Bizarre Dreams

[EnergyInACan]

Do you wake up with a bizarre dream rumbling around in your head? Is the first thing you want to do is to share it with someone and ruminate over it?

I'll go first -- my nap today held a rather oddball story in store for me:

First off, I'm Molly Ringwald, and Mother is Shirley MacLaine. We are swimming at her oceanside house underneath a mighty storm cloud. The water is so cold that my eyeballs freeze, and I can no longer see. I insist on going to the hospital, but Mother disregards the necessity. Instead she leads me and our dog, who has become my seeing eye dog, to a swanky apartment in NYC. The hospital is around the corner, but I cannot see it. My eyeballs begin to thaw. Just as I begin to see a bit, Mother disappears; and, mob thugs appear. They are in search of something that Mother has stashed in the apartment. I hide from the thugs behind my little girl clothes in a side room where Mother has stored everything from my childhood. The thugs discover the room and ransack it, finding microfilm and tapes from conversations Mother had with various mobsters in my old art class mugs and ceramics. The mobsters gather at the apartment and throw a glitzy party during which time my eyeballs completely thaw. Next thing I know, the mobsters are arrested, and Mother reappears. We stretch out in lawn chairs by the ocean while she explains to me that she was a secret agent for the FBI.

magnolia -- please excuse typos, i'm typing without my glasses, and my cat keeps crawling over me and the computer.

[littlebear]

Yeah interesting dream.
I have been listening to this cool rainstorm cd before I go to sleep and have been having very vivid dreams,but I can't remember them when I wake up.
I guess I must be working thru something.

[ursy_ten]

I had a dream where my grandmother and grandfather came back to life, and I was commenting to my mum and my sister that it was a miracle because if you're dead for a minute your brain starts getting damaged, and they had been dead for years and they were just fine!

Actually, I have been wondering for awhile now - does everyone have a dream world that they seem to inhabit? What I mean is, many of my dreams take place in an imaginary place - I will recognize buildings and roads and shops, etc from other dreams. It's like I have a living world, and a dream world, and both remain constant (though not every single dream of mine happens in this dream world, I just mean constant in that features of this place are recognizable from dream to dream)

Am I weird or does everyone have a dream world that they keep returning to?

Urs

[littlebear]

I would not say a dream world that is familiar,but sometimes there are things that are familiar.
Now I am going to have to start doing some dream work again.I used to keep a pen and paper by my bed and keep a journal of sorts.
As I remember my dreams were quite varied.Writing them down really helped,I still remember many after years.

[vetiver]

One of my favorite topics... Subscribing.

[ALICESHOUSE]

I don't know if its ''my dream world'' but i consider it bizarre that most of my dreams i've had over the years have taken place in my childhood home and in and around the surrounding neighborhood.Always the dreams are about me looking up toward the skies and seeing strange objects heading down onto earth.Are bad storms and wild winds<like tornatoes> headind toward me,and me always running frantic looking for family members to warn them and look for shelter..i never see the destruction though,i always wake up befor it hits..but i always feel the heavy winds against my body and see it moving in my direction<very scary>Its either about that or being inside the home and somebody or thing is out to harm me,i run into the house and i feel safe there.I just have a strong connection with that home<which is still standing today>and its because i probably feel that was one of the safest places on earth for me,up until the point my family moved out and i ''lost'' my innocents soon after.Actually i like to buy that house back if given the chance..like its calling me back.I hope i dream about ''The home'' tonite!..it can be fun going back even though the dreams are pretty bizarre.

[BCtboi]

Lately I've been having dreams about travelling within north america. Sounds pretty normal right? For some reason I always end up in Japan. Last time I checked, you can't get to a Japan by greyhound. Sometimes there's secret agents after me.

[ursy_ten]

I don't know if its ''my dream world'' but i consider it bizarre that most of my dreams i've had over the years have taken place in my childhood home and in and around the surrounding neighborhood....Actually i like to buy that house back if given the chance..like its calling me back.

