Dreams - Do they really show us the way ?

I don't get a lot of sleep. In fact I've not slept whole night through for over 10 years. So it's a nice surprise to start having dreams. I've certainly started having more since I started my TMS healing journey and more recently I've been able to remember them vividly.

So, the big question is, do they really mean something ?

Last nights dream was very vivid. I was in a house, it was night time (dark outside). The doorbell rang and I walked into the hallway. The front door was wooden with glass panels so I could see outside. As it was dark out I couldn't see who or what was at the door. There was just a silhouette.

I walked to the door, I was right up close to the glass but I couldn't see who/what was there, just this shape moving, waiting.

I was overcome with the emotion of fear. I really wanted to open the door but I couldn't because I didn't know who or what was out there. The feeling of fear was really strong and at the same time I also had a sense that the thing outside the door was what I have been searching for....the missing piece if you like.

I did a bit of research on google and found a few things that make sense;

Fear - To dream that you feel fear indicates that your achievements will not be as successful as you had anticipated. You are experiencing anxieties in various aspects of your life. The key to overcoming your fear is to discuss them and deal with them openly.
To dream that you worse fears are coming true signifies your resistance to change. You are afraid to confront the unknown aspects of yourself.

Scared - To dream that you are scared indicates that you are experiencing feelings of self-doubt, incompetence, and lack of control in your waking life. Perhaps you are having second thoughts about a decision you have made. Anger often masquerades as fear, so also consider issues about which you are angry about in your waking life.

Door - To dream that the door is closed or locked signifies opportunities that are denied and not available to you or that you have missed out on. Something or someone is blocking your progress. It also symbolizes the ending of a phase or project. In particular, if you are outside the locked door, then it suggests that you have anti-social tendencies. If you are inside the locked door, then it represents harsh lessons that need to be learned. If you dream that you are bracing a door with your back, then it indicates fear of what is ahead for you. You are afraid of confronting something or someone.

Silhouette - To see a silhouette in your dream represents some aspect of your life that is not clearly defined. It may also refer to the undeveloped or unacknowledged aspects of your character.

Unknown - To see an unknown person in your dream signifies a part of yourself that is repressed and hidden. Alternatively, it symbolizes the archetypal dream helper who is trying to offer some insight and advice.

As you can see a lot of this stuff makes so much sense for a person with TMS.

Has anyone had any similar experiences in this area ?

 

James Alexander has a chapter on their therapeutic power in the Hidden Psychology of Pain. In my experience, dreams can be an outlet of pent-up emotion. In fact, I pay attention to them with this aim in mind.

 

I think there is no "correct" interpretation for your dreams. Unlike books and websites that help decode them for everyone, dreams are very personalized to your experience. I'm not an expert but I can say I gave them a lot of weight a year ago at the beginning of my TMS journey. Over time, I've learned to let them go and not try to analyze them so much. It has helped me relax, shake it off and not take it all so seriously. Someone on this forum recommended "Say Goodnight to Insomnia" by Gregg Jacobs. That has been tremendously helpful. Over the last year, I've been waking up at 3am with a pounding heart that lasts for a while (and other anxiety symptoms). This book has helped me calm down and not worry about it all so much.

 

Not everything makes sense but some dreams are trying to show us more than we know...

 

In my experience, dreams can be an outlet of pent-up emotion

Agreed . I always look at it as my subconscious taking a dump....and it always seems to be a couple weeks behind what's really going on in my life. I Love the Freud thing in HBP where the guy says that when we sleep we all go quietly and peacefully insane, because our ego isn't there to police the unconscious. It can give us insights into some of the stuff we can't see through our 'ego' in our waking hours.

 

I personally find my dreams fascinating. I tend to dream very telling dreams when I'm in treatment where I'm going into my emotions. I haven't looked up what they tend to mean to the general public because mine are generally obvious to me, or I figure however I interpret them is just as meaningful to me as anything. And they really are much more frequent when I'm doing the work of digging deep into my emotions.

I agree, it's like my subconscious is taking a dump (love that analogy @Baseball65)! I think the dreams are just helping me process things. It's like I get two sessions for the price of one--I pay for one therapy session with a therapist and then I get another for free while I sleep

 

When I was heavy into my journaling and journey I had dreams of Anger. 2 really vivid ones. For me it was telling me that I had deep anger and fear inside.
I even had a piriformis muscle spasm during the dream because of the fear and it woke me up. Then the pain was gone for that night. That was my first hint that it was NOT physical. I dealt with the issues and I still do... we are human with our weaknesses ...now this anger I felt for years is gone.

 

When comes to dreams I think it depends on the person, for me dreams are very important, but you also have to use your common sense and intuition to see what dreams are useful for your TMS treatment and what dreams are not. They mostly have to do with you, they are personal and your history sometimes, so interpretation is mostly up to you.
I'm not an expert either.
Sometimes when I feel there is some important message in a dream I write it down in a journal, maybe later it may help me.

 

If you're just starting to dream it's good to pay attention to them but it's very personal and only you can understand. Pay attention to reoccurring dreams because that definitely is something you should face or be aware of. But... your brain can also play with you hear and keep you in fear. It quickly learns that you are paying attention and will give you stressful and fearful dreams to keep you in the fear cycle so eventually you have to just let them go unless you had one that was really meaningful.

 

I agree with @Ines. I paid A LOT of attention in the beginning. It was super useful at first. Then I started to psychoanalyze every dream and do endless Google searches for symbolism. It started to confuse me and stress me out. It is great to pay attention but it can become it's own rathole.