When I was younger I used to have a recurring dream
where I would wake up in my bed in my room, and there would be strange shifting patterns on the ceiling, and when I tried to move, everything would be in slow motion. All I knew was something in the room was going to kill me, so I would drag myself out of bed and (slow motion) make a run for the door, realising on the way that I couldn't scream, speak or do anything other than whisper.

When I would get to the top of the stairs, I would find myself physically incapable of walking down them, and no matter how hard I knocked on my parents' bedroom door, no sound would come out - so I would throw myself (still in slow motion) down the stairs as the only way to escape the imminent doom-terror now looming invisibly behind me in the strange-patterned room... And then I'd wake up. No strange patterns. Back to sleep then. And it would start all over again. I must have had that dream more nights than I didn't for years and years, and I still have no idea what it means.

Not particularly spooky, I know, but I'd like an explanation. I'll also type up all the slightly odd things that have happened to me since if I decide they're worth it.
( Shegetz Chris Kamara's comedy moustache, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 0:12, 8 replies)

If you really want to know what it means...
why not go to a shrink or sleep therapist, might cost you a few bob but at least you'll get a proper analysis.
(chrisdood Why yes, I am the shizzle, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 0:24, closed)

Because I don't care enough to pay for it
I'm curious, yes, but it's not like it's some childhood trauma. It was just a very odd and really rather bland to keep having.
( Shegetz Chris Kamara's comedy moustache, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 0:27, closed)

My mum is into dream analysis
and it sounds like the overwhelming theme is powerlessness. You are frightened by the possibility of bad things happening to you outside your control (the sense of impending doom and the failure of your parents - the ultimate allies and source of safety, especially as a child - to help).

I have recurring dreams (different each time, yet thematically the same) about trying to get home on the train and never being able to. I always catch the wrong train, or the train home is too full to let me on, or the train gets diverted, or I get off at the wrong stop. I'm pretty sure that's about a fear of getting older - no matter how far I travel, I'll never get back to where I started.

Another common dream (for me, and many other people) involves my teeth falling out - that, i'm pretty sure, is a similar theme, about the linear nature of life, and the harsh consequences of decisions. Once your teeth fall out, they don't grow back. It's a one-way street and you'll never be the same.

As for the classic (which I've never had) about turning up to work or school naked or in pajamas, that strikes me as nothing more than a fear of being shown up in front of your peers or being unprepared for something important.

The key to analysing dreams is not to get bogged down in details (even Jung said that "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"), but to concentrate on the central emotion and feeling. Whether the revelation that you're insecure/frightened of getting old/whatever is either news to you or in any way helpful is another matter.
(Axeman Jim, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 1:10, closed)

I've been told that dreaming of your teeth falling out
is an indication that you feel guilty about lying. I don't know if it's true and I don't really read into these things, it's just what I've heard.

I have a dream of one tooth falling out. Always the same tooth. Maybe I told one massive porky and now my incisor is paying for it in my dreams.
( Shegetz Chris Kamara's comedy moustache, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 1:24, closed)

I heard
that dreaming your teeth are falling out indicates money worries. I have this occasionally, and also I keep dreaming of my mouth being full of flakes of dried skin :(

Also, for several years (though not for a few now) whenever my sleeping patter got interrupted, I would have bouts of sleep apnea, or at least that's what I'm told it was (though I just looked it up on wikipedia and it would appear that my nursey ex-missus was wrong).

I'd usually wake up unable to move or speak, only able to open my eyes slightly. Usually, though not always, I'd fall asleep again pretty quickly and have a vivid dream of getting out of bed but being unable to move without huge effort. I would then wake up again a few minutes later, unable to move, fall asleep and it would continue until I woke up fully. It was horrible.

Happened a couple of times while I was married too..... wife was right next to me but I couldn't wake her, though I think I managed to grunt a little. Horrible.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 2:42, closed)

Baw_bag
that sounds very similar to what would happen to me, if you add in the strange dancing lights and the feeling of doom, which a lot of other people have mentioned as something connected to it.

Nice to know I wasn't the only mental kid.
( Shegetz Chris Kamara's comedy moustache, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 3:33, closed)

I've had all of those!
The teeth thing has happened often, and i often have the same dream about swimming in the sea and being attacked by killer whales.

I also remember once when i was very young (5 or so), i woke from one of these bad dreams and attempted to call for my mum. But no sound came out. I was fully awake, sitting up in bed kicking away the covers, trying desparately for several minutes to shout, to no avail.
(ShitBitch, Tue 8 Jul 2008, 12:26, closed)

Suppresed movement
I think this type of dream isn't that uncommon, I used to have dreams where something terrible I could never quite see, sort of shrouded in darkness, would be after me and I could only run in slow motion with no sounds coming out as I tried to shout for help. Even if there was somewhere I could get to to be safe it would always be able to catch me up just before I got there! I always woke just as it got to me and never saw what it was.

I was told this was caused by your body's natural suppression of movement to stop you waking up every time you dreamed you were moving, extending from deep sleep into the state of waking up.
(jethou1, Wed 9 Jul 2008, 23:46, closed)