This statement can be heard quite often. The same dream, and not the most pleasant one, is repeated with enviable consistency. Waking up in the middle of the night, a person feels great relief that this is just a dream! It leaves behind a slight anxiety that dissipates with the worries of the day. And then the dream returns, sometimes its details differ, but the essence remains the same.
A young woman's story: “From time to time I dreamed about school. In the dream, I understood that I would not pass the exam in mathematics (at that time the Unified State Exam was not yet taken), because I had never attended a single lesson. The algebra and geometry teacher was silent and did not raise the topic of absences at all. And this silence seemed even more ominous. After waking up, I realized with great relief that school was long behind me, that I had passed the exams successfully, that I had entered college and graduated.”
Why was this dream a frequent visitor at night and why did it depress the narrator so much?
Recurring dreams
The same visions have different characters. In some cases they become short, in others - it seems to the person that he is dreaming the whole night. The plot repeats itself, the details of the picture change.
In most cases, nightmares that persist for a long time indicate an unresolved problem. The subconscious is trying to suggest a solution. The more a person is in a depressive state, the more often he dreams.
Recurring nightmares are rarely positive. More often the plot is built around a problematic situation. If the dream is not associated with finding a solution, it speaks of psychological difficulties or health problems.
What to do
If dreams are repeated, you need to try to understand their meaning. Sometimes people are able to identify a problem on their own and solve it before it causes serious harm. It's best to use a step-by-step approach:
If you cannot solve the problem on your own, you can contact a somnologist, psychologist or psychoanalyst. An experienced doctor will conduct a comprehensive diagnosis, ask leading questions and help understand the secret meaning of the visions that bother the patient.
What are recurring dreams?
The vision of a particular person will depend on what problem or fear is haunting him. Subconscious complexes will take on the character of systematic nightmares. There are common themes that haunt different people. The details are different, but the essence remains the same:
- A constant attempt to escape from the pursuer who is catching up. The plot shows an unwillingness to face real problems. An attempt to escape persecution ends in failure. This speaks to an underlying fear of failure.
- If you dream of flying, most often it indicates a subconscious desire to break out of your usual environment and gain freedom. You are waiting for changes, but in reality you are afraid to change your usual environment.
- Falling from a height symbolizes fear of failure, an attempt by the subconscious to check whether you are ready to quickly gather strength in extreme situations.
- Seeing yourself partially (completely) undressed in a public place means that you are afraid of the judgment of other people and strive to avoid situations that could expose you to ridicule. The more often the dream is repeated, the more need for approval the person experiences.
- Studying and passing exams is a new attempt by the subconscious to demonstrate dependence on the opinions of other people. You may be on the verge of an important event that requires you to make serious decisions.
- Late, long, unproductive preparations indicate that you manage your own time poorly. The plot is often built around unnecessary chaotic action, which symbolizes chaos in real life.
Dreams may not necessarily be of this nature. Depending on the oppressive situation, the plot will transform. You will not be able to avoid recurring sleep until you get rid of anxiety and cope with difficulties.
Can two people have the same dream?
It is difficult to give a definite answer to this question, because there are still no scientific, documented manifestations of this phenomenon. But we can try to rely on numerous stories about similar cases:
- a certain woman who lived in the USSR once saw in a dream a handsome sailor unknown to her - he bowed to her in the dream. A few years later they met and immediately recognized each other. Then the sailor said that he also had this dream;
- there is also a story that Abraham Lincoln and his wife, shortly before the death of the president, saw his death in dreams - and at the same time;
- a similar story is told about Jacqueline and Robert Kennedy - they allegedly saw the death of John Kennedy in a dream and even called on the phone that night to exchange thoughts and guesses.
In general, identical dreams can be divided into two large groups - joint and coinciding. The first are distinguished by the fact that dreamers meet each other in a dream, maybe even interact somehow. Coinciding dreams are somewhat simpler - two or more people dream of the same image, the same plot, but they do not see each other in them. An important condition for identical dreams is that they should occur at approximately the same time.
It is also believed that masters of lucid dreaming can take “guests” with them. In this case, sleeping together is not spontaneous, but controlled. We will not talk about this phenomenon here - it is beyond the scope of our article.
Why do people have the same dream?
There are many theories that would explain this phenomenon. We will present three of the most popular.
- The first claims that in a dream we find ourselves in another world, where we may well meet other real dreamers. This explains the identical plot of the dream, the coincidence of time, and also the fact that the dreamers recognize each other.
- The second talks about the telepathic connection that is created between people in particularly difficult situations or in very close relationships. However, this does not explain the creation of “common dreams” among people who do not even know each other. On the other hand, this version is closer than others to a scientific explanation of the phenomenon. If we discard telepathy, we can come to the conclusion that the same experiences and memories of two close people can indeed cause two similar dreams.