I'm the same with my childhood home, and I'd like to get back there someday too (maybe to retire...)

I tend to dream of volcanoes, running lava... it's either that or floods and tsunamis. But these natural disaster dreams tend not to be connected to the childhood home. They always seem to be set in places of temporary accommodation like a hotel. Strange... I wonder what it means?

[littlebear]

I think Yung had a lot to say reguarding dream archatypes.If I remember correctly homes are about basic self.
I am always walking thru houses looking/searching,lots of empty rooms.
I had a weird dream last night,I woke up repeating a wierd name.But I didn't write it down and forgot it.
I really gotta write my dreams again.

[ALICESHOUSE]

I use to do that alot myself littlebear..write my dreams down,man i had some strange ones too,lol<now i just remember the best>Keep a pen and paper near you befor you drift off..once you awake it only takes a sec to write something down that will give ya a clue about what kind you had.For me it was fun and sometimes disturbing to read what i wrote.Now days i hardly ever have a really good nightmare..but i should be careful what i wish for,most of my wishes kinda come true.Peace ya'll

[HoppinMedic]

I have a very bizarre recurring nightmare. One that happens way to much.
I will try and see if i can describe it. I would love it if someone would happen to know what in the world it means.
I will be sleeping and I start dreaming that I have awaken but I can't move. In the dream itself I am caught between a realm of awake and sleep. In the dream I'm trying to force myself awake but I can't. In the dream I can see and hear everything that is going on around me. Often in the dream it is in a setting of danger and I have to wake up to protect myself but I'm unable to. It is like a dream of being fully awake but paralyzed. In the dream itself I am trying to force myself awake. When I have these dreams and actually wake up from them I'm hyperventilating and really frightened. I will not go back to sleep because when I have before I will slip right back into the dream and it starts all over again. I have often wondered if my body is not truly stuck in a place between REM sleep and an awake state when i have these dreams.

[ursy_ten]

I will be sleeping and I start dreaming that I have awaken but I can't move. In the dream itself I am caught between a realm of awake and sleep. In the dream I'm trying to force myself awake but I can't. In the dream I can see and hear everything that is going on around me. Often in the dream it is in a setting of danger and I have to wake up to protect myself but I'm unable to. It is like a dream of being fully awake but paralyzed...

Ooh yeah - I have them every now and then! It's really weird, because it takes place exactly where I am in reality, so it seems so very real! I hate hate hate that feeling of being totally aware of some kind of danger (or urgent need to move) but being paralyzed.

Edit: Found something on the web - this could be the answer... http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P2.html
And this looks interesting too: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/dreams-faq/general/
And this one: http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1042956

[EnergyInACan]

welcome everyone -- thanks for posting. i thought for a while there that no one was interested in dreams. lol.

urs & hoppinmedic, that locked in state where you are awake but can't open your eyes has happened to me several times. whether it's part of a dream or not, i don't know. when it happens, i start to panic. the scientist in me wants to find out if there are any studies about this state. urs, i'll have to check out your links.

so what bizarre things have you done in your sleep?

i'll start. one night i shot up in bed and began to flail my arms about and make exasperated noises. my girlfriend at the time tells me that i then began a monologue about how i hate tampons and prefer using pads (not true) and that the only reason i wore tampons was b/c i thought she would think it was gross to use pads -- that i refused to do this anymore for the sake of our relationship. i left the room and then came back to drift off again. the next morning, i had no recollection of the event, nor did my monologue seem like anything i would normally have said. i'm told that i talk in my sleep and sometimes go to the kitchen and eat things while i'm still asleep.

magnolia

[Bekko]

interesting dreams.

[Bekko]

oops, I forgot to subscribe

[femmegirrl]

I have always had werid dreams, and even night terrors, I sometimes talk in my sleep, crazy things and have no memory of it, but the night terrors are the worst...I will wake up screaming, sitting up suddenly, sweating, sometimes fighting, my heart races and I feel like Im going to die, I have no idea what causes the panic to happen.........

