[finestitcher]

First, I am sorry that I pop in and out...only when I need something, but having PD keeps me extremely involved in that Community, which is my primary community.

Lately, I have been disturbed by the fact that I have not had (or atleast not remembered dreaming) since I was a child. And having a totaly and complete block of my childhood years...well...I have had experieces in my life that I should have terrible dreams about, but I don't.

Why is this?

I should have recall dreaming about the night I walked into my home and was confronted by a man who had just broken in through a window unit air conditioner, which he had pushed through the wall so that he could acces the room. He left without hurting me, took my purse and my car.

I should have recall dreams about the car accident I had 12 years ago that took 18 months out of my life.

And why is it that anytime something significant happens to me I block it out...e.g. my recent brain surgery in June. I was compiling the expenses incurred by my family over the month immediately after the surgery and discovered that I didn't just lose a week of time, I lost the better part of a month of time.

Why does this happen?? No dreams. No recall. Was my childhood so horrible...yes...that even after all these decades I am still so excellent at blocking information? This can't be a good thing...right?

The other thing is that I am completely unemotional about most anything significant.

Why is this?

Carolyn

[AAAAA]

Carolyn,

I have no idea why this happens, but I hope you find out. My husband is this way as well. He has not had a dream that he's remembered since he was 14 and dreamed he was in Vietnam. I can hear him talking in his sleep and many times laughing (belly laugh I have no idea how he doesn't wake himself) in his sleep. When he wakes, even to go to the bathroom I'll ask what he was dreaming about. Nothing, no clue. He does not remember.

He also has blocks of his life that he has no recollection of. We've been married for 21 years. I'll talk about something that happened when the kids were little, but he has no recollection. He was in the Navy and we moved around a lot. Of all the people we've met and spend a great deal of time with, he remembers maybe 5 out of 100s.

Big things, little things, no memory. He had a "normal" childhood, no abuse. It continues on, we'll be in the car driving somewhere, we can even be having a conversation and suddenly he'll go "woow" . He has no memory of the last 10 minutes.

He also seems to be unemotional. Granted I'm overly emotional, but it can be scarey! He's a kind and loving husband and father, but unless it's road rage, there's nothing.

If you find any answers I'd really like to know.

[wickedwings]

at one time, years ago, when my hubby was my boyfriend, he used to scream and stuff in his sleep. when he woke, he had no memory of the dreams. those dreams were apparently a re-enactment of the fall he had at work where he fell off of a scaffolding 12 feet onto the concrete, barely missing the pole that was sticking out from the floor. he was very lucky, of course. anyway, he can still recall dreams since he stopped having those dreams of that fall he had. not sure what to make of your situation.

[ECHOES]

There are some meditations you can do before sleep that include mentally 'welcoming' dreams to be a part of your sleep and also to remember them.

Some ideas I've read or heard about include things like waking up slowly and quietly and letting your mind be still, not letting it begin focusing on anything even though it wants to (shower, coffee, work, etc). Waking suddenly, like with an alarm clock, brings the mind from unconcious to conscious quickly and the memory of the dream is lost, although it can come mind later.

I don't remember mine often but when I do it is typically on a day I don't have to get up by alarm clock and after I have awakened the 2nd time, after falling back to sleep.

Another suggestion I read is to keep a paper and pen by the bed to write down anything at all that comes to mind.

Sometimes it is just a quick vision, not a big long dream for me. Two I've had recently are a vision of standing in a hallway talking to someone (therapist) and there is an open door to a room off this hallway. Through the doorway, that I only look at out of the corner of my eye, that room is totally engulfed in red, roaring flames. I wrote it down and when I did more things came to mind about it.

Last night was a vision of just finishing getting into a car on the passenger side, with only my right foot/leg left to bring into the car then I would be totally in. The car door is open, ready to close. But I can't bring that foot/leg inside! I'm wondering for a second if we could just go ahead and pull away like this.. as if figuring out if it would work. lol. crazy! Just a vision, a snapshot, is what these are like. They are fun to think about and see what else comes to mind, then share with my therapist.

So, you might want to Google 'dreams' or visit some meditation sites (there's a free meditation called Secret Garden on this site: http://www.meditainment.com that's very nice to do). Or, check out books or books on CD about meditation. Also a site I order material from is here: http://www.wholeperson.com.

Dreams are fun.

[Perna]

My husband (who is 64) rarely remembers dreams. He only started remembering them when he met me because I work with and remember mine.

There are some tips for remembering dreams (if you truly want to?) but I can imagine your not remembering yours if you expect they're going to be upsetting?

http://www.dreamdoctor.com/wakeupslowly.shtml

[finestitcher]

Thank you all for replying! You thoughts are welcome.