Eve, there are a slew of great dream dictionaries online that can help you uncover why you have these "attacking" dreams. I would start there.

Whenever I have similar "attack" types of dreams, I know it's my subconscious sending me the message to deal with whatever I've put off dealing with; whether it's related to a relationship, a goal, a want or need, or my health. I'll give you an example.

I once dreamt I was stabbed by volunteers I volunteered with a lot. Turns out, several of these volunteers had betrayed my trust and were gossiping about me to others, disparaging my reputation as a result. Once I found out these people were doing this to me, I felt betrayed and hurt, and dreamt that they were stabbing me to death.

If I had fought back and stabbed them in that dream (unfortunately, I didn't), that would have symbolized me trying to save my reputation from their bald-faced lies about me. I think I felt so helpless, that I just let them stab me to death in my dream.

Whenever I've dreamt about being attacked by scary demons, the demons represent un-fulfilled sides of myself that I've ignored due to lack of interest, time, or having the funds to pursue.

Our subconscious mind is amazing. It sends us all kinds of messages while we sleep, about what we need to do to take better care of ourselves. If we choose to ignore those warnings or "reminders," we remain stuck and miserable. The trick is to figure out how your subconscious mind works. It's why I keep a dream journal. I have learned to figure out what my subconscious mind uses for symbols to represent unfulfilled parts of me, or what represents my health in dreams.

The more I listen, the more I figure out about myself. It's an on-going process too, the whole self-actualization through dream journaling. You'd be surprised at what you find out about yourself, if you pay attention to what your dreams tell you.