# Can someone interpret my f\*#$$ed-up dream from last night? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 16, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043 "2005-09-16T22:00:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/1 "2005-09-16T22:00:20Z")
I’ve had a rather creepy theme running through recent dreams of mine (say since the beginning of the summer). I’ve experienced variations on this particular dream scenario, not exactly often, but at least once or twice a month. Last months’ installment was the creepiest yet. Anyway, I am travelling somewhere (actually, _returning home after being away somewhere_) and I am in charge of three seperate, well, entities. I keep them in seperate containers - not exactly boxes, but not really cages eithe. They seem more like pets than kids, but the three beings are - a tiny-sized adult man (about the size of a plastic GI Joe figurine). I either let him out of his container and hold him in my hand, or he escapes from his container. Either way, he leaps away from me and tries to run away. I (aided by whatever odd characters are “guest starring” in my dream on a given night) recapture the little guy and put him back in his container. Next, the second container gets open and a mouse or gerbil gets taken out. Once again, the gerbil tries to escape, only to be recaptured and put back in his container. I cannot for the life of me ever remember what’s in the third container, although I distinctly recollect there being a third. Anyway, last night’s variation on the dream really disturbed me because of an additional element. I eventually returned home (curiously, it was the house my family lived in when we were growing up), and for some strange reason, I thought it’d be a good idea to stick the container with the gerbil into the deep freezer in our garage. I only meant to stick him in there long enough to unpack, get settled and then I’d let him roam free in the house (along with the little guy presumably, who seems to disappear from my dream at that point.) Anyway, “time” passes, things happen and (can you see what’s coming?) I remember the gerbil. I must have left him in the deep freezer all night! Of course, I instantly rush to let him out of his box. When I find him though, he’s a little bitty ice ball. What freaks me out the most is that as I stare at the dead gerbil, I see that he’s crouched along the “wall” of the box - as he was freezing to death, he tried to climb out of the box and escape, but eventually either froze or asphyxiated…and it was all my fault. I don’t mention it to anybody. I think about it throughout the rest of my dreams (which I don’t remember now). This has been bugging me all day long. I can’t figure out what it means. I’m normally quite good at interpreting my own dreams, so it’s irritating when I can’t figure one out. Any suggestions, oh wise diviners? ---
**Author:** ![saramamalana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@saramamalana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saramamalana)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/2 "2005-09-16T22:43:19Z")
Are there any urges you’re repressing? A feeling of really wanting to do something but you’re keeping it under wraps? ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/3 "2005-09-16T22:57:09Z")
I’ve got it! The gream you obvoiusly hates gerbils on some level that dream you won’t admit to your dream self. This in turn means that the waking you wants to kill gerbils, and by a ridiculous leap in logic that I don’t care to explain, this means that are actually a deep fried clam. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/4 "2005-09-16T23:00:37Z")
> [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > I’ve got it! The \*\*gream \*\*you … See, that how good I am. I know that it’s a gream, and not a dream. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/5 "2005-09-16T23:02:58Z")
i go with the “repression” theme - possibly something buried so deep it’s actually from childhood (hence the familiar familial home) and something you did or should have done, as opposed to something that was done to you - maybe as simple as cheating on a test that you never confessed to ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/6 "2005-09-16T23:22:01Z")
Paging Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud… This is a dream of the id, ego and superego. The Gerbil represents your id - your wild, animal self. The little man represents your superego (your morals and values). The third box represents your ego, also represented by yourself, which may be why you “don’t know” what’s inside. The ego controls the superego and id, thus the capture and caging of the gerbil and the little man. Somewhere along the line you “killed” some aspect of your wild self - perhaps failed to recognize some hopes or dreams you had, or failed to do something you always wanted to do. The death of the gerbil (your id) represents the death of this dream. You (also representing your superego) killed it when you tried to preserve it by “putting it away” somewhere safe (delaying reaching this goal) until it was too late to acheive your dream. Also your superego is now missing. You have been made unsure about your morals and values, perhaps because by not achieving your dream you have realized you are not the person you thought you were. Hey, you asked. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/7 "2005-09-16T23:23:42Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > … You (also representing your superego)… Whoops, I meant representing your EGO. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/8 "2005-09-17T07:01:29Z")
