Thread: how dreams affect us

I was in New York city for the holidays and walking through Time Square i came across along time foe. When i was very young, 3-5 years old i had a dream that i walked over a sidewalk grate and it opened up on me and i fell until i woke up. To this day i still will try to avoid walking over these grates if possible. does anyone have a similar experience to this.

Wow that's scary and shows that we can use dreams to create good habits too I think..

Sometimes I have a dream about someone and they are being mean or annoying and after I wake up I feel like they were like that to me in waking life, although this wears off in a little bit.

i have had the same thing happen to me and i have to remind myself that it was just a dream they really did not do that

I'm sorry for the off-topic, but this kinda reminds me of that one episode of "Third Rock from the Sun" where they all dream for the first time and Sally thinks she killed her boyfriend XD

Back on topic:
I have to agree here, though on a different level; I used to be spooked and scared of horror films and the likes. As a kid I had a LOT of nightmares, and I mean the bloody kind. So much so, that I'm now kind of immune to horror films and I'm actually more hardcore than most of my male friends
So in that respect, I think my nightmares have indeed changed me.

One dream in particular, that I'm still affected by: As a kid I spent quite some time in hospitals for various reasons, and the X-ray machine freaked me out. (That's nothing, my dad's CAMERA freaked me out too. Paranoid kid here) I dreamed I was on it, and as it turned (from patient-standing to patient-lying-down position), it opened up and ATE ME >_<
To this day I still dread visits to the dentist. Not because of pain, but because of that damn moving chair XD I hate electronics that move on their own.

Originally Posted by MissLucy

As a kid I spent quite some time in hospitals for various reasons, and the X-ray machine freaked me out. (That's nothing, my dad's CAMERA freaked me out too. Paranoid kid here) I dreamed I was on it, and as it turned (from patient-standing to patient-lying-down position), it opened up and ATE ME >_<
To this day I still dread visits to the dentist. Not because of pain, but because of that damn moving chair XD I hate electronics that move on their own.

well i hate the dentist because of the drill, but that must suck to have to deal with "that damn moving chair" good luck,

Originally Posted by jed001

well i hate the dentist because of the drill, but that must suck to have to deal with "that damn moving chair" good luck,

Well, I just deal with it and try not to think about it. I also got traumatized by pain as a kid (lots of freak accidents, though oddly enough I've never broken anything *knocks on wood*), so my threshold for pain is skyhigh So drills I'm fine with, it's that chair of doom that bothers me XD

Weird, isn't it? The drill doesn't bother me (though I find the bloodflood disturbing), but that chair freaks me out. ..I sometimes think there's something wrong with me XD

Totally. In fact, I'm doing a research project on this for a major assignment this year - how dreams consciously and subconsciously affect our daily actions and reactions, and lucid dreams! Lucid dreaming has definitely made me a more confident person. It also gives me something to look forward to during the day, and having something to look forward to really lifts up your mood.

Hey cool! Please do share your findings with us?

Hm...
Not that I can think off actually ;O
Vise versa however I have a phobia of spiders, and alot of my dreams revolve around that..

Originally Posted by yuppie11975

Hm...
Not that I can think off actually ;O
Vise versa however I have a phobia of spiders, and alot of my dreams revolve around that..

But how about that high you get off a satisfying lucid dream? And there's always the feeling of deja vu and then remembering a fragment of a dream.

I can't think of a dream I had that affected me like this, only dreams that affected me emotionally (e.g. feeling sad after having a dream in which someone I love died, or feeling scared after having a nightmare).

However, I do know why dreams can affect our waking life so much (and I'm sure a lot of people here on DreamViews know this as well). According to research done by Stephen LaBerge, dreaming of doing something has the same effect on the brain than actually doing it while awake. This also explains why dreams seem so real. To the brain, they are real.

Originally Posted by jed001

When i was very young, 3-5 years old i had a dream that i walked over a sidewalk grate and it opened up on me and i fell until i woke up. To this day i still will try to avoid walking over these grates if possible.

This was just a dream, but to your brain it really happened. That's why you still avoid those grates after all these years.

I think most of you already knew this, but I felt like I should post it anyway.

Originally Posted by Enjyu

I can't think of a dream I had that affected me like this, only dreams that affected me emotionally (e.g. feeling sad after having a dream in which someone I love died, or feeling scared after having a nightmare).

However, I do know why dreams can affect our waking life so much (and I'm sure a lot of people here on DreamViews know this as well). According to research done by Stephen LaBerge, dreaming of doing something has the same effect on the brain than actually doing it while awake. This also explains why dreams seem so real. To the brain, they are real

Exactly; in some cultures (including my own- Chinese) if you dream of someone dying, you should never tell them. It has some negative voodoo affect, i'm not sure about the specifics. However, over the past year or so when I started lucid dreaming, my family has gotten to ease up about talking about dreams. So again, that would affect your behavior.

I thought you were from newcastle?

Originally Posted by yuppie11975

I thought you were from newcastle?

I am. Heritage- Chinese. Nationality- Australian.

It's true that we *knew* this, but to have it spelled out like that helps us *understand* it. So thank you for that

I think it also comes down to how much it inconveniences us, as humans we like to have straight forward and easy lives.
Say you had a dream that there was a yellow flower, and when you touched it, your hand fell off. You probably wouldn't touch yellow flowers, because just incase, why risk it? Is it changing your life a great deal? Not at all! Now, say you had a dream you were driving to work in your car and you had a crash. Would you still drive your car to work? Probably, because what else are you going to do? Catch the train? That takes twice as long! And it cost twice as much!

Wow, just falling down that hole with no bottom. Just going endlessly, and deeper
, and deeper into darkness...
Sometimes when you see the grates, Do you still feel the feeling of that falling, or do you still fear the darkness?

i fear the falling forever, when i have had the dream in the past ; it always seemed that i fell much deeper than i should. i have never hit bottom in the dream i would always wake up first