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Post-traumatic Stress Nightmare Dream Meaning

If you have experienced a traumatic event, for example an attack, accident or disaster, such as an earthquake, you may find that your dreaming mind recalls the horror of that event but as time passes the nightmares tend to become less intense. In general, they have little meaning other than your memory of it and are an attempt by your dreaming mind to help you deal with the original horror. Post-traumatic stress nightmares are usually different from other nightmares as the content of the dream will closely resemble a traumatic event that happened in their waking lives.

POWs from World War II and concentration camp survivors have been known to suffer post-traumatic stress nightmares for up to fifty years after the event. Unlike ‘normal’ nightmares, these dreamers can experience significant physical symptoms during REM sleep and non-REM sleep, such as an increase in respiration and heart rate, muscle twitches and more than one arousal. Adults might experience other traumatic events in their lives, such as the loss of a loved one or bankruptcy, and these events can also continue to play out in dreams over the years in the form of nightmares. The more standard anxiety nightmare dreamers, however, have nightmares that relate to work, school or relationship stresses. The threat here isn’t to your life but to your self-confidence and sense of self. [1]

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Sources and Authors

  1. The Element Encyclopedia by Theresa Cheung [Back to dream]

What does POST TRAUMATIC STRESS NIGHTMARE mean in a dream?


If you have experienced a traumatic event, for example an attack, accident or disaster, such as an earthquake, you may find that your dreaming mind recalls the horror of that...

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If you have nightmares, try to understand the fears and the events in those dreams. They suggest that you might be holding on to be traumatic or guilt based conflicts....

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Nightmares are easy to recognize: you wake up feeling anything from mild fright to complete terror. Despite the fear they evoke, even the scariest dreams come to help you. The...

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Fear is a common dream emotion. Often we repress our fears during the day through being busy, but at night those deeper anxieties will surface in your dreams.• Sometimes fear...

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Material aspects: To be ‘in a post’ suggests that someone else has made the decision to employ us – we become a support.A large quantity of post being delivered in...

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Psychological / emotional perspective: Being teased in dreams may reveal a fear of becoming a laughing stock.If we are being physically tortured in dreams, we need to look at the...

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To see a lamp-post in your dreams, some stranger will prove your staunchiest friend in time of pressing need.To fall against a lamp-post, you will have deception to overcome, or...

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To see Post-It notes in your dream, suggests your tendency to hold on and cling to your childhood. Also pay attention to what is written or drawn on the Post-It......

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Recurrent dream themes often start at a young age, but can begin at any time, and persist for the rest of one’s life.The theme of missing an exam, to take...

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Children, especially, are prone to nightmares. Nightmares are common in children, typically beginning at around age 3 and occurring up to age 7-8. People with anxiety disorder might also experience...

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An omen of some coming change, though it may only be a fresh house or flat.

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A post driven into the ground is a symbol for intercourse and it usually starts a spring flowing.

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Sending or receiving important information from the unconscious. Increased awareness, communication.

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To dream that you are under stress is a reflection of the stress that you are experiencing in your waking life. Your real life stress that has been carried over...

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Daydreams Studies show that we all have the tendency to daydream an average of 70-120 minutes a day. Day dreaming is classified as a level of consciousness between sleep and...

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(Doorjamb) In a dream, a doorjamb or a door post represent the sire of the house or his bottler.If the door post is removed in a dream, it means dismissal...

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To dream you are in a post office suggests that your inner self or subconscious is telling you something of importance. It may be in relation to getting in touch...

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It is unlucky so far as love affairs are concerned to dream that you see a mile post. To pass one indicates that you will take extraordinary chances without much...

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To dream of a post-office, is a sign of unpleasant tidings. and ill luck generally.

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To dream you see or pass a mile-post, foretells that you will be assailed by doubtful fears in business or love.To see one down, portends accidents are threatening to give...

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(Dwellings, Niche) In a dream, a guarding post represents a spiritual retreat, a votive seclusion, prayers, hunger, fast, depression, humbling oneself, controlling one’s passions and desires.

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A lamp post in your dream is an omen of family troubles.

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Generally, nightmares come from a range of emotions, including anxiety, guilt, confusion and stress. If you are going through a tough time in your life, then you’re more susceptible to...

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Dreaming about being raped is a nightmare that inflicts fear and anxiety upon recall. Since rape is a brutal and deeply personal violation, it suggests that the dreamer may be...

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If you dream of post Pardum depression, then you are venting out and processing the physiological and psychological changes of having a baby or of giving birth to a creative...

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A childlike sense of play is what is reflected in this image.The idea that something so simple can generate an enormous amount of joy is presented by a dream with...

