Circling

[jethrien]

Having one of those weeks where stress leads to bad dreams leads to bad moods leads to stress...

Now-incoherent epic dream last night involving a love triangle between serial killers who kept graphically murdering each other to magically resurrect the last one killed. They lost a chunk of body each time, so by the end, one of them was completely missing her torso except for the spine, having been killed and resurrected several times by that point. They also killed a bunch of other innocent people for shits and giggles.

Horrible, horrible dream. Woke up incoherent and shaking.

Comments

It's not stress, you know how to deal with THAT

[freekofnature.livejournal.com]

I'd analyze this dream except that there is nothing to analyze, so I will just tell you what is going on:

Look, Human beings have two memory/coping systems actively in operation in the brain at the same time:
1) The primitive "Reptilian" system (called by Freud: "The Unconscious") and
2) The Homo Sapiens enhanced memory - coping system (called by Freud: "The Conscious")

Now, system #1 is really ancient, goes back to primordial fish brains and works primarily as a coping mechanism, to enhance survival in a primitive environment. Basically a visually and olfactory oriented system. During sleep it functions to prepare the organism for any survival mechanisms and strategies needed to escape (or fight) danger. This is the system that generates "nightmares" (and adrenalin) which system #2 (which operates independently) occasionally intercepts and freaks out over!

System #2 is what we use for everyday learning and coping strategies in waking life, it is able to discern (in normal functioning people) that which is fantasy and that which is a problem in the everyday, real, complex modern world we live in today. It is specially designed for that purpose.

System #1 CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE! What it see's, what you read is as real to it as when you go through the wrong supermarket door and it opens suddenly and smacks you in the head!

System #1 is generating these horrible dreams for you. -- 'cause it works and organizes it's thoughts and strategies when you are in R.E.M. sleep! --

So what's the solution?
STOP READING AND PLAYING THESE FANTASY NOVELS, VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES ETC... WITH ZOMBIES AND OTHER MONSTERS! Your vestige-al reptilian memory cannot tell the difference!
Go read some modern "trade" non-fiction, and forgo the fantasy "dungeons and dragons" and zombie attack fiction and see if this helps.

I'll bet it does...