I have the weirdest dreams. Sometimes I've lost something -very frustrating. Or I dream about people from my childhood, or people who have passed away. Haven't had a scary dream in a long time thank goodness. Or, I dream about eating lots of food. Not a night goes by that I don't have two or three dreams.
Does everybody dream? Where do dreams come from?
My knowledge on dreams is limited to my own, but I've had some really bizarre ones over the past few months. Sometimes I remember them, sometimes I don't, but I wake up thinking, "Well, that was bizarre." Sometimes I can recall just bits and pieces or one "scene." I wonder if I started writing down some of the more bizarre ones whether I could learn anything from them or not. Hmm.
shareEvery night!!! I actually look forward to them. I have a whole city in them...a smattering of places throughout my memories that are all mine. Friends from old and beyond the grave...seldom those in my current life. Yes I lose things and spend grueling "hours" searching for them. Sometimes I enter a lucid state and can control the outcome of them. Great post!
shareI didn't remember any of my dreams for like 12 years when I was smoking a ton of weed. I quit a month ago and have had very vivid dreams rush back into my life. I am often in weird structures wandering, things that seem like a combination of many places, like an airport and a high school, neither but both, the geography changes as I go. The strangest thing is when I experience vivid sensory input like a sound. The best example I can think of recently is someone raising a gun into the air and when they fired it it sounded like a deep droning sound, like the inception noise
shareI started smoking weed quite late in life (mid-30s) and escalated over a period of years to an everyday habit. When I quit, like you, I had the most vivid and bizarre dreams imaginable.
shareWhen I was a kid I had several recurring dreams. The first was a giant white tiled facility that went on and on, like a bathroom or a really fancy locker room, it had weirdly shaped toilets and other fixture (and lots of naked guys), weird body parts that all seemed like normal variations, such a double penises or half penises (I was a very pervy little boy.) It had a very enchanting feeling like a wonderland, and their were various pools of water that sparkled and were different shades of blue, I would wander forever and take in the sights, and occasionally go for a swim, and like many of my dreams the endless hallways and rooms were ever changing and moving around me, like in the movie Cube where the rooms rearrange themselves. Everything was very sparkly and bright, and soft piano music would play in the background.
The other one I can remember having a lot was a variation on The Goonies, which I watched a lot. I would dive for coins at the bottom of the wishing well, ride the spikey waterslide into the big pool and end up on One Eyed Willy's ship. All the other Goonies would disappear (sometimes eaten by the octopus that only appears in the TV version or deleted scenes) and a dirty pirate would confront me in the underbelly of the ship, inching ever closer with his jagged blade until I was backed against the wall and right before he stabbed me I would wake up.
Both of those I had many many times
When I was younger I would have scary dreams.
For some reason the only way I could wake up from them was to jump from a high place and go into the ground
if I wanted to wake up.
I would be running away from whatever it was and I would have to jump out a window or off of a roof to wake up.
Sometimes I wouldn't go into the ground. I would just land on the ground.
Then I would have to go back into the house or whatever it was and do it all over again.
Sometimes I would just fly then do a nose dive into the ground.
I had dozens of these dreams.
Sometimes I would wake up from a scary dream into a boring dream that resembled real life and I would go about my morning routine until it slowly revealed itself to be a dream and would get sucked back into the scariness.
shareI've often wondered why we dream the same things over and over.
The dreams themselves are different but everything in them is the same.
Kind of like a dream reboot.
Then all of a sudden they just stop for seemingly no reason.
I've talked about this before but I suffer from sleep paralysis.
When this occurs is it's almost dreamlike and more frightening than any dream I've ever had.
You're mind is awake and you're fully conscious about everything around you but you can't move.
You're completely paralyzed sometimes for an hour.
You also have this feeling that if you go back to sleep you will die.
I've had this since I was a kid, except my episodes only last a minute or two. Last week I woke up, felt pure dread and that I was somewhere I shouldn't be. Hard to explain. Have you ever had a sleep study done?
shareI've had a few that have lasted an hour.
I know this will sound strange but I've learned to make noises during these episodes.
The only thing that wakes me up is to be shaken.
So If somebody is in bed with me they know just to shake me and wake me up.
My dogs have also helped wake me up on several occasions by jumping on the bed on top of me.
It is hard to explain unless you've experienced it.
I've had 3 appointments for a sleep study and never followed through.
I was always worried they would tell me I should probably be locked away. lol
Sleep studies should be done at home. I can't imagine being able to fall asleep in a strange place.
shareI totally agree with this.
I think the problem is it isn't a controlled environment.
I can still fall asleep better at home with all the normal things happening than
I can in a strange dead silent environment.
Godewey, this sounds serious. You should definitely have a sleep study done. I've had two of them done because I have severe Sleep Apnia. The study discovered that my breathing was stopping 80 times per hour! This is very dangerous, and bad for the heart. Fortunately it was easy to cure, I started using a CPAP (Constant Positive Air Pressure) machine at night. It sends air down your airway keeping it open, preventing snoring and interrupted breathing.
My Sleep Doctor speculated that Sleep Apnia is what killed James Gandolfini. Someone else at the doctor's office says it's what killed Carrie Fisher. Problems like this are not to be taken lightly.
Bottom Line: You should not ignore this problem, but should seek medical help. We would all miss you if suddenly you weren't around.