Since the OP’s question has been answered, explain my weird dream. Okay, I only remember bits and pieces at this point. I was on a train (it was some sort of intra-city rail, but the dream didn’t seem to be about the need for better public transit solutions in American cities), and for some reason there was a time warp along its route, which meant that for a brief period of the trip, events happened in the wrong order. This was expected, and I think it was noted on the schedule. Also, while on the train, I went to sit in the studio audience for the Tonight Show, only it was hosted by Arsenio Hall and a deaf black comedian who had dreadlocks, and they conducted the show in sign language, so I depended on an interpreter. I was attending with two friends from real life, and my date, who was Frankenstein’s Monster (who was, incidentally, extremely neurotic but far more articulate than you’d guess from all the movies.) Shit, there was a lot more to it, but I’m forgetting most of it. I should have written it down. It was weird. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/9 "2005-09-17T07:22:09Z")
This signifies a deep sense of guilt and anxiety. To me, it is quite literally the physical, manifest psychically. My 10 year old cockatiel died two Winters ago and I had to keep him frozen until the spring when the ground thawed and I could bury him. It is the guilt of caring, not to be worried. Your responsibilities overwhelm your dreams. It is stress management for your subconscious. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/10 "2005-09-17T07:35:43Z")
He died of heart failure in my hands. I taught him to whistle the Andy Griffith Theme Song, Shave and a Haircut, The X-Files theme, and Colonel Bogey. Sweet bird. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/11 "2005-09-17T08:20:51Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > …for some strange reason, I thought it’d be a good idea to stick the container with the gerbil into the deep freezer in our garage. […] I must have left him in the deep freezer all night! Of course, I instantly rush to let him out of his box. When I find him though, he’s a little bitty ice ball. You didn’t happen to read that thread from a month or so ago in which a poster confessed to doing just that with his pet cat, did you? I think a lot of us still have nightmares about that. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/12 "2005-09-17T08:36:32Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > You didn’t happen to read that thread from a month or so ago in which a poster confessed to doing just that with his pet cat, did you? > > I think a lot of us still have nightmares about that. Oh my God! Link? That’s just awful. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/13 "2005-09-17T09:46:07Z")
Sorry, I can’t find a link. I don’t (thank god) remember who posted it, and a search has turned up no results. It was titled something like “Tell about something horrible you’ve done that you’ve never told anyone about,” and the OP described how he, as a child, went through a “phase” of abusing his pet cat-- hitting it, choking it, and eventually putting it in the freezer “for a while” and forgetting about it until the next day. There were a few “WTF?!” replies and it was quickly locked down. I know it’s not policy to delete threads, but if ever one deserved to go down the Memory Hole, it was that one. :shudder: ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/14 "2005-09-17T11:18:49Z")
:trying to catch my jaw as it rolls around on the floor, without letting go of my kitty who does not understand why i suddenly needed to hug her in the middle of her bath: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/15 "2005-09-17T12:23:45Z")
I didn’t think it was the freezer, I thought it was the closet. And it was his mother’s cat, and she was distraught after she found her dead kitty. I won’t say what I think about that, because this isn’t the pit. Thanks for reminding me, though. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/16 "2005-09-17T13:29:04Z")
RE the cat thing: I could have done without that. Now _I’m_ gonna have nightmares. **devilsknew, Ghanima** - Want to take a stab at my nightmare? It’s long because I entered the details into my journal when I woke up. > [@](#): > > t’s just after 3 am. I woke myself up crying; I had a horrible dream. In this dream, my dead Grandmother was there, and I think we were getting ready to have a family dinner because my cousin was up from Atlanta. Anyway, it was the evening before the holiday and I was at my aunt’s house along with the family. I don’t know why we were all together on the evening before, but that’s how dreams go. Grandma told me that I was to come over at 2 a.m. the next morning so I could clean house before the family arrived. I remember looking at the clock & seeing that it was 10 p.m. I got super pissed off and started screaming, “Two in the morning?! Why the hell do I have to be here at two in the morning? