Quote:
Chris wrote
I was drawn to it this morning because I was trying to find out what issues I need to resolve. I'm always having reoccurring dreams about an ex boyfriend. It's been 12 years since we broke up, I can stop dreaming about him now, shesh, he wasn't even 'the best I ever had'.
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I'm not a clinical psych person, but I am a psychologist like a pyro who wanted to be a fireman. SO I'll offer a suggestion for you to make your own interpretation.
You don't have to answer me, but answer yourself:
Have the dreams occurred with regularity over the last 12 years or sporadically?
Have you had any particularly stressful life events that coincided with the dreams? Is so, what was going on at the time when the dreams were occurring?
What emotion do you feel in the dream? Does the emotion coincide with any feelings you are having during the day?
What does this person or the relationship you had with the person symbolize to you? (Keep in mind that the person may have meant something to you in the past that is differnt from how you think of him in the present, and consider both meanings.)
Recurring dreams are often related to some underlying emotional issues, but the most obvious interpretation is not necessarily the best one.
I often find it helpful to ask a close friend to brainstorm some possible interpretations of the dream events. If one of them sort of tweaks me, then I stew over it for a while, I can usually track down the source of the dream issue. Usually that stops the dream altogether.
Alternatively, you can try to teach yourself lucid dreaming, although it doesn't work for everyone and requires some time and patience and concentration. It's not as woo woo as it seems.
Simply play out the events of the recurring dream in your mind just before you go to sleep. Imagine every scene as vividly as possible. At some point (and I think it's best to always envision the same point in the dream) envision taking control of the dream events, in other words, ask your ex boyfriend what he wants or something, Envision the dream happenign exactly that way several times before you fall asleep, and there is a chance you will become lucid during the dream state and be able to ask the question you wanted to know.
That might help.