[Bekko]

I don't usually have bad dreams but I dream a lot about dogs I've had in the past.

I've only dreamt about falling a few times, once I was dreaming I was falling....and I actually did, I rolled off the couch!

When I was young I had dreams about trains. As a kid we use to play a game in the car about the train as we sat waiting to go over the tracks.

I do know that if I don't lay in bed and really think about my dream, after a while I forget what my dream was.

Does anyone write their dreams down??

[EnergyInACan]

I have always had werid dreams, and even night terrors, I sometimes talk in my sleep, crazy things and have no memory of it, but the night terrors are the worst...I will wake up screaming, sitting up suddenly, sweating, sometimes fighting, my heart races and I feel like Im going to die, I have no idea what causes the panic to happen.........

It’s late, and my brain is rusty – so here goes a crack at the etiology of panic attacks:

A parasomnia, night terrors elicit autonomic nervous system activation and occur during deep nonREM sleep (stages 3 & 4). One-third of those who have night terrors also sleepwalk. Possible causes of night terrors include the following: genetics, decreased benzodiazepine receptor ligands (discussed below), stress, illness resulting in fever and fatigue. Adult night terrors have been linked to PTSD, and it has been suggested that they are a dissociative, protective mechanism. Another rare report of adult onset night terrors is a thalamic tumor in a middle aged woman. Treatments include psychotherapy, benzodiazepine receptor agonists, and relaxation.

So what are benzodiazepines and how do they relate to the emotional arousal system? Benzodiazepine receptors lie peripherally (outside of the central nervous system) and centrally (within the central nervous system). Centrally, they act on key structures within the limbic system of the brain (the emotion centers). They bind to GABA-A receptors to increase their affinity for GABA, the universal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. The limbic system involves many structures that are highly interrelated (won’t bore you with the interconnections) including the hippocampus (a key structure in learning and memory formation) and are also associated with the thalamus (the nucleus that filters and relays incoming sensory information from the periphery to the cerebral cortex where information is perceived). The punchline: possibly decreased endogenous (stuff your body makes itself) benzodiazepine receptor agonists decreases benzodiazepine-facilitated GABAnergic activity (which is inhibitory) in the emotion centers of the brain.

a very tired mags

[ALICESHOUSE]

I have always had werid dreams, and even night terrors, I sometimes talk in my sleep, crazy things and have no memory of it, but the night terrors are the worst...I will wake up screaming, sitting up suddenly, sweating, sometimes fighting, my heart races and I feel like Im going to die, I have no idea what causes the panic to happen.........

Oh yeah..those are the nightmares i wish for<seriously>..when i'm in that state its like i'm connected to the other side.I'm a sleep walker myself..afew times in my life i can remember waking up finding myself sitting up or standing up in the middle of a room<weird feeling i tell you>or yes,even being in a state of half asleep and half awake and feeling myself being pulled upward and away from my body..like somebody is tugging upward on my arm and me fighting back by trying to wake myself up<which is sometimes very hard to do>..its scary but at the same time its a peaceful feeling i get,but i'm afraid if i don't tug back whatever is pulling on the other end might take me<or my soul>and i might never wake up again.That has only happen to me twice in my life <the feeling of being pulled up>and the feeling i get from it is just to beautiful for words,its the unknown that scared me and i ended up pulling back from it.I have not had any night terrors for months,and i feel for you femmegirrl..those are not fun for some people.For me<night terrors> its waking up to a presence in my room or the worse one of waking up feeling a presence on top of me<holysh*t>this was to much even for me and i made a garlic wreathe with the help of an understanding friend and we said a pray that blessed the area where it happen..that seemed to do the trick and i have'nt been botherd since.But with the nature i have i sometimes want<against my better judgement>to take the wreathe down..but i can't seem to built up enough nerve to yet.