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I should have been in bed hours ago!” I ran out of the house to my car and started backing out of the driveway, but I was so mad that I couldn’t drive right. I kept backing up, cranking the wheel, going forward & cranking the wheel some more. There were a ton of cars in the street and I couldn’t get out without backing up, cranking the wheel and then going forward, etc. I felt like I was trapped. Well, the family came outside to watch this comedic scene. They were all chuckling and sneering at my frustration. When I finally got the car straight enough to drive away, I put it in park, jumped out and pointed at Grandma and screamed, “I’m having an episode because of YOU! You fucking old bitch!” I hopped back in and hit the gas, squealing my tires up the street. > > The next part: Even though it was 10 p.m; it was light outside, looked like just before dusk. I was making my way home through a residential section, trying to calm myself down. I was driving slow because I knew I was being irrational and there were cars parked up along both sides of the street. There were children playing in front yards. I see a boy about age 12 standing in the street, throwing a baseball to another kid in one of the yards. I slowed down, and he backed up to the side of the road to let me through. I proceeded slowly and cautiously, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the kid who had caught the ball. I turned to look at him & smiled. And then he threw the ball directly at my car & cracked my windshield. I hit the brakes and parked. Jumping out of the car, I asked him where he lived. He was obviously shocked that I had stopped and was acting scared. He finally pointed to a house and I took him by the arm, heading toward his house. Before we even got to the door, his mom came out. I told her what her son had done, and he started crying. I felt bad for the kid, so I put my arm around his shoulder and told him it was ok, but he can’t be throwing baseballs at cars. > > As I walked back to my car, I see my brother and cousin standing on the sidewalk, beers in hand. I couldn’t find my car. My cousin tried to “help” me, but it became clear that it had been stolen and he knew it. I dropped to my knees and started crying. He was grinning at this, and I crawled over to him. I grabbed his shirt and said, “Why are you doing this to me?” and he just laughed. > > That’s when I woke myself up crying. I feel absolutely drained, just as if I had gone through a wakeful episode. The intense anger then the tears. It always leaves me exhausted. “Episode” refers to my panic attacks/bipolar thing. Sorry for continuing the hijack,\*\* Art\*\*… I had to get this out of my system. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/17 "2005-09-17T17:48:47Z")
The boxed entity dream could be about processing floating anxiety, and about things that can’t be completely controlled. Sometimes, when people dream about harming something that they carew about in the dream, what they are doing is expressing a fear that something else will harm that thing. Send those dreams [here](http://www.slowwave.com/), if you want them illustrated. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/18 "2005-09-19T17:10:23Z")
**Seeker74** , This dream is a very intense one that speaks of emotional pain. It seems likely that you have suffered from some kind of emotional trauma. This could for example be due to some form of emotional abuse by your family or perhaps friends or it could be self-inflicted and your family represents your own repressed feelings about it. (Personally my nightmares are often dreams like this, where my mom or my sister won’t listen to me or hate me or look down upon me and no matter how I rage or cry, I get no sympathy. I too am mildly bipolar, I wonder if this is a coincidence.) Your dream also speaks of insecurities, the pointing and laughing must be a terrible feeling. I’m thinking this is your brain’s way of letting you know that these feelings are there. You may not be aware of how your self-image is affected by emotional scars. If this theme recurs, I’d recommend exploring experiences in your childhood/teens dealing with rejection and/or ridicule. It is my experience that bipolars experience very intense emotions that others don’t seem to share, and it can be a very isolating and frustrating experience, especially as a youth. In your dream I also see a good measure of self-control. You drove slowly knowing that you were upset and you stopped the car to deal with the child, but in a very compassionate way. This is a good sign, but could also mean that you keep yourself under wraps. You may need to peek under those wraps once in a while. Another thing is that your interactions with your family in your dream are generally about you not getting the support you need from them. Your grandma was inconsiderate about your need for sleep, your brother and cousin were being deliberately obtuse about your car. You may feel that you are left on your own with little help or consideration. Well, that’s my two cents. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-interpret-my-f-ed-up-dream-from-last-night/322043/19 "2005-09-19T17:20:21Z")
**Ghanima** - I guess it’s also very telling that I felt extremely naked (almost to the point of having an anxiety attack) after I submitted that post, and that our fellow Dopers would think I’m completely off my rocker. You’re right on all points. I need better meds and counseling. 'Scuse me while I hide in bed now…