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Using psychology we find that "distress" in our dream database links to the following real feelings

- "I was watching HARROWING scenes of Hurricane Katrina last night."

- "I have decided to end a friendship with him because it might cause problems with my husband. I know it will UPSET him but I have made my decision."

- "I cannot stop thinking about my ex girlfriend. I have been STRUGGLING WITH MY EMOTIONS. I have been trying to occupy myself and be productive but I am so UPSET. I hoped she might contact me on my birthday but nothing."

Distress in dreams:Understanding dreams is not so difficult. In practice dream symbols translate into certain words within the english language. For instance a "Distressed" dream represented that same feeling appearing in the dreamers thoughts as she realised how "Distressed" someone would be if she went ahead with a plan.

Keywords linked to distress dreams
In practice distressing dreams have several symbolic meaning. Here is the full list.
- "Distressing" (Simply ask yourself how you would have used the word 'distressing' or 'distress' yesterday. Emotions and feelings like this can be quite literal. Write down a quote which features the word "Distress" - its likely the dream will capture that exact quote. For instance if you felt "She was so distressed but I had to make the decision" then your dream was about your emotional reaction to someone's distress and feelings of guilt at having caused it. )
- "Assessing your own state of mind" (We constantly ask ourselves questions. Distress in dreams may link to questions like "I was deeply hurt by what she said" or "I felt upset but now I realise that it's not so bad" or "It was not that bad I suppose I overreacted.")
- "Being sensitive" (In making any decision we need to think of others. Distress in a dream may link to you asking questions like "I know I should not mention that subject" or "If I did that then I know it's going to upset her")
- "It's important to me" (Distress in a dream may show that you are realising how important someone or something is to you. Think of thought processes which could be related to that e.g. "I realise how important he is to me so I should value his help" or "It is important to me so I have to get everything right" or "I know its important to her so that's why she is getting upset")
- "Understanding someone else horror" (Its important not to upset other people and so we try to consider others opinions. Were you thinking how distressed someone would be if you went ahead with some plan? Has someone accused you of being insensitive? Have you just started to realise how distressed they were?)

If you have used the word distressed to describe your dream then simply ask yourself how you felt distressed the day before or think about what may be distressing you about the future. Do not just think about yourself - a dream in which you or others felt distressed maybe about someone elses distress. Often we worry about others and try to understand their feelings so try to think of ways in which you have been trying to empathise with others.

Try not to think about just major worries. Dreams can be about quite minor things - especially about the day before. For example if you were trying to get something "Just right" then that could cause you to have a dream featuring distress. That's because you would be distressed if that something was not done "Just right".


HERE ARE SOME MORE DISTRESS DREAMS (ALL WITH GOOD BACKGROUND INFORMATION)
•Distressing replay of TV scene - dream analysis
•Poison a Rottweiler dog
•Shark bites dream
•A body in hot water dream

If you have a dream to add to our huge bank of dreams then email me at colincoupland5@gmail.com