare like that one.

 

[Ice_Fire]

(((((Gizmo)))))

I had a strange work-related nightmare yesterday. My colleagues had moved and hidden all my belongings including my car keys. Very odd, as I like them all. Although, the girl who was the main culprit in bullying me at school used to do that kind of thing. So...sort of 'trauma' related? Although I never class the bullying as 'trauma', compared with my life with my parents. Maybe its had more of an effect on me that I thought.

 

[Hashi]

My anxiety is expressed in my dreams. I HATE these dreams (really, who wouldn't?)

Actually, me! I don't like nightmares, of course, but I find my dreams really helpful whatever they're about. They give me a lot of insight and understanding.

...in some sort of way they are the emotions that I have suppressed being expressed in another way, but my nightmares are never about being molested or dealing with an alcoholic mother or being beaten...

That makes sense to me, because dreams are symbolic. I do have "processing" dreams, where I dream something literal about trauma. Most of the time, though, I'd be more likely to dream something representative. For example, I've dreamt that my house was burgled because I didn't lock the door and then I needed to ring the police to report it but kept forgetting to. That related to blaming myself for one thing that happened, and then having amnesia afterwards so I didn't address the trauma.

I had this horrible dream where I was a student in catholic school and I was being harassed by nuns. Well, I'm not catholic, nor have I ever attended catholic school, let alone had any bad experiences with nuns! I'm still trying to figure out what this one means.

Even if you haven't experienced these things, it's the image and associations you have of them that's important. What do you think of when you think of nuns? This is very individual - no standard answers, just your own associations. It might be nuns are isolated, or self-sacrificing, or foreign (if that's been your experience), or peaceful... whatever nuns mean to you.

Suppose your association with nuns is that they're good and virtuous. In that case if they're harrassing you then this could be representing something going on in your life or your healing to do with betrayal of trust, deceit, hypocrisy or victimisation.

That's how I'd approach it.

 

[Ricanoland]

((gizmo))

 

[.Bubbles.]

All the time. Sometimes my nightmares are about my truamas/perps, but just as often they aren't really related. But I do think they have the same kind of emotions attached - if that makes any sense at all?

 

[John7377]

My dreams have never been about the exact assault on my wife. Mine always center around my wife being lost or my not being able to protect her. I'm certain that one of these nights, I'll dream something similar to the actual assault and how I react the morning after worries me greatly. I can just feel it. I sometimes think that since both my wife and I were able to bury the assault for 38 years, maybe I should stop my visits with the doc and try to pretend it didn't happen like we did for almost four decades.

John