Dreams that Recur have a message for you. Do you need a Dream Buster? “What does it mean if I keep having a recurring dream? And, how do I make it stop?” Persistent sounds that emerge from ghosts in the night need a Ghost-Buster, but who can do that work in the dream world. “Who ya’ gonna call? Dream-Buster!”
This is the cry for help message that greeted me this morning in my emails. Someone needed help with a dream that would not leave them alone, much like a pesky ghost or a persistent mosquito that comes out in the night, hiding from the light by lurking in the dark shadows of life.
A dream that keeps playing in our dreaming mind also will not leave us alone. It lurks in the dark corners of our mind, waiting for the lights to be distinguished, and then it attacks, again and again. The pesky mesquite like dream awakens us with its persistence. It cannot be ignored and will not go away.
What is a dreamer to do to get a good night’s sleep?
A dream that you keep dreaming over and over is known as a Recurrent or Recurring Dream. According to Wikipedia the definition of a recurring dream is:
a dream which is experienced repeatedly over a long period. They can be pleasant or nightmarish and unique to the person and their experiences.
Recurring Dreams happen when you did not remember, or understand the dream message information the first time you dreamed it. This was seen in many of the multiple dreams of the dreamers in the book Dreams That Can Save Your Life: Early Warning Signs of Cancer and Other Diseases, based on the Diagnostic Dream Research Work of Duke University Radiologist Dr. Larry Burk. Your inner-guidance is using dreams to communicate something important, but you are not “getting it.”
Understanding a dream message is also known as solving the riddle of the dream.
The majority of recurrent dreams usually appear as a nightmare so you won’t dismiss the information in the message. According to Psychology Today dream theorists generally agree that recurring dreams are connected to unresolved problems in the life of the dreamer.
It is easy to forget a nice dream but difficult to ignore a frightening nightmare.
Recurring dreams reflect the presence of an unresolved or persistent conflict in an individual’s life. Remember, dreams may speak to us with signs and symbols. If you keep missing the message, your dream environment may shift into a nightmare to get your attention.
People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder can often suffer from recurring dreams.
These dreams are thought of as chronic nightmares that act as a symptom of PTSD. A study found that the degree of trauma had a positive relationship to distress related to dreams
Recurring dreams appear during tough or emotional times in our lives. Like nightmares, they are also often a call-to-action, which can be a good thing if it helps solve a challenge in our life.
So the next time you have a pesky recurrent dream/nightmare rather than trying to ignore, swat or kill it as if it were a bug, try embracing it as if it were a beautiful butterfly, the symbol of transformation and life, because your recurrent dream may be trying to transform your life.
About the Author: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is a three-time Breast Cancer Survivor, as seen on Dr. Oz, DOCTORS, NBC, and CBS, whose Divine Dreams diagnose her illness, and was a Dream Research Participant for Duke University’s Dr. Larry Burk‘s Breast Cancer Dream Research Program. They co-wrote, Dreams That Can Save Your Life. She is a Syndicated Columnist, TV Producer/Host and award-winning Author/Lecturer who promotes patient advocacy and connecting with Divine Spiritual-guidance through Dreams for success in health, wealth, and relationships. “Don’t tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big your God is.” Learn more @ www.KathleenOKeefeKanavos.com
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Research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recurring_dream
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dream-factory/201411/whats-behind-your-recurring-dreams
Davis, J. L., Byrd, P., Rhudy, J. L., & Wright, D. C. (2007). Characteristics of chronic nightmares in a trauma-exposed treatment-seeking sample. Dreaming, 17(4), 187-198. doi:10.1037/1053-0797.17.4.187
Barret, D. (2001) Trauma and Dreams. Harvard University Press
