Serial Dreams

Over the years, I have had many types of dreams. I've had dreams where people were chasing me, I was alone on a island and others I can't even remember. I've always had an interest in why we dream. The dictionary defines dreams as a "succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.." The study of dreams is called oneirology. That's about as in depth as I intend to get about dreams and so forth. What I really want to talk about are what I call "serial dreams" or the official term of "recurring dreams."

I've had serial dreams three different times in my life. These are dreams that are of the same theme and you have them over a period of time. And, for reasons that are not understood, they suddenly stop. The first serial dreams I had was back in the early 1970s when I was in the U.S. Navy. I was stationed in Naples, Italy. The dreams I had back then were always of a my being on the ground and watching planes crash. I have dreamed of all kinds of plane crashes. I have seen the old WWII box car planes with twin tails, jet fighters, private aircraft, jet airliners and probably more than I can remember. Each time, it was a horrific crash. I was a dispassionate onlooker in each dream. I saw people killed and the general aftermath of plane crashes (without getting too graphic). The dreams were horrible. The dreams came about once or twice a month. It lasted about a year. I went to a Navy Clinical Psychologist. His professional opinion was that I was homesick. Right. So much for getting professional help. Even after the dreams stopped, I still had a morbid fear of flying. I still do. I think I always will.

The second event of serial dreams began in the early 90s. It was always the same thing....I was at sea on a ship by myself. All the crewmen were gone. Unlike the serial dreams of planes, this was always the same boat. It was...an old schooner with sails fore and aft. I don't remember the name of the ship. But, the dreams were always with me on the ship, it was bad weather and waves coming over the ship. I can remember in one dream I actually fell off the ship and, somehow, magically found myself back at the stern. While frightening, I didn't wake up in cold sweats like I did with the plane crashing episode. Still both serial dream events were as 3-D as the real world. I talked to my primary care physician about my having these serial dreams at different times in my life. He recommended a psychiatrist to analyze the dreams, what hidden meaning they may have. I went on five visits to the psychiatrist about this episode of serial dreams. It was a waste of time and money. He told me I had some secrets that I didn't want to share which would give meaning to both the plane crashes and lost at sea dreams. I had no reason to lie to him or to you, the reader, on this hub. I stopped going. Not long after I stopped my visits, the lost at sea dreams ended.

So, that brings us to the third event of serial dreams (I prefer to call them that). These dreams started in January of this year. There have been about five nights of these dreams since January. It is always the same thing...a U.S. soldier (Army) with combat helmet, dirty fatigues, week old beard, and the look that he had just come from battle. The first two times I had this dream, I was sitting in my living room...and the soldier appears out of thin air, sitting on my couch. Both times he never says anything, but just turns and looks at me. I immediately wake up. I have to admit, for some reason, this dream is more scary than the other two events. I don't know why. I think this soldier is from WWII. He has that same kind of helmet. They wore that same helmet in Korea and Vietnam also. But, for some reason, I think it is WWII. It's very unnerving as you can imagine. I don't dread going to sleep. I'm not that paranoid about it. But, the last dream I had was Sunday night. This time I'm driving in my car, and the soldier appears again on the passenger side seat. Only this time, he opens his mouth to speak to me. But, no words come out or, at least, I can't hear him. I woke up, it was about 3AM. I did not go back to sleep. I felt as if this soldier knows me. But, I don't recognize him. I was in the Navy. I had very little contact with U.S. Army soldiers. Like I said, that was about the 5th dream about this soldier since January. I'll probably go back to my primary care doc for all the good that will do me.

I'm just curious if others have had these "serial dreams" or recurring dreams? Not like I had, of course. ;-) But, I mean a series of dreams based on the same theme as I explained above.

UPDATE: i found this excellent graph on the different stages of dreaming. Notice in the top right corner where it mentions "recurring" (or serial as I call them) dreams. That is an amazing stat to me. I don't feel quite so alone now.