[Concrete_Angel]

I have a very bizarre recurring nightmare. One that happens way to much.
I will try and see if i can describe it. I would love it if someone would happen to know what in the world it means.
I will be sleeping and I start dreaming that I have awaken but I can't move. In the dream itself I am caught between a realm of awake and sleep. In the dream I'm trying to force myself awake but I can't. In the dream I can see and hear everything that is going on around me. Often in the dream it is in a setting of danger and I have to wake up to protect myself but I'm unable to. It is like a dream of being fully awake but paralyzed. In the dream itself I am trying to force myself awake. When I have these dreams and actually wake up from them I'm hyperventilating and really frightened. I will not go back to sleep because when I have before I will slip right back into the dream and it starts all over again. I have often wondered if my body is not truly stuck in a place between REM sleep and an awake state when i have these dreams.

Hey ya Slash, it is a common phenomenon called Familial Sleep Paralysis. It occurs mostly when you are over-stressed or really tired. Your *body* wakes up but the part of your brain that controls motor function, isn't yet awake. Your body is still *sleep breathing* for you, but YOU feel awake, and try to breath as well, which is why you feel like you are hyperventilating. Your senses are awake which is why you can hear and smell, but your brain is still in sleep mode.

This is NOT a dangerous condition, and once you become unafraid of it, it will lessen. It runs in families.. I used to experience it all the time (when stressed). Just like you CANNOT hold your breath until you die, you can't be harmed in this state either. Even if you stopped breathing, you would just pass out and then your body would take back over. (but that won't happen). Also, they seem to last forever but actually they only last about 20 seconds...

It is REALLY scary to experience but isn't dangerous.. so.. lose the stress and stop staying up 'til all hours, flirting with the girls and these episides will lessen

Dr. Kimmie at your service


CA~

[BeThePoem]

I dreamt last night that my "mother" (who was actually a woman who I've never seen before but was my mother in my dream) stuck me and my "brother" who was about 7 or 8 in this huge underground cavern and abandoned us there. I was forced to somehow take care of us for years in this underground place. One day she came back, years later, and I killed her.

It was not a good night for sleeping last night at all.

[sthrnbelle]

What a neat thread!! First of all, I never have "realistic" dreams, but this time was different. My father passed away in 2002. He died out of town on a trip. Ok, this is the dream: we were in a cafeteria and I saw him and started crying and ran up and hugged him(it was like I traveled back in my dream). I was so excited to see him as though he had come back. I left him and ran upstairs to tell a said person that my dad was back and he was alive. Then I freaked out because I knew he was leaving to go on his trip so I ran downstairs to warn him and beg him not to go but when I got back he was gone. Needless to say I woke up crying but at least the hug felt "real" to me, something I miss terribly. Thanks for letting me share that.

[EnergyInACan]

welcome all newcomers!

sthrnbelle, i've had that experience of dreaming vividly about people who have passed away -- the interaction does seem so real.

concrete angel, thank you for giving us an official term for that bizarre state some of us have experienced. when my exams are over, i'll have to read up on it.

i had a rather bizarre dream the other night -- reminded me of being in the gross anatomy lab. there were all of these mummified, dead people in an open field at night. my job was to go out into the night, cut them open, and discover why they died. the job was dangerous as the murderers were out to get me to prevent the "autopsy" from happening. for the record, i have NO desire to go into forensic pathology -- this dream wigged me out.

mags

[RealPoetsWriteNPen]

hey. im glad to find this , cuz i have for the longest time trying to figure out what a dream of mine meant.. maybe you all can help me.? Now i know this sounds COmpletely off the wall.. but its true i swear..I once had a dream about a yellow highlighter just sitting on a table.

that was it...highlighter...table..nothin else

now maybe you can help me out here..god knows ive thought snd thought about it...let me know what you think...

