ocd and horrible dreams

[candicemarie88]

i'm obsessed with checking my pulse because I always fear that I'm going to die and often experience a sense of depersonalisation... i was just wondering if this is classed as ocd? I also tell myself to do certain things, such as touch the door handle 10 times otherwise i will die... it's very disturbing.

I haven't been as anxious these last few days, but i have had some horrible dreams about death, don't want to go into detail because it's very upsetting and disturbing :(

I dream pretty much every night and usually have multiple dreams, which i can remember for weeks on end... i was discussing this with my boyfriend the other day and he said he rarely dreams or just doesnt remember them. is it true that people who worry dream much more frequently than those who dont?

[countrygirl]

Health anxiety is a form of OCD- I think all health professionals will tell you this - we are obsessive compulsive about our health and symptoms - sometimes some also have classic ocd in that they wash their hands alot or won't touch toilet doors etc / are obsessively clean etc etc- I certainly have ocd tendencies in other areas of my life, I am very tidy and hate disorder or dirt etc but this is very mild compared to my health anxiety but its all the same really.

[daisycake]

I haven't been as anxious these last few days, but i have had some horrible dreams about death, don't want to go into detail because it's very upsetting and disturbing :(

I dream pretty much every night and usually have multiple dreams, which i can remember for weeks on end... i was discussing this with my boyfriend the other day and he said he rarely dreams or just doesnt remember them. is it true that people who worry dream much more frequently than those who dont?


I've had funny dreams before - some that have felt very real indeed, some that I've woken up shaking and sobbing. The best thing to do is distract yourself as you're nodding off, I often find that what I feel asleep thinking about ends up cropping up in my dreams.. I've always had vivid dreams, quite weird, some so vivid that they're more like memories if that makes sense! Can fully describe to myself what was happening in each one etc.. But it's bizzare as you know what happened, but WHERE it was (they always seem to be in what seems familiar but different) or when I dreamt it, I can't remember at all. Very weird haha. Just remember that they're only dreams :hugs: truth be told, I've had some downright awful dreams usually involving myself and some other significant person nding up in a compromising position... :shades: it doesnt half make it hard to look at that person the next day :roflmao:

[Nigel]

Hi candicemarie88,

Yes, there does seem to be a link between anxiety/depression and excessive dreaming.

The things that happen that arouse emotions are considered important by the mind, and it wants to store them away for later use. It seems to require some sort of context (the situation), the emotions present, and the action that was taken, to complete the memory.

Problems occur when a person does a lot of thinking about things that arouse emotions, because the mind cannot tell the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined. In this case we have the context (the subject of the thoughts), the emotions, but no action was taken.

The mind considers it important because emotions were involved but doesn’t have all the pieces to create the memory, so it replays those events as dreams in order to try to resolve them so it knows how to save them. That’s why the sort ruminating thinking style of anxiety or depression can cause excessive dreaming at night.

Dreams are metaphorical; that is, they’re representations of the thoughts a person was having during the day. It’s a bit like the way a young child takes all sorts of everyday items to represent people and objects in their games and stories as they play. The mind does something similar as we dream; drawing on people and events from memory to ‘represent’ the thoughts it’s trying to resolve. So while the content of dreams may appear quite random, the underlying sentiment will often relate to the thoughts of that day.

Take care :)
Nigel

[Captain Caveman]

i'm obsessed with checking my pulse because I always fear that I'm going to die and often experience a sense of depersonalisation... i was just wondering if this is classed as ocd?

There are somatic obsessions. Personally, I wouldn't get bogged down with labels (not saying you are).


I also tell myself to do certain things, such as touch the door handle 10 times otherwise i will die... it's very disturbing.

This is known as superstitious/magical thinking. Here are a couple of articles by Fred Penzel explaining it and what he suggest to do about it (he's in favour of combining medication with therapy):
http://westsuffolkpsych.homestead.com/Touching.html
http://westsuffolkpsych.homestead.com/Superstition.html

[PokerFace]

I have really vivid dreams every single night lol. I've always had vivid dreams though (not on a nightly basis like lately) so they don't really bother me so much, I expect them :D. Some are really horrible about my heart/chest because I spend all day worrying about them usually! I had a terrible nightmare about it months ago and I still remember it now!

I can often connect my dreams to things I've thought about, said/done that day or before I go to sleep and so can a lot of other people I know. They're only dreams, they won't actually happen. I've noticed I dream every single night since my anxiety so I guess people who worry get them more. xx

[katz41]

i have very vivid weird dreams!!!