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Just for fun...analyze my dream

B bltMember
This is for all the armchair analysts out there, because what I remember from this dream is just too priceless.

The dream starts with me in a mental hospital. It's kind of a sterile place with lots of marble. I don't like being there. I guess I feel controlled in some way. I don't remember if they were trying to medicate me.

So I try to escape by running into the elevator while nobody is looking, taking the elevator down and jumping past the guards on the first floor. The first time, they catch me and bring me back. The second time, I run off through the city hiding and trying to evade them.

Eventually, somehow, I wind up in a *different* mental hospital, but more as a visitor or guest. Actually it's more like a kind of group home, and resembles a cooperative student house I used to live in. There is a strong sense of community there among the residents. I am welcomed, even though I have no exact reason to be there. It's not a sterile place at all. It's kind of cluttered and very homelike. There's a roofdeck to hang out on and get sunshine.

I live there for a while, until one day the people from the hospital I escaped from come looking for me. The residents of the new place help me hide from them. Eventually they leave without discovering me, and I am free to stay in this new place as long as I like.
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heldincompassionheldincompassionMember
Cool dream, BLT. Smiler

I think the different mental hospitals represent stages of your journey of psychological rehabilitation.

First mental hospital represents relationship with old T (and possibly M?); second hospital is relationship with your current T.

quote:
So I try to escape by running into the elevator while nobody is looking, taking the elevator down and jumping past the guards on the first floor. The first time, they catch me and bring me back. The second time, I run off through the city hiding and trying to evade them.


So the first attempted escape represents when you were trying to decide about leaving old T the first time but ended up going back. Second time-- success!

quote:
I live there for a while, until one day the people from the hospital I escaped from come looking for me. The residents of the new place help me hide from them.


This is the pull to fall back into old patterns of being and relating, but the relationship with T is teaching you that you can be free from that.

quote:
Eventually they leave without discovering me, and I am free to stay in this new place as long as I like.


Could represent a sense of the changes you've made being as permanent as you want them to be; or could also be feeling comfortable with staying in therapy as long as you want-- no urgency about needing to wrap things up or leave.

Anyway, those are my best guesses. So, how'd I do? Cool
kashleykashleyMember
Hmm..I look at it in a broader sense.. I think that the journey you took in the dream represents the journey you're taking now in life. And of course, since every person on the planet is mental in some way, it's fitting that you were in a mental hospital. Razzer But the type of mental hospital you were in changed. The escape, recapture, and then escape again seems to kind of parallel the back-and-forth struggle that a lot of us have when accepting and/or letting go of the past to move on to a better future. Your life used to be more like the first hospital, but now you're in the second hospital where you're free to feel the sunshine and the people are supportive. Sometimes your past comes back to pull you into the depths again, but you're here to stay. Smiler
B bltMember
Ooh, I like both of these interpretations, Hic and Kashley.

I think I do see it in a broader sense, myself. I think to me, the first hospital represents feeling like you are under the thumb of other people and their expectations. They have an idea of how you should be and behave, and they will force you to fit into that mold, regardless of how little it matches who you really are. Life in that kind of system is all about maintaining the facade of order and perfection. I can think of multiple situations in my past that felt like this in some way or another.

To get out of that kind of prison, you have to take the elevator down. I think that means coming down to the level of other people...admitting you aren't perfect or above everyone else.

The second hospital I think represents true community and authentic relationships, where everyone knows nobody is perfect, and you can just be who you are. From time to time you will feel the expectations of others from your past come looking for you, to try to pull you back into the trap of trying to be perfect and who you think you are "supposed" to be, or who other people want you to be. But your true friends and relationships will help to protect you from that, to fly under the radar of those expectations and continue to be your imperfect but true self.
B bltMember
Oh, interesting Av.

quote:
To dream of being in a mental hospital represents difficulty adjusting your core beliefs or values. You may feel that change is being forced on you. You may be experiencing unpleasant repercussions or consequences for your beliefs or actions. A situation in your life that limits your freedom and demands proof that you've changed. A situation that may require more discipline or moral strength than you are used to.

A mental hospital may be a sign that there is a need for adjustment to your core beliefs or values. A symbol that may appear if you were caught cheating on a partner, committed a crime, were suspended, or grounded by your parents. A situation that is forcing you to correct yourself and may feel like it's punishing you until you do.

To dream of checking yourself into a mental hospital represents your acknowledgement of a problem. Self-discipline or proactive measures to adjust your habits. You may be admitting that you have a problem or are reaching out for help.

To dream of escaping a mental hospital represents resistance to change or disciplinary actions. You have no interest in adjusting core values or beliefs. You may be avoiding the consequences of your actions. It may also be a sign that you are mentally or emotionally ill-equipped to confront your problems. Having to change may be a low priority for you.

To dream of being caught escaping a mental hospital represents consequences or reprecssions that you can't avoid. You are being forced to change core beliefs or values. You may feel that change in unavoidable and limiting you.


This actually fits somewhat for me. Lately, I've been trying to find a job, and I was forced to admit that job searching is not something I am good a. It requires more persistence and discipline than I can easily muster. I can begin to admit that I need help with it, but at the same time I don't want the kind of help some people have to offer, which is to urge you into applying for jobs that seem good but aren't right for you, or to help you make your resume look perfect but without reflecting much of your true self. Writing the "perfect resume" to me feels like being forced into a mold I don't want to be in.

I was actually talking about my job search yesterday in therapy. T had a lot of ideas for what I could do to find clients to tutor, without needing to even write a resume. I think she was helping and challenging me, but at the same time as being sensitive to who I really am and what I actually want...

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