I Really think Anxiety and dreaming are strongly connected

[puppyskin]

I have been having wacky dreams and a really odd thing has been happening..while i'm awake.I get random dreams coming back to me even as far back as 30 something years ago! dreams that were not significant or disturbing in any way,just normal dreams..i have been in a high anxiety state for a few weeks and i believe there is a conection..either that or i am going insane :scared15:

[almamatters]

Totally agree! When I am anxious I have the weirdest dreams you could imagine. A few months ago when my anxiety was at it's worst I was dreaming every night and they were vivid and usually pretty horrible. When I am feeling calmer they seem to disappear. There is definitely a connection, not sure how it works though.

[puppyskin]

I find it strange that the dreams coming back to me are from when i was a child..

[Arnie365]

They totally are!! Dreams are how your subconscious processes thoughts. I'm writing a daily log of my dreams which have got really weird and vivid and these are the main thing I'm discussing with my therapist weekly. Its odd because before a few months ago, i would have said i hardly ever remembered my dreams. Now ive started logging them i think ive trained myself to pay more attention or something as quite often i can start writing in the morning and go back 6 or 7 dreams worth every day quite easily almost like rewinding a tape.

It's amazing to see the connection between things in my dreams and real events in my life from years ago and childhood. At first it seems a really weird dream I can't connect anything to, then when my therapist and I explore it the penny drops and I see the relevance. All of this is constantly swishing around in your sub conscious day and night and until you unpick it all and understand it, it can cause your anxiety as a symptom of what's going on in your mind. Anxiety doesn't just have to be a chemical imbalance thing. It's fascinating really and now after doing this for a few weeks I'm starting to understand my dreams better on my own so I can go with theories to therapy of what they mean. It's really helping me understand what's at the heart of all this anxiety.

[Mystic Sea]

Yes totally agree, when I'm in a severe anxious state my dreams are warped.

[ricardo]

I have had nightmares periodically since i was a child and they always have the same theme,that of being chased,getting away then getting caught again and then there is no escape and then i usually wake up with a jolt but can remember most of what I dreamt.
I strongly believe that there is a link between these nightmares and being in a state of anxiety even though when I was younger I never felt consciously aware of being anxious.