Adults and children have nightmares. Although their spiritual worlds are very different, the age and experience of the dreamer will affect the details of the nightmare, but the causes of the nightmare are basically the same. Adults will have a clearer understanding of the anxiety they feel during the day, and the emotions they accept, such as fear, anger, depression, guilt, etc., are also more complicated and mostly suppressed. After falling asleep, the initial REM sleep cycle will reproduce the daytime emotions with vivid dreams, and with the gradual relaxation of the body and the deepening of sleep, the later REM stage will add horror elements to the dreams. For example, after talking to people in disturbing situations during the day, people may be chased in their dreams. Children's nightmares usually appear at the age of 3 to 6, because at this stage, children's imagination is the richest, and at this stage, children's fears are mostly formed. When children face disturbing or confusing life situations, nightmares will also appear frequently. If you are uneasy or disgusted with changes such as moving, transferring, parents' divorce and remarriage, you will often have nightmares frequently. Due to lack of life experience, they usually associate their unhappiness with what they know in their nightmares. For example, children rarely dream of specific villains and cruelty of human nature, but it is easy to dream of terrible animals or monsters they have seen on TV.
Not everyone will have the same nightmare over and over again, but even if the form is changeable, there are not many themes of human nightmares, and these themes are quite universal. Although there is no scientifically verified and impartial "dream interpretation comparison table" at present, the popular dream interpretation signs will be different according to different personal experiences, but in view of the fact that recurring dreams are indeed related to human sober experiences, emotions and even the past, learn those recurring plots and images in human nightmares.
The following are some of the most common types of nightmares and their connection with sober life:
Chased or attacked: People who chase us usually represent our fear or disgust of a certain aspect of ourselves, that is, an exaggerated representation of a certain part of our personality that we usually want to hide or deny, and it is the most ideal way to properly express this part of our personality or integrate it into our overall personality. Therefore, the ideal solution in our dream is to stand still, talk to the suitor and finally accept and hug each other.
Falling: Generally, in this dream, you will feel heavy, unsupported and out of control. In real life, you will feel strongly worried and extremely insecure about something. Dreamers usually long for freedom and lightness, and are not sure whether to be more down-to-earth. The ideal way is not to be nervous in a dream, to float or fly in the air, to experience the beauty of freedom and weightlessness, and then to land safely.
Out-of-control vehicles: Do you feel that your life is too busy to lose yourself and run at an uncontrollable high speed? Want to slow down, become peaceful and "enjoy driving"? This stage is likely to be a turning point in your life. You may need to slow down so that you can make the right choice for yourself. The ideal way is to grasp the steering wheel hard, adjust breathing, slow down but not too slowly, move forward calmly, and quickly take time out to observe the surrounding environment calmly, make correct judgments like real driving, and avoid going wrong or colliding. The same applies to the feeling of losing control when dreaming of riding a bike, running or skating, and roller skating.
Not reviewing or being late for the exam: This situation may be that you are anxious about the upcoming time or deadline and think that you are not ready, usually at work; Or you have no confidence in your performance, and you are eager to make more preparations or stop worrying unnecessarily. The most ideal way is to think that your level is good enough to pass the exam, benefit from your grades, or confirm your schedule in your dreams to ensure that you can meet the time limit.
Think fast but move slowly, can't move, or can't make a sound: do you feel trapped in life and can't break through? I feel that my anxiety about life and confusion about the future make me almost paralyzed, unable to move forward, and can only stagnate; Or do you feel that your current situation prevents you from telling your true feelings? What can be done to change the status quo? The most ideal way is not to struggle with muscles nervously, to accept the reality of slow movement, loss of voice or being trapped, and to make a sound or step out slowly, confidently and peacefully after the mind and breathing are calm.
Being naked or naked in public, although no one may notice or care: you may be going through a stage where your self-confidence is hit and you are embarrassed, embarrassed or incompetent in your current position. In this dream, usually other characters don't seem to notice your embarrassment, or don't care at all. It seems that only you can feel your embarrassing situation, so you probably misunderstood or thought too much. The ideal way is to be as indifferent as others and get along with them calmly and naturally in your dreams, no matter what you wear.
Injured or dismembered: You may feel that a part of your life (usually not your body) has been neglected, abused and forgotten. You are dissatisfied with this and feel that a part of yourself has been taken away. The ideal way is to believe that you can be cured and find a way to cure yourself.
Trapped or locked up: Think back to a time or place in your life when you felt trapped. Are you eager to break through the blockade and see different scenery outside? Hope to gain different experiences and learn new things? Take a breakthrough? The ideal way is not to panic, try to break through, or find out whether there are other rooms, routes or places to go, and leave the trapped room as soon as possible.
Drowning, encountering a big wave, tsunami or flood: You may be overwhelmed or controlled by a strong emotion, and want to deny this emotion or emotion, think more rationally, control your heart, or accept, admit and better perceive your emotions. This also includes its own vulnerability to attack. The ideal way: float naturally in the big water, swim, surf, or try to breathe underwater.
Helpless, abandoned, or crying babies, children/monkeys/rabbits/pets or other small animals: At this time, you need to think about whether you have completely taken care of your "inner child". Everyone has a helpless child in his heart. Do you ignore him/her or treat him/her badly? Are there some things or relationships in life that we should care about but forget? Do you feel wronged? Do you feel that you need to laugh happily, go out to play, show your creativity, be more enthusiastic, and experience the warmth and intimacy of human feelings? The ideal way is to take care of helpless children or small animals, give each other warmth, play with each other, get along with each other with a relaxed and positive attitude, and make themselves and each other happier.
Because nightmares are related to the anxiety and pressure in the dreamer's own life, if people who are troubled by nightmares can face and solve these emotions, nightmares are likely to disappear. The most effective way is to have an in-depth conversation with a professional psychologist. Especially when the dreamer can't tell the meaning behind the nightmare plot and its connection with real life, in-depth conversation with professionals will help to explore deep-seated bad emotions, otherwise it may seriously damage the quality of sleep and mental health in the long run. Even if you just talk to your relatives and friends, you can directly tell your fears and anxieties, face your emotions directly, and reduce the chance of having nightmares. To turn recurring nightmares into positive or even pleasant experiences, we need to change our mentality, such as adopting new emotional responses to life situations, replacing habitual fears, doubts and judgments with attitudes such as acceptance, curiosity or exploration, and nightmares will also be reduced. Once the content of dreams is related to deep traumatic events during waking, such as abuse, war, death, etc. This process will take more time and even require the help of professionals.
(Through the Dream Foundation)