New to the forum, first time posting but here goes:

I work with a young person, teenager. They have experienced much loss and hardship in there life. He recently has become fixated on a dream he had about a strange, hooded figure who invites him to shake his hand, as his hand is held forward, he goes to shake it but sees that the hand is "upside down", he describes it as "put wrong" on the wrist. He pulls his hand away, and says to the figure, " why is your hand upside down?" The hooded figure gets angry, and replies, " why is your hand upside down?" (Now I know this sounds like it could be a comedy skit, but the young person is really quite scared while relating this dream.) They argue about whose hand is upside down, then he looks down and sees that the hand is a skeletal, bony hand, that feels "cold and evil". He tries to run away from the figure but the hooded figure chases him and swipes his back with his bony hand.

Now here is my concern; The young man has become so fixated on this dream that he can't sleep at night. His brother wakes up hearing him screaming and sweating and asking for help now. They concur that this started after he had the first dream. The young man has since started talking about being possessed, he is fixated on losing his crucifix he wore around his neck, and will not look in mirrors anymore. He has taken to drinking heavily as well.

We are seeking professional help for the young man now, but my curiosity has taken over and I am exploring if anyone else has experience with dreams being a catalyst, or just a symptom of mental illness. Can a dream be powerful enough to cause a break with "reality"?