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Something in your life (or something about yourself) you consider undesirable or unwanted, or you’d like to avoid or hide.Stress, or the way you show stress.See Smell, Deodorant, Body Part

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(Alarm, Shy) A fright in a dream means sickness or stress.If a sick person or one who is suffering from stress is seized by fear in a dream, it means...

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The scientific exploration of dreams is known as oneirology. This field delves not only into the content or meaning of dreams but also the intricate mechanics behind them. It examines...

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One of the most terrifying and anxiety forms of nightmare is the one that involves some kind of paralysis where you cannot move. Dreams of being paralyzed are in fact...

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A typical symbol of stress. Take more time, or move faster in order to take advantage of your chance. However, it seems that stress can also be overcome with speed.

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Implies a traumatic experience has not been resolved

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If you are attending a party in your dream, it may mean that you should get out a little more and embrace life; or perhaps you need to celebrate something...

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Drives repressed and drives released, stress or stress reduction. This implies a “test by fire.” What is innermost comes to the surface. It might express a fantasy of merging in...

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See Post. Carrier of information, communication.

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To post them, dishonor; to read them, labor without reward.

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A notice of significance, not necessarily postal

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See Letter, Post Office. Are you expecting an important announcement?

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A warning to the physical from the mental that you are approaching a breakdown. You need to make a change as soon as possible; either a change of job or...

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Dreams of being chased are a natural response to stress. It could be events are catching up with you and you’re running to keep ahead of the game.• Or you’re...

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A high official post will be attained either by yourself, or, should the dreamer be a girl, a member of the family.

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A massage can be a relief from stress as well as a tool for healing certain muscular injuries. At the heart of this image is the connection to the essence...

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1. A past event, possibly traumatic, needs to be addressed.2. A message from one level of con­sciousness to another regarding repetitive behaviors.3. A need or desire for escapism.

Learn more about the meaning of Videocassette Recorder (vcr)

Take care of your correspondence. Write guardedly; seal and post carefully. Someone has an attraction towards you which will soon be expressed.

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This is evidence of some underlying fear, shame, guilt, or stress. On a social level, sweat is sometimes evidence of inner stress. This can reveal the presence of guilt or...

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A resort is a location where you go for relaxation and to escape your daily routine.A dream that takes place at a resort may indicate a need to take a...

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(see also Ice)Coldness in a dream may symbolize a cold, hard heart. Have you become emotionally frigid? What traumatic experience has caused this?

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Hanging up your burden. Or if you are being hanged, extreme danger. Drastic, ancient symbol for punishment; however, it need not always be a nightmare. It could be a relief.

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Symbolic of jealousy, injustice, and unrighteousness, Isa. 1:21. Murdering people in a dream may also be the result of a demonically induced nightmare

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1. Past fears, often from a traumatic event, require atten­tion.2. Regrets from the past need to be resolved or “laid to rest.”

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Dreams of feeling frozen signify that you are processing shock from a traumatic experience loss of connection to your spirit. You are venting out feeling of being out of control.

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Psychological / emotional perspective: Any emergency puts our emotions under stress and so it is in dreams.If we are under stress in waking life we may dream of an emergency...

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In ancient times, nightmares were thought to be caused by evil spirits. The word, in fact, derives from a Scandinavian legend in which a ‘nacht-mara’—the ‘mara’ being a female demon—came...

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A sign in the “game of life” that a goal is reached, and it is the end of an event; see “ballgame”

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To dream of Refractory children or animals means that you will be given a highly important post.

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To dream of a post under Government is an omen of a precarious living and much poverty.

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If you dream of a rival in business or love, you will hear disquieting news by post or telegraph.

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Most people become deeply and violently repulsed after visiting a slaughterhouse. In a dream, a slaughterhouse could be a response to a traumatic experience in one’s waking life.

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To dream that you are experiencing tension or stress is a reflection of real-life feelings of being overwhelmed. Your waking stress that has been carried over into your dream state....

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(Pillar, Post) In a dream, a column represents one’s religion. Ifone sees a column descending from the firmament in a dream, it means a divine favor and a blessing to...

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A symbol of God’s correction and discipline, Ps. 38:2. Pressure can also be a demonic hindrance in your life if the dream is a nightmare

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A dream of being beheaded may indicate traumatic memories about bad judgments and wrong decisions made by the dreamer.The head symbolizes the intellect, so beheading can also represent alienation from...

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1. A time of healing after difficult or traumatic events.2. A need for healing emotional wounds (seeing something in need of repairs).3. Obstacles in the offing, often related to domestic...

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