Have you ever woken up after dreaming about being chased or attacked? These are common recurring nightmares that most of us will experience at some point.
All people dream and many of us have nightmares at some points in our lives. But what if you have recurring nightmares with the same theme, such as standing naked in front of strangers or being chased?
These kinds of dreams indicate some sort of impending fear or anxiety and reveal important things about yourself and your life. Let’s find out what different types of recurring nightmares actually mean.
Here are the top ten recurring nightmares and their meaning:
1. Being Chased
Being chased is one of the most common recurring nightmares of all. They relate to the dreamer not being able to confront a person in their life that they have to, in order to move on. This could be an abusive partner or parent, an over-bearing boss or an unhealthy attachment. Depending on how you act within the nightmare, if you hide from the chaser, you might be ignoring your problems in real life. But if you turn around and stop, then the time is right for you to confront the person.
2. Being Attacked
If you are being attacked in a nightmare, it indicates a weakness in some area of your personal life. If a person breaks your bones or causes physical injury, then you need to examine where you are particularly vulnerable in your life, and who is benefiting from this. If you find out where your weaknesses lie and improve on them, the nightmares should gradually decrease.
3. Drowning
This is a very disturbing nightmare to have, especially on a recurring basis, but understanding why is not complex. Those who dream that they are drowning could be suppressing an anxiety wherein they literally feel they are ‘in over their heads’. They are experiencing a loss of control about a situation or task at hand. Tackling this problem should make the nightmares stop.
4. Seeing Dead People
Having nightmares about dead people falls into two categories; the first one relates to if you knew the person who is now deceased. If this is so, then the nightmare is about your reluctance to let go. If the dead person is a stranger, then you are terrified of the unknown and could be suffering from a terminal or life-threatening illness.
5. Being Trapped
If you are dreaming about being trapped and you don’t necessarily suffer from claustrophobia, then you might be in a situation where you are trapped emotionally, financially or physically. It could be a dead-end job, a relationship that has finished its course, or even a feeling that you are not reaching your full potential.
6. Out of control vehicle
Having a nightmare in which you are travelling in a car that you have no control over is representative of your journey in life. The car is you and what direction you are taking. You might feel that things are not going the way you want them to in your life, or there is something in which you feel helpless and out of control.
7. Falling
Recurring nightmares about falling indicate a strong possibility that you are anxious about some aspect of your life. You feel out of control and hopeless about a situation where you see no way out. This could relate to a relationship, finances, or careers and are often nightmares that people in authority have.
8. Being Naked in Public
If you constantly dream that you are naked in public, you might have self-esteem issues or suffer from low self-confidence. Being naked in front of strangers is laying ourselves bare literally for criticism, so you could feel that other people are judging you.
9. Unprepared for an exam
Do you wake up in a panic and sweat, thinking that you have just entered an exam room and you have no idea of what will be on the test? This is quite common and refers to a lack of confidence and a need to move on to the next stage of your life.
10. Natural Disasters
Generally speaking, any kind of nightmare concerning a natural disaster is mirroring some kind of disaster that is threatening your life. The disaster will indicate a sense of impending fear or anxiety, as the weather cannot be predicted or tamed. The disaster is the person’s own anxiety and could relate to their relationship, their job, homework or finances.
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Actually i have experienced all these nightmares, some recurring and some, thankfully, a once-off. You have, however, omitted to include, what I consider to be, the most frightening and emotionally draining, recurring nightmare for a mother; the horror of seeing your beloved child being harmed in some way. I have them often, and once they’ve run their nocturnal destruction, I lie awake for the rest of the night drinking coffee and watching TV daring not to fall asleep in an attempt to shut-out the mental pictures. Sadly the residue of this horror lives with me for days – there’s a deep sadness and fear that I hide from everyone, i feel tearful and over-protective of my child. Thank goodness I am spiritually strong, I recover quickly and I believe that I am the captain of this ship, but on some subliminal level I feel each nightmare leaves a deep scar. Perhaps it is in someway linked to the loss of my only other child in a vehicle accident – my child died, so did my husband, and I was allowed to live……I felt so guilty about that, and my late husbands’ family distanced themselves from me.
Anyway, despite my experience, I do believe mothers fear for the safety of their children, and it manifests itself in nightmares, which you did not include and which I believe might very well be amongst some of the most recurring nightmares.
When I was 4 or 5 my grandmother painted a paint by numbers painting of Jesus the eyes would follow you I would have reoccurring nightmares of Jesus shocking me got any idea what that means
I have dreams that I just entered military service even though I was discharged in 1980.
Trying to find my car even though I can no longer drive.
Walking from store to store trying to find my walking cane.
Is it bad if all these/ some of these combine together