[Trinity3]

hey. im glad to find this , cuz i have for the longest time trying to figure out what a dream of mine meant.. maybe you all can help me.? Now i know this sounds COmpletely off the wall.. but its true i swear..I once had a dream about a yellow highlighter just sitting on a table.

that was it...highlighter...table..nothin else

now maybe you can help me out here..god knows ive thought snd thought about it...let me know what you think...

Well, there are much more factors that go into interpreting a dream than just the dream itself.

Going by just the dream itself....Could mean that your subconscious is trying to tell you that there is something that needs to be highlighted in your life. Perehaps, become proirity, important, become more of a forefront etc.

Now, other questions that you need to ask to interpret the dream more clearly is;
What was going on in your life at the time you had this dream? What were the emotions you were feeling during that time? Was there a major thing going on you needed an answer to at that time etc?

Combining all factors will better help to interpret the dream.
I hope this helped.

***********************************************

Also, has anyone noticed lately that many are having bizarre dreams....I have not been sleeping well at night and have been having many bizarre dreams over the last two weeks and have read where others have too. I have been waking up feeling as though I haven't slept at all with all the dreams I have been having. They've been lucid and symbolistic dreams.
Does anyone know what planet in retrograde effects dreams and sleep? If I am not mistaken I believe Saturn could be in Retrograde this month but not sure.
Anyone have a take on this?

[EnergyInACan]

Well, there are much more factors that go into interpreting a dream than just the dream itself.

Going by just the dream itself....Could mean that your subconscious is trying to tell you that there is something that needs to be highlighted in your life. Perehaps, become proirity, important, become more of a forefront etc.

Now, other questions that you need to ask to interpret the dream more clearly is;
What was going on in your life at the time you had this dream? What were the emotions you were feeling during that time? Was there a major thing going on you needed an answer to at that time etc?

Combining all factors will better help to interpret the dream.
I hope this helped.

***********************************************

Also, has anyone noticed lately that many are having bizarre dreams....I have not been sleeping well at night and have been having many bizarre dreams over the last two weeks and have read where others have too. I have been waking up feeling as though I haven't slept at all with all the dreams I have been having. They've been lucid and symbolistic dreams.
Does anyone know what planet in retrograde effects dreams and sleep? If I am not mistaken I believe Saturn could be in Retrograde this month but not sure.
Anyone have a take on this?

*nodding head at trinity's remarks* all good points.

so the moon -- yes during retrograde things can go to the outhouse. so, i looked up what moon we are in. click on the following link. and now my dead people dream makes sense -- i've been grappling over career decisions, trying to ascertain in which direction within my field i should go. according to the following link, we are working out our visions and dreams.

http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/retrogrades.shtml

mags

[HoppinMedic]

Thank you Ursy and CA for the helpful input.

[RealPoetsWriteNPen]

hey thanks. I have to admit the thought that "something" needed to be highlighted so to speak..was one i had myself at the time. Maybe it was life in general, but it was at such a random time in my life.. i wasnt stressed or going through anything unusual, and was content.. therefore causing much more confusion about the dream. it seems to haunt me that it meant something more obscure.. its just a "gut feeling" i cant seem to shake.

[Trinity3]

hey thanks. I have to admit the thought that "something" needed to be highlighted so to speak..was one i had myself at the time. Maybe it was life in general, but it was at such a random time in my life.. i wasnt stressed or going through anything unusual, and was content.. therefore causing much more confusion about the dream. it seems to haunt me that it meant something more obscure.. its just a "gut feeling" i cant seem to shake.

I Am sure the answer will be revealed when the time is right

[EnergyInACan]

do any of y'all have debates in your sleep or dream up a wonderful idea while you slumber? write a paper? or a poem perhaps? happens to me all of the darned time. last night, i studied neuroscience in my sleep -- convenient b/c today i had a related exam.

magnolia -- excuse typos, i'm trying to type around my cat who is standing in front of my laptop