I have my final exam today even although I am not at university. It seems to be for mathematics or something similar. The dream seems familar and I believe I have been here before. I realise that I havent studied for the exam and I have now run out of time. It become apparent that if I fail this exam I fail everything.
It is now the day of the exam. I am running late. I only have ten minutes in which to get there. I will not make it.
Dreaming Location: Durness
Time Recorded: 9.00am
I can see my uncle pulling into the driveway and I fear the worst. I turn to my sister and tell her to go upstairs out of the way. I walk outside the front door to meet my uncle. I ask him what is wrong. He immediately tells me that my mother has committed suicide. Continue >>
I am walking down a street. I can see my dog in the distance. I appear to be walking him although I do not usually walk him off the lead. In the distance I can also see a woman carrying a lot of black plastic bags. I watch as she picks up my dog and asks people around her who the dog belongs to. No one answers her. I shout from the far away that it is my dog. I run toward her however I am too late as she puts my dog in one of her bags and disappears.
Dreaming Location: Glencoe
Time Recorded: 9.00am
I am walking home at night when a drunken man approaches me. The man tells me he has just killed someone in a fight and is looking for somewhere to hide. I watch as the man breaks into a car. He points a gun at me and tells me to get in the car.
Dreaming Location: Stockbridge, Edinburgh
Time Recorded: 7.30am
I find myself in a basement which could also be someone’s bedroom. My dog appears and encounters an identical dog hiding in the corner. I watch as the two dogs collide with each other. My dog walks away out of the room but I notice that he now resembles a centipede as he is three times his normal length and has more than four legs.
I suddenly realise that I am late for an interview. My interview started at 2.45pm but it is now 3.10pm. I receive a phone call from the interviewer. I tell the interviewer that I realise that I am late for the interview but for some reason I do not make any effort to rearrange the interview for another time. Continue >>
I find myself in a small gym hall wearing a suit. On a bench in front of me there is a small paper banner which reads “Kevin is an artist.” I feel awkward and quickly grab the banner and hide it in my pocket. I suddenly notice that I am not wearing a shirt under my suit jacket which intensifies the awkwardness. I walk out of the gym hall into the hallway.
I pour myself a glass of water. I notice two women closeby. I recognise one of them as a work collegue. They seem to be having an argument and one of the women starts to cry. I reluctantly give her my glass of water in order to comfort her. I go back to the water cooler to pour myself another glass of water however there are no glasses left. Continue >>
I am driving in the snow around a corner when I stop suddenly. There is a fish at the side of the road. The fish is alive and doesnt seem to need water to survive. I do not move the car as I don’t want to run it over. A car stops behind me. The driver gets out the car and I recognise him as Mr Brown. He asks me aggressively what I am doing. I tell him I have stopped the car because there is a fish on the road. This just infuriates him and he kicks a banana across to the other side of the road. The fish flaps toward the banana and starts eating it. Mr Brown gets in his car and drives off. Continue >>
I find myself in a lecture hall. I look up at the wall and I can see a religious symbol which seems to change shape each time I look at it. I realise I am waiting on a religious speaker appearing on stage however I have the feeling that I am not going to agree with what will be said. I notice that I am wearing a vicars collar which I try and hide with my hand. Continue >>
According to Griffin (2004) dreaming and depression are connected. People who are depressed seem to dream more than “healthy” people and they also have more intense dreams. The reason for this is that a depressed person spends a lot of their time worrying and reflecting internally on the negative. According to Griffin’s expectation fulfilment theory only “unexpressed emotionally arousing concerns” from the previous day will appear in dreams (see http://www.insomnium.co.uk/dream-theory/how-to-interpret-dreams/) therefore all this negative introspection and worry that a depressed person engages in is never acted upon and will be emotionally arousing. This will therefore become the subject of their dreams and due to the amount of negative intropection they will dream excessively and their dreams will be more intense as the mind attempts to act out and deactivate the unexpressed emotions. Continue >>
