Aa
anxiety
why do I keep seeing spiders in my dreams? I wake up hollowing and my husband has to calm me. What is this. This morning the spider was light brown and crawling on my husband back of his pjs.
I'm not into interpreting dreams or attributing too much meaning to them. Just for fun, I looked up what dreams about spiders meant. Dr. Richmond is a psychiatrist and this is what she had to say. You can most certainly take her interpretation or leave it.
"Spiders weave a web -- a beautiful, intricate trap to catch it's prey," says Richmond. "As such, spiders are associated with manipulation. Depending on the rest of the dream, the spider may indicate that the dreamer is being manipulated or that the dreamer is the manipulator."
She goes on to advise examining your life and relationships and see if you are either feeling manipulated or that YOU are doing the manipulating.
Like I said, you can take what she says as pure hokum, give it a couple minutes thought, or accept that like most of us, we have dreams about wee beasties that give us the creeps. And I'm right there with you about spiders! If I see one of those massive Wolf spiders in my house, I can't close my eyes, the lights have to stay on, every little nerve twitch on my body is the spider and if I manage to squish it to smithereens, then for the next week, I'm POSITIVE it's entire village of spiders is out looking for me.
If you are seriously losing sleep over this and it's messing with the quality of your life, it's definitely time to speak with your doctor. I'm guessing this dream will soon fade. Weird and scary dreams frequently coincide with stress in our life. Got any of THAT?
"Spiders weave a web -- a beautiful, intricate trap to catch it's prey," says Richmond. "As such, spiders are associated with manipulation. Depending on the rest of the dream, the spider may indicate that the dreamer is being manipulated or that the dreamer is the manipulator."
She goes on to advise examining your life and relationships and see if you are either feeling manipulated or that YOU are doing the manipulating.
Like I said, you can take what she says as pure hokum, give it a couple minutes thought, or accept that like most of us, we have dreams about wee beasties that give us the creeps. And I'm right there with you about spiders! If I see one of those massive Wolf spiders in my house, I can't close my eyes, the lights have to stay on, every little nerve twitch on my body is the spider and if I manage to squish it to smithereens, then for the next week, I'm POSITIVE it's entire village of spiders is out looking for me.
If you are seriously losing sleep over this and it's messing with the quality of your life, it's definitely time to speak with your doctor. I'm guessing this dream will soon fade. Weird and scary dreams frequently coincide with stress in our life. Got any of THAT?
Hi there!
How long has this been going on? Are you having these dreams every night, and are they only ever about spiders?
Has there been anything going on in your life? Major changes (ie marriage, divorce, new baby, moving, new job), major stressors? Do you have a history of anxiety or depression? Anything like that?
I've found that if I'm having a lot of recurring stressful negative dreams, I try to get my mind on something positive/upbeat as I'm falling asleep, either by watching something lighthearted, like a sitcom, or reading funny/positive stories.
Also, exercise about 1 hour (or more) before bed is a very good idea. It helps release those feel good chemicals (endorphins). Even a brisk walk is good. Stay away from any kind of stimulant for several hours before bed (ie coffee, tea, soda). Stay away from alcohol at bedtime also, that will only make things worse. Anything you can do to get yourself into a good frame of mind before falling asleep will help. Typically, these kinds of things are cyclic in nature, which means even if you feel you aren't making a difference, eventually the dreams should stop.
If you can go to sleep with THOSE thoughts in your mind, often times the bad dream either won't occur, or you'll dream about something a little better.
When you DO have these bad dreams, remind yourself that it was ONLY a dream. As disturbing as they can be, they are just dreams. The more power you give them by thinking about it, or spending a lot of time upon awakening thinking about it or talking about it, reliving it, you're just conditioning yourself more, and that will likely keep it going. The best thing you could do is not overdramatize your reaction to the dream when you wake up. That will fuel the fire. I know it's hard, but just try to dismiss it as quickly as possible. Get up and get engaged in something to get your mind off of it.
Good luck! Hope you are able to get some restful sleep soon!
How long has this been going on? Are you having these dreams every night, and are they only ever about spiders?
Has there been anything going on in your life? Major changes (ie marriage, divorce, new baby, moving, new job), major stressors? Do you have a history of anxiety or depression? Anything like that?
I've found that if I'm having a lot of recurring stressful negative dreams, I try to get my mind on something positive/upbeat as I'm falling asleep, either by watching something lighthearted, like a sitcom, or reading funny/positive stories.
Also, exercise about 1 hour (or more) before bed is a very good idea. It helps release those feel good chemicals (endorphins). Even a brisk walk is good. Stay away from any kind of stimulant for several hours before bed (ie coffee, tea, soda). Stay away from alcohol at bedtime also, that will only make things worse. Anything you can do to get yourself into a good frame of mind before falling asleep will help. Typically, these kinds of things are cyclic in nature, which means even if you feel you aren't making a difference, eventually the dreams should stop.
If you can go to sleep with THOSE thoughts in your mind, often times the bad dream either won't occur, or you'll dream about something a little better.
When you DO have these bad dreams, remind yourself that it was ONLY a dream. As disturbing as they can be, they are just dreams. The more power you give them by thinking about it, or spending a lot of time upon awakening thinking about it or talking about it, reliving it, you're just conditioning yourself more, and that will likely keep it going. The best thing you could do is not overdramatize your reaction to the dream when you wake up. That will fuel the fire. I know it's hard, but just try to dismiss it as quickly as possible. Get up and get engaged in something to get your mind off of it.
Good luck! Hope you are able to get some restful sleep soon!
Hhhmmm... are you arachnophobic? Seen big ugly spiders lately? Your dreams are where your brain 'dumps out' all the stuff you don't need. Like spiders. Blessings - Blu
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