Ever since I was a little girl I have always had nightmares, all similar in fashion, there is always the dark figure after me. There is usually lots of blood and fear but not like what I have been dealing with lately. I have had such horrific nightmares for the past week that the fear has stayed with me through out the day. Sometimes there is the dark figure and it ends in a lot of blood but last night I had a new one of zombies. We were hidden in a house built in to the side of a mountain and one girl went in front of a window which caused the zombies to break through and attack. I had another person with me and we were hiding in the next room under a window. The girl being attacked saw us there but in order to save ourselves we had to shut and lock the door and leave her in there, screaming for help. they eventually broke in and I had to twist the head off of a zombie but thats the last thing I remember. I didnt know any of the people that were there and they house did not belong to me, it was something that we had heard of and went there for shelter in the dream. I am not sure of the dreams from the 2 nights before this one but just like this one the fear and anxiety stayed with me all day long and makes me afraid to go to sleep. I feel to old for this but have no where else to turn. Anyone have any ideas?

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 36 - Texas

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Female

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? No

Melanie,
Dreams are reflections of our emotions. Dreams are not random oratory but expressions of the dreamer's emotions. Emotions that possess or retain 'numinous' energy {appealing to the higher emotions}, especially those emotions that are in conflict, are the primary focus of our dreams. These conflicting emotions are either from past experiences or an experience that stirs the emotions to the point of numinous energy which also causes emotional conflict.

Nightmares are usually dreams {sometimes recurring} that occur when the dreamer gives little attention to an emotional conflict. If there was a traumatic experience that the dreamer represses then the dream will present the emotional conflict in the form of a nightmare {three quarters of dream content or emotions are negative}. One primary function of dreams is to present emotional conflicts to waking consciousness so the dreamer can/will take action to correct whatever is causing the conflict. For some people unresolved emotional conflicts take the form of nightmares instead of being an ordinary dream. Severe traumatic experiences also will cause nightmares. The intent is again to help the dreamer resolve whatever is causing the emotional conflict. Nightmares are more common in young children and less likely after the age of 25. One definition of "nightmare" is a dream which causes one to wake up in the middle of the sleep cycle and experience a negative emotion. More likely a severe negative emotion in adults.

When I look at a dream I am looking for those experiences and/or influences in the dreamer's life that cause emotional conflict. Because dreams speak in a language of symbols, metaphors and archetypes one has to have an understanding of the dream language {mythology also uses the language of symbols, metaphor and archetypes} to properly interpret a dream. Your dream has several common symbols. One is blood which is a common symbol for life's energies. But it could also connote actual experiences where blood was an experience in life. Fear would most likely be from an actual experience. Dark figures often symbolize shadow aspects within the dreamer's psyche. The house is the dreamer, things hidden in a house would most likely represent things repressed within the psyche. A house built in the side of a mountain may suggest there are major emotional conflicts within the psyche that are hard to overcome { just as it would be hard to climb over a large mountain}. Zombies may represent feeling dead inside, or worse the dreamer is emotionally detached from reality. Unnamed people are most always aspects of the dreamer. The girl in your dream being attacked would be you, as would the 'other person' with you {these usually represent aspects about yourself that are unknown are you are unaware of, or you have repressed from conscious knowledge}. To save yourself/ourselves you have locked out these emotional experiences from you waking conscious mind so not to have to confront the traumatic experiences. But the unconscious still has knowledge of the experiences and because our dreams are therapeutic {just as the body has an immune system the mind has the dream} they try to inform the dreamer of the emotional conflict so it will be resolved {by whatever means necessary, self help to psychological/ psychiatric therapy}. The house not belonging to you also suggests parts of you that you deny or repress. You are seek conscious shelter from the emotional experiences.

Several possibilities for the nightmares. One that is less likely is possessing a personality that is/was influence by a relatively innocent emotional experience in which the psyche made into something much larger {making a mountain out of a mole hill}. Another could possible be a chemical imbalance. Just as with medications that help with depression and anxiety, they restore the imbalance with chemicals.

The most likely possibility is there is some past experience that was so traumatic you have repressed it from conscious knowledge. Your dream has a lot of such images to imply this possibility. Have you had such experiences in your life? It could have been in early childhood {since you have had these nightmares since you were a little girl} where you were too young to remember the experiences. A good example of such experiences would be those children who were physically abused by Catholic priests. The experiences were blocked out until later life {it is often at mid-life these experiences are punctuated in dreams} and you are that age where the mid-life thing begins {35-55}. Most often such abuse, physical or psychological, causes the person to live a unproductive life, alcoholism, drugs, depression, divorces, etc. being common patterns of behavior.
How has your life turned progressed? Does any of the above apply? If you were too young to consciously remember any traumatic experiences your unconscious psyche could remember. And those memories will come up in your dreams.

I look forward to your response.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 61 Murfreesboro, Tn.

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Melanie,
One important observation. If there is not that traumatic experience in your life then most likely there is some type of imbalance that could be corrected by medication. This is not a common physical condition but because the part of the brain that controls the emotions is located in the same region that produces our dreams {Amygdala}, it is not inconceivable or a possibility. You will most likely know something is amiss if there is repressed or 'unknown' experiences from your past. If you do not suspect or have any memories of traumatic experiences, and can rule out early childhood experiences where there could have been such experiences, then look to this possibility for your nightmares.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 61 Murfreesboro, Tn.

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes