Help me. My dreams ruin my day.

[Gemi_fly]

Hi. I can't really call this a dream because to me its much more of a nightmare. In fact..every "dream" I have is terrifying, disturbing, or emotionally cripples me. I don't exactly call myself a sensitive person, but when it comes to my dreams, and the animals involved, I guess I am. When I have these dreams I think I feel too much. I wake up completely depressed and I can't stop thinking about it. It consumes my entire day. I can't get it out of my head for a week sometimes. So...Just about every dream I can remember in the past few years have involved animals (mostly cats) being tortured or injured in some way. I used to have dreams that my dad was either killing our cats himself, or making me kill them. That seems to be where it started. Since then theres been other dreams but for now i'll just stick with my dream from last night. I can't tell you exactly how the dream started but I remember I somehow found a baby bat. So I was walking around with this adorable creature holding it against my chest and sheltering it from the wind with my hand. I remember feeling love for it and wanting to protect it. I was walking around meeting people for no particular reason, showing people the bat. Its all rather fuzzy cuz I guess not much was going on. The area I was walking around was partially a made up housing area I have reaccuring dreams about, and partially a street in the neighborhood I grew up in, don't know if that helps. Ok, so at some point I was in an unknown shaded grassy area underneath a tree. For some reason I put the bat down in the grass to run to a house really quick, nothing happened...thats all I know, then I came back. When I got back to the spot there was a couple sitting under the tree. The girl was leaning back picking at her nails like nothing was going on, and the boyfriend was sitting a few feet away from the bat hitting it with something resembling a baseball bat. I ran over and stood in front of the baby and saw that it was bloody and "broken" but not dead. I however "knew" that it was going to die. Next thing I know I grabbed the guy by the throat and proceeded to punch him while screaming and demanded he tell me why he would do such a thing. I felt like I was going to kill him. All he did was point to his girlfriend and told me that she told him to. So I got up and grabbed her by the hair and began punching and kicking her. There was really no reaction from either of them. No fighting back or talking other than the one line from the guy. I don't even remember what her face looked like when I hit her. So I picked up the bat crying and felt like my whole world was destroyed. Just complete loss and helplessness. I held the bat up against my chest again and sheltered it as I walked away, in my head "knowing" that it was going to die. It was kinda like aimless wandering from now on but the bat seemed to be ok. Even tho it was all bloody and broken it was still looking at me and moving, like it was going to be fine. And I remember thinking that maybe it was'nt going to die afterall. I remember feeling hope. Now, again, Im posting on here because this dream effected me so badly. I can't stop thinking about that stupid guy doing something like that to a tiny defenseless creature, and my sense of failure. I don't know if a bat symbolizes anything or if its just because it was so small and it has something to do with me protecting it. Ugh. Please help. I'm finally tring to find some sort of answers to my dreams because they consume me. I'm afraid to go to sleep alot because I can't handle feeling like this. Thank you for reading and hopefully I can find some answers.

[Seph]

This may not be the answer you had hoped for, but I think the best thing to do is realize it's just a dream and try not to let it bother you. A dream will only have as much impact as you allow it to have. As for trying to avoid it in the future, I know one method to getting lucids is having a mantra like "I will realize I'm dreaming" and such. Perhaps you could try having a mantra saying what your dream will be about, and try not to think of anything troubling that could manifest into your dreams. I think it's safe to say that everyone has a troubling dream at some point, but it IS only a dream. Hope this helps a bit.

[Burned up]

That does sound like a very upsetting dream, and you seem to care a lot for the weak. You seem to be harbouring a lot of anger, like you've been bullied either actually or emotionally. You're projecting some part of you onto that bat - the defenseless, helpless part I would guess - whilst the ego takes revenge on the couple (your parents?). If these dreams persist, as you say, and the result is anxiety and depression then I would strongly suggest speaking to a professional about this - a therpaist/counsellor/analyst. This may cost, however, and you may find it more practical to find someone you know who has skills in that area or even a friend who can just listen, which may be enough. Something you can try, although it may be hard to put into practice, is to use the dreams themselves as therapy. If you can will yourself, in your dreams, to confront your enemies (the couple, your father, whoever...) rather than to become violent then perhaps the underlying isses may become more obvious. It will mean letting go of the desire to protect the poor animal and perhaps taking the pain yourself. But (from what I've read anyway) that's where the energy will come from to get your life back on track. Good luck, and keep in touch.

[Gemi_fly]

That does sound like a very upsetting dream, and you seem to care a lot for the weak. You seem to be harbouring a lot of anger, like you've been bullied either actually or emotionally. You're projecting some part of you onto that bat - the defenseless, helpless part I would guess - whilst the ego takes revenge on the couple (your parents?). If these dreams persist, as you say, and the result is anxiety and depression then I would strongly suggest speaking to a professional about this - a therpaist/counsellor/analyst. This may cost, however, and you may find it more practical to find someone you know who has skills in that area or even a friend who can just listen, which may be enough. Something you can try, although it may be hard to put into practice, is to use the dreams themselves as therapy. If you can will yourself, in your dreams, to confront your enemies (the couple, your father, whoever...) rather than to become violent then perhaps the underlying isses may become more obvious. It will mean letting go of the desire to protect the poor animal and perhaps taking the pain yourself. But (from what I've read anyway) that's where the energy will come from to get your life back on track. Good luck, and keep in touch. Wow. Thank you. That actually sounds about right and I really had'nt thought of it that way. Im having alot of issues with my parents right now. Im in the process of moving out but I dont think that will fix the problem. I will definitly take your advice. ..thinking about it more, you have no idea how right you are or how much sense this is making now. Thank you.