- There is a third version, according to which coinciding (but not joint) dreams appear in sensitive people who are able to grasp the prediction of something serious. In this case, dreamers, like antennas, catch the “signal” of the sign and receive it in the form of a bright image in a dream.
It is possible that people who see a disaster in a dream before it occurs are connected to the same “channel of information”
Why does the dream repeat itself?
Modern researchers agree that in most cases, systematic dreams indicate certain problems occurring in life. Even if you try to solve them and try to set yourself up positively, the subconscious will look for a way out, regardless of your mood.
Often a person dreams of the same dream during periods of nervous shock and deep personal experiences. You may have recently experienced the pain of losing a loved one. There is a theory according to which a recurring dream speaks of impending fateful changes in life. Events can be both bad and good.
Repetitive plots indicate internal complexes. Until you deal with them, the dream will keep coming back. If you persistently make the same mistakes, your subconscious mind will send you repeated dreams until you listen to the voice of reason.
In other cases, night visions indicate the presence of serious health problems (psychological or physical).
Dreams that repeat frequently
They can “return” to a person after a few days or weeks. Such frequency indicates the presence of an acute problem or conflict that requires an immediate solution. The subconscious, as it were, pushes the individual to take measures to eliminate this obstacle. The source of mental stress is usually difficulties in relationships with others or chronic stress. The problem interferes with a person's well-being and personal growth. After solving it, dreams stop repeating. By paying attention to the features of the scenes that an individual experiences during a night's rest, he can identify the source of anxiety.
Stress or nervous shock
During periods of exacerbation of nervous tension, the body seeks to throw out accumulated negative emotions. It is difficult for a person to let go of a situation that oppresses him, even if there is no way out of it. Anxiety manifests itself in negative dreams that haunt someone who is depressed or stressed.
The situation worsens due to the fact that during such periods the body is exhausted. A person sleeps less, his appetite worsens, and his thoughts revolve only around the problem. This leads to a vicious circle that puts a person in a state of extreme nervous exhaustion.
Recurring dreams haunt people who have recently experienced a serious nervous shock. This could be the loss of a loved one, a job, or another negative experience.
Alarm signal
If you have the same dream, this may indicate a serious mental illness. Obsessive visions are a symptom of neurosis. In other cases, they talk about physical illness. With the help of dreams, the body gives a signal that help is needed. Dreams often indicate the following diseases:
- problems with the gastrointestinal tract (dreams of vomiting, nausea, spoiled food);
- injury, pain in the chest indicate possible heart problems;
- insects crawling over the body indicate skin diseases;
- suffocate, experience a feeling of suffocation - hurry to check your lungs;
- a dream of swimming in cold or icy water precedes a cold.
Scientists have not figured out how the body sends signals about physical illness. Brain signals precede the manifestations of the disease. But the messages cannot be ignored, especially if they are accompanied by other symptoms of a possible illness.
The main plots of recurring personal dreams
It is impossible to describe the plots of personal dreams, since they are individual in nature. In most cases, one can only say what they promise or what they are trying to tell the dreamer about.
To illness
Any disease begins even before its external manifestations. We still don’t suspect anything, but the body is already sending signals through dreams. They can be both direct and indirect. For example, a dream with poisoning may indicate problems with the gastrointestinal tract. This is a direct interpretation. Everyone has to deduce indirect ones on their own. Before catching a cold, some people dream of a long and difficult road along which they have to walk and walk. The interpretation of such dreams has to be determined empirically.
Pre-stress dreams
Many people have recurring dreams before important events in their lives. Thus, they drive away the situation in a dream in advance, thereby relieving the stress load on the body in real life. The brain perceives this situation as passed and processed and no longer reacts so sharply. Someone sees what is coming in reality. And some people have dreams that they see before every difficult event. In any case, increased stress resistance is guaranteed.
Dreams-advice
These are very interesting dreams from the point of view of solving them. Fate, in a fairly encrypted form, makes it clear what the dreamer is doing wrong in life, what mistake he makes over and over again. A striking example would be a dream about the need to go somewhere urgently, but instead you start doing something of little significance. This is an indication of the inability to prioritize and use time rationally.
A signal that you correctly understood the dream and corrected your behavior will be the disappearance of such a dream from nightly viewing.
Achieving your dreams
For some people, a recurring dream provides some kind of impetus to achieve a goal. Dreaming of a new large apartment, you may periodically see it in a dream and in reality strive to earn more money. Such dreams are especially stimulating at moments when apathy sets in and fatigue sets in.
Stressful conditions and nervous shocks
When a person is in this state, there is no need to look for the reasons for recurring dreams. They lie on the surface. Negative emotions, lack of a way out of the situation, attempts to drive your condition inside make the brain work in circles, in a fruitless attempt to find a solution.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the body is exhausted and sleep is disturbed.
If you experience dreams that repeat from night to night following the death of a loved one, divorce or other critical situation, you need to seek help from a doctor so as not to bring the situation to clinical neurosis.
