Violence Against me in Dreams?

Question

Frequently I have dreams in which extreme acts of violence happen to me, typically I am shot or stabbed, can anyone tell me what this might mean. I am not on any medication and have not experienced any actually violence in my life in a long time. I have in the past dealt with violence (twice I have been robbed at gunpoint). Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

There are two schools of thought on dreams that I am aware of:

1) Dreams often have meaning and certain recurring dreams are highly symbolic and can be interpreted;
2) Dreams are nothing but random firing of brain synapses that the unconscious mind tries to interpret in some logical fashion - the craziness of dreams is a demonstration of how badly the unconscious mind does that.

The fact is we don't really know very much about what the brain does and we know a lot less about how and why it does what we can observe.

Shooting and stabbing dreams apparently are not at all uncommon and may stem from the observations that we have of such violence in movies and on the news.

One theory about stabbing and shooting is that they are symbolic of penetrations and may result from a conscious fear of being probed (thermometer, dental exam, doctor's appointment, blood sample, etc.) or may be associated with regular severe arguing or high levels of emotional conflict (sort of an emotional penetration that involves someone close to you, like a spouse, parent, brother or sister).

On the other hand, it could be the random stimulation of that part of your brain that has a memory of your violent event at gunpoint and it just keeps playing over and over again in different ways that involve a gun or a knife - the closest image that your mind can call up with the association of that memory.

Who knows? Here are some things to do, however, to help your own brain solve the conflict associated with the dreams:

A) When you have this type of dream, don't get out of bed. Lay in bed and make an effort to go back into the dream with your conscious mind as far toward the beginning of the sequence of events as you can.

B) Keep your eyes closed. Assume the exact same position in bed that you had during the dream or when you woke up (on your back, on your side, stomach, whatever). Stay awake and keep going over the dream, trying to remember all of the details. This will give you time to fully wake up and transfer the dream events to your conscious mind.

C) Write it down. Keep a pad and pen next to your bed. Try to record as much detail as you can. Include any physical sensations you had as well, such as a pain that remained for a while in your side where you were stabbed, then faded away as you woke up. Where were you shot? How many times? Were you bleeding? Should you have felt pain but didn't? Who shot or stabbed you? Is it always the same person? What does the person look like?

D) At a quiet time during the day, read your notes, lay down, close your eyes, and have your conscious mind try and digest the information with the goal of finding some kind of meaning.

All of the details recorded over a period of time might clue you into what's bothering you. This is especially possible if the dream is recurring and consistent in content.

For example, I had a recurring dream that I couldn't open my book locker at school, gave up, ran to class, tried to take a test I hadn't studied for, and failed. After going through the above exercise for several months, I realized that I was frustrated over my not having finished graduate school. Once I came to that conclusion, the dream stopped.

Give it shot (oops, no pun intended). I hope this helps.

Answer 2

First and foremost, it does not mean that you want to harm your parents. Quite the contrary! I can recall having recurrent dreams of animals trapped inside my car as I watched helplessly, while the car burnt, and the animals (my cats and dogs) burned to death in agony. It soon became apparent that the dream/nightmare was actually born out of my anxiety of losing them. I was going through a tough time, and from day-to-day I wasn't even sure where I would be living. My world was falling apart, and the most valuable and most important things in my life seemed to be my pets. They represented stability, loyalty, affection and company. The very things I needed most of all, and the very things I could be forced to give up. The car represented my freedom, which was likewise, threatened in the real world. The fire represented the ever present menace that could separate me from, and similarly destroy the things I valued most. If you translate, your dream/nightmare in a similar fashion, it is possible that subconsciously, you have an anxiety about separation from your parents, and further, you may blame yourself for the distance and the anxiety it causes. It doesn't mean that you have caused the situation, it is just the way your subconscious mind interprets and expresses itself. The whip "may" represent your desire to get your parents' attention, whilst the pain, and the bleeding, may represent the physical manifestation of your anxiety. (It's you who are in pain - not your parents). As for not knowing how to use a whip, it doesn't really translate into the dream world. You can be a totally different person in your dreams, and curiously, you can find that you have skills and abilities in your dreams, that you can't even begin to imagine in the real world. (As for me, I can scarcely play the first few bars of a tune on the piano, but in my dreams, I have been a concert pianist of the highest order!). Dreams rarely, if ever, mean what they say, and any attempt to interpret them can only be an aproximation of what the different elements mean to you, and say about you. Very often, people will tell you that a dream means the complete opposite of what you saw. It's not a good idea to read too deeply into a dream, and do beware of any attempt to interpret one, but taken at face value, it can be interesting to try to make sense of anything that doesn't really make any sense at all!

Answer 3

I can only say that I go through the same thing. I have been killed a few times and I have killed dozens of people in my dreams.