Is there a term when you have a dream that feels exponentially stronger than a normal dream? LIke you are locked into the dream to the point where your head hurts after wards. I am beginning to have dreams like this daily.
Have you ever had a dream where you swore there was someone you knew in the dream, but they did not look like the person they are in reality?
and have you ever had a dream with someone in it and then met or saw that person after wards and you never, ever met or seen them before?
I am concerned because these things are happening on regular occasions and I really don't know that to make of it...
Thanks
Zia Lucia2011-11-08T12:22:51Z
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No, Mark, there is not a word in common usage for the type of dreams you describe. Actually, you describe several different phenomenon.
One is deja vu. That is the intense, absolute certainty of having done or encountered something previously while simultaneously knowing that to be impossible. In many cases of deja vu, the mind immediately decides that the only possible explanation for the feeling is that the encounter [person, place, etc.] was seen in a prior dream. It is a trick of the mind. Some researchers suspect it may be related to a momentary error of the visual perception. While no statistics are available, deja vu seems to be common during adolescence, although it can happen throughout life.
Your description of knowing someone in a dream, while they do not look like that person, is due to the nature of dreams. The subconscious mind creates symbolic images in dreams where one person represents another, or one thing is a metaphor for something different. So you might see a strange man in your dream that you "know" is your father or the school principal.
For both phenomenon, the best thing is to maintain a dream diary. It is the only way to confirm whether a particular dream occurred before the deja vu experience. It will also provide help in identifying patterns in your dreaming.
The only thing you describe that could be cause for concern is feeling "locked into the dream," with headache afterward. Zia Lucia is not going to attempt any diagnosis, but if you have frequent headaches, a physical checkup would not be amiss. Migraine headaches that occur during sleep can trigger strange dreams - which might be experienced as the dream causing the headache. But there could be other mundane causes as well, such as "energy drinks" or other interesting substances known to be used for recreational purposes.
So, Mark, start keeping the dream diary, and whenever something strange occurs, thoroughly investigate the obvious and the mundane before looking for supernatural sources.
Is there a term? Probably, but I don't know it. I have dreams like that too. I often wake up exhausted from my dream!
I've dreamt of people and then met them too, how odd. Perhaps we've seen them before but didn't actually notice them. Our brain works much faster than our conscious.
Don't think too much into it. Make sure you're getting enough water and mind your sleep hygiene.
You seem quite stressed. Sort that out and you might find less of the 'strong' dreams.