# Sleep and Dreams > General Dream Discussion > Nightmares and Recurring Dreams >  >  I shot my five year old son in my dream....help!

## butterfliesnest

I've been having dreams about shooting people and so far they have been strangers. But last night I shot my five year old son in the head twice. While I shot it was like I was someone else. And then he wiped blood away from his neck and looked at me with these big sad brown eyes, and I ran to him and wrapped him in my arms and just started screaming! It's really torturing me today. I looked a few other places and it said I may have hidden anger or aggression toward my son!! I don't feel angry towards him. Please help!

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## moSh

In my short time on this forum, I've seen quite a few threads like this, involving rape, murder and other such crimes. Though it's possible to be what you've been told already, hidden anger, I believe it's just as likely to be unrelated. It's just your mind wondering, and everyone has a darker side which is covered by the conscious mind, and can only be accessed by dreams. So long as you know that it's wrong (which most people would), you'll be fine. I've seen a lot of the 'experienced dreamers' on this site say they have these types of dreams more than half the time, so I wouldn't worry about it.

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## lily

Your son may have been placed there instead of the stranger simply because you see him very often, and not be related to the violent nature of the dream itself, especially since this is a recurring dream. You should consider why you are acting out these shootings in your dreams, in general. Are you angry? Curious? Sometimes we explore dark themes in our dreams because they are a safe place to do so. It is perfectly normal. But it may help you feel better if you think about what the dreams and the action means to you and understand it better. Just realize, that the only person who can accurately interpret your dreams, is you.

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## ShadowOfSelf

You're not going to shoot him in real life, clearly. So if your mind has been running scenarios about what would happen, how to react, or if it would even do it, the place to test that would be a dream. 

I dreamt my friend and I put a balloon over a cats head, just to see what would happen. Doesn't mean i'm going to go do it in real life or that i've even thought about doing it! Yet, anyway  ::lol::  Nah just kidding, chill dude, it's just a dream, as long as you didn't do it in real life is what counts lol  :smiley:

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## melanieb

I have two kids, a boy and a girl, and I have also had horrible dreams in the past where I've done things I never would in real life. I've even mutilated one of my cats in a dream, and felt equally awful.  I know for myself that these are just dreams, an unfortunate combination of possible scenarios my brain came up with while playing random movie images.

I also know that I get angry with my children, but anger wouldn't ever make me even contemplate, consciously, the idea of hurting anyone, let alone my children.

I know how bothered you are by these images, and they may haunt you for some time. It's okay, you're not a monster.

Allow yourself to ponder what happened, don't repress thinking of it, and soon it will fade into a poor memory that you almost never think of.

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## gab

Maybe we get this kind of dreams to reinforce our feelings about it. You would clearly not harm your child in waking life, so in this case, it may be to reinforce, to show us, how bad we would feel had we done so IWL.

On the other hand - it would be helpfull to ask yourself, if there is really nothing that makes you angry or resentfull and to answer yourself truthfully, eventhough it may hurt. First step in healing is realizing what we are really feeling, where is the feeling coming from and to admit that to ourselfs, no matter how painfull it may be. Then the nightmares will stop.
Best of luck!

Another thought - sometimes we punish ourselfs by hurting somebody we care about. Could you be mad at yourself?

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