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My doctor recently suggested I go get a sleep study. I told him there was no way I'd be able to fall asleep in a place like that; tough enough at home. He nodded sympathetically, which made me wonder why he'd suggested it in the first place. He's a good guy, one of the few good doctor's, but I wondered why he thought it was a good suggestion.
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Cat, please see my response to Godewey above.
I've had two sleep studies done because of my severe sleep apnia. Yes it was difficult to fall asleep, but once I did they were able to get valuable information. I now use a CPAP machine every night.
We would also miss you if suddenly you were not around. If you doctor suggests a sleep study, you should do a sleep study. As my doctor told me, "We'd hate to have you die between midnight and 6am." That got my attention!
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It does sound like sleep apnea.
Worst cast case scenario is you end up getting fitted for a Darth Vader apparatus that does nothing to help you.
Best case is a few nights with the Vader rig changes your life and makes you realize that you haven’t had a real night’s sleep in many years.
Jack, actually the CPAP doesn't necessarily have to be a "Darth Vader" mask. I have one which is "nose pillows".
It's similar to the ones which provide people with oxygen. I'm totally used to the CPAP and mask, and use them every night. When I travel, which is often, I take smaller travel cpap with me.
Bottom Line: If a person really needs a CPAP, like I did, it could end up saving the person's life. See my response to Godewey above.
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Point taken, MMC, and I shouldn’t be so glib about something this serious. CPAP can definitely be a lifesaver.
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No problemo, Jack. You were just being your usual humorous and likable self. 😎
And speaking of our old buddy Darth....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYL_nTB5hJg
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The Darth Vader mask would be great for date nights!
shareI also had sleep paralysis for a couple of years. Sometimes I would see a ghost-like figure coming up the stairs to my bedroom, and I just couldn't move but I woke up thankfully. Another vivid dream was that somebody was pulling me out of bed by my feet. I was alone! Or, pulling on my hands. The the dreams stopped.
In fact there is a book written about this:
Sleep Paralysis: A Guide to Hypnagogic Visions and Visitors of the Night, by Ryan Hurd.
Another good book on dreaming:
Lucid Dreaming, by Stephen Laberge
Were you younger when it happen?
I've had it for about 20 years now. It's never consistent. Haven't had an episode in about a year or so.
I'm sure there's a trigger but I've never been to figure it out.
It's a really scary sensation. Even now at my age I know if just go back to sleep it will be fine
but just can't do it.
I've never had any of the things like ghosts or creatures like I've read.
In fact I'm fully aware of what's happening. I know I'm sleeping and that I'm going through and episode.
I can hear the fan or the TV or the radio or my dogs.
In the past I've fallen asleep and heard an entire conversation but just couldn't wake up even though
my mind was awake.
I have never heard of this Godewey. I had one instance of this in 1988. Since it was only one occurance I am inclined to believe my initial suspicions about what happened so let me explain.
I was working in a large hotel and was in the break room. There was a short, foreign black man also in there. This man showed an unusually strong attraction to me and I avoided him at all costs because he made me nervous. I think he was from Kenya.
When I got off work a couple of hours later I went home. It was around 9pm and I was tired so I decided to take a nap before my room mate got home from work at 2am. I don't remember dreaming but I distinctly remember waking up and being unable to move. I was terrified. I wanted to call 911 and the phone was right next to me on my nightstand, but I couldn't move an inch. I couldn't even turn my head to see what time it was. I panicked but was frozen. I could do nothing but pray my room mate checked on me when he got home and drift back off to sleep.
When he did get home he did check on me and I awoke with no problem. I told him about it and was met with disbelief. I told my best friend and my parents about it and was met with the same disbelief and told I was probably dreaming. Nothing to this day will convince them otherwise.
I came to the conclusion that this co-worker had put something in the drink I had in the break room. Sounds far fetched, I know, but what else could it be? I quit that job withing the month.
Having only had one instance in which this happened to you it's hard to say for sure.
From what I know about it people who have this have had at least few episodes.
Some, like myself, dozens of times. It never stops being scary.
I'm sure there are also people who have had this happen only once.
It's very possible that he did slip something into your drink.
Glad you quit that job just in case.
Hey, either way you can now tell people that is an actual thing and is fairly common.
People have been experiencing this for centuries.
But what about your dreams during the day?!
shareAnd then there's the absolutely fascinating phenomenon of lucid dreaming, which I've often experienced.
shareYes! That's why I mentioned the book about lucid dreaming in my earlier reply. It is indeed fascinating. I always remember the trick of controlling your dreams by putting your index finger to the palm of your hand before going to sleep and saying, "I control my dreams." It works. Try it.
I once had a dream and decided I wanted to fly in the dream, so I applied the above trick and sure enough, I flew!
Psychologists tell us that dreams are our subconsciousness mind trying to deal with situations in our lives. In your case of dreaming of people from your childhood, you subconsciousness mind is obviously trying to deal with the sorrow of these losses.
And yes, I believe everybody dreams. I have several recurring dreams, all dealing with my past. I dream that I'm back in high school playing football, or back in college, or back in the army, or back at work (I'm retired). This is my mind dealing with nostalgic feelings about these past times in my life.
One recurring dream that I no longer have is that I witness a tornado. I've always been fascinated by storms, and especially by tornadoes. I finally decided to do something about it, and started going on storm chasing trips. I've been on four trips, and have seen 30 tornadoes with my own eyes. I no longer dream about them, because the situation has been resolved.
Hope this helps.
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