[Burned up]

Wow. Thank you. That actually sounds about right and I really had'nt thought of it that way. Im having alot of issues with my parents right now. Im in the process of moving out but I dont think that will fix the problem. I will definitly take your advice. ..thinking about it more, you have no idea how right you are or how much sense this is making now. Thank you. Glad to have been of help. And thanks for replying. Moving out may or may not help. It will certainly be a change and it will bring its own anxieties. Don't expect a quick fix, though. Sometimes it can take a long time to work through issues like anger. And for the record, anger tends to mask hurt, fear or grief.

[Gemi_fly]

Glad to have been of help. And thanks for replying. Moving out may or may not help. It will certainly be a change and it will bring its own anxieties. Don't expect a quick fix, though. Sometimes it can take a long time to work through issues like anger. And for the record, anger tends to mask hurt, fear or grief. Uh..hehe.. All of the above. I've realized recently that I've never really felt anger when it came to all of the things that have happened to me. So I think that by not dealing with the hurts and grief that its slowly turned to anger, which seems to be getting worse so I guess its time to fix myself. Thank you.

[Burned up]

Uh..hehe.. All of the above. I've realized recently that I've never really felt anger when it came to all of the things that have happened to me. So I think that by not dealing with the hurts and grief that its slowly turned to anger, which seems to be getting worse so I guess its time to fix myself. Thank you. Don't mention it. Best of luck!

[Posquant]

Don't freak out. That doesn't help. Just makes it worse. 1) See neuro-psychiatrist about your brain chemicals. You may have imbalance. PET scans can show overactive / deficient areas. Try not to trust just their Q&A guesswork. 2) Practice non-action. In you dreams, you can not act. Get a book or two on meditation from the library. During the day, fully aware of the sheetrock, trees, shag carpet, smell of nonsense and plastic on the back of the remote control, practice non-action. Don't follow or be your mind, impressions thoughts. Become a watcher. Watch them. So, in dreams, do not act. 3) Seek lucidity, per instructions here at dream views. Use it to sense, understand. Try moving away from the noisome action. Walk, run, or fly, or teleport. If in crisis in dreams (or life) you can just center, relax, loosely focus on all, attend - much will resolve. Do this before striking, if MUST strike. 4) You're a good writer. Start a dream diary. It will help as catharsis, as a record of the pattern. 5) Lose the fear of pain and death. It's inevitable. We are particularly sheltered. The Buddhists have a meditation on death, imagining oneself mauled, rotting, putrid, etc. We all hope for a quick death. The Romans used to fall on their swords. But don't lose your empathy, concern, resolve to fight evil. --- PQ

[Liz]

Gemi_fly, Traditional psychology would state that the animals that are injured in your dreams represent you as a child. This is called projection. You stated that the DC that injured these helpless animals (you as a child) had the appearance of being normal at first glance . This means that the evil person who injured you as a child appears to others as a completely normal individual- your average citizen who goes to work, pays taxes and does not appear outwardly evil to others. Perhaps the evil inflicted upon you was a subtle evil, which happens far more often than the easily recognizable “serial killer” evil. Perhaps someone ruined your childhood goals, criticized you at every chance with dual meaning sarcasm, and/or etc... Perhaps you would like to confront the person who injured you as a child but because others don’t see this person as “evil” you have been reluctant to do so. Perhaps this person was an authority figure. Perhaps you have even been hesitant to consciously believe that evil WAS done to you because it was convert evil or done by an individual who should have loved you. Perhaps you are now beginning to understand that the actions of this person WERE evil and hurt you. Sadly, perhaps you are still “allowing” this evil person to hurt you by having an ongoing relationship with them. Evil is the imposition of one’s will upon others (weaker people-frequently children) by overt or covert actions in order to meet their narcissistic needs. It can be seen in consistent, evil deeds or the consistent evil words. Evil people are masters of lies. They even lie to themselves that they are not evil. They believe that they are faultless. They will go to extreme measures to not exam their own evilness. They will lash out, in many forms, to anyone that does reproach them. They sacrifice people for their own self image. They are completely dedicated to preserving their own self-image of perfection. NARCISSISM! Don’t sweep these dreams under the rug. Identify who the DC are in these dreams. Confront the perpetrators of evil then GET AWAY FROM THEM as much as possible. Perhaps you are a very kind person and want to help them. Please realize that you will not be able to “heal” evil people. They have to seek healing for themselves....and they probably won't. Please know that you are justified in your anger towards evil inflicted on you. Now its time for healing. Healing from any type of abuse occurs through love. You can identify genuine love because it is ALWAYS sacrificial. (ALWAYS! ALWAYS! ALWAYS!) Exhibit love towards others and you will eventually become a human magnet for other healthy people that are also loving. I STRONGLY recommend that you read , People of the Lie by Scott Peck, M.D. With love, Liz

[ultranova]

Well there is a LOT to talk about this.I'll try to get the simplest idea out. Have you maybe read that LD's help to fight nightmares?? Well since you said that all of 'those dreams' involve animal = you have your dream sing : the animals. Every time you see or think about animal do reality check to help induce DILDs. So next time if you see animal in dream and become lucid, then you would never again had to watch them being hurt.