Recur

We all have our own particular terrors in sleep. Is yours a ghost or a rampaging thing, dangerous and insane, which hunts you through the night? Or is it an apparently ordinary person whom you might not even know, causing an unexplained, all pervading sense of threat and fear?

RECURING NIGHTMARES: THEY PORTRAY A REALITY ABOUT OURSELVES

The nightmare was an attempt to integrate what a person unconsciously senses, but may never have defined or put into words. This description applies in general to all of our dreams. They are a link between our deep unconscious biological functions, our memories and intentions, and our conscious everyday social selves. In particular, nightmares are, as in the example, attempts to bring to consciousness powerfully felt events which led us to reactions which might have been relevant at the time, but negatively influence our present life, and need re-assessment. An event may have led us not to trust people for instance, or as with the woman, have powerful anxiety in connection with external objects - such as the railings. When understood, a nightmare brings the strength of the emotions and the original cause to our attention, so we can understand the connections and perhaps change our reactions.