[peaches100]

I often have dreams that involve me dissociating and losing time. I mean I actually dream that I am dissociating in the dream. It quite a bit. Like I will dream that I go to my therapy session, get there early, so I climb up a hill to wait until session time. Then (still in my dream), a person shows up and talks to me. I ask her if it is about 3 pm, and she says "No, it's almost 4 pm." Then I suddenly realize I've lost track of time and my session time is nearly over.

I also dream constantly that I lose people. . .get separated from them, can't find them, dream that I wake up and don't know where I am at, etc. But these things are actually in the dreams themselves.

Why would I dream about losing time and losing people and losing my memory of where I am, etc.? I don't recall that I've ever actually gotten lost in real life (although my sense of direction stinks). I have suffered a lot of abandonments by people, but I've never "lost time" in real life. The most I've ever done is to zone out and lose track of time, but not really lose big chunks of time.

[peaches100]

Here are two other things I've dreamed this week:

I dreamed that my husband and I were in a very bad neighborhood where there were a lot of gangs and killings. We got separated in a big apartment building and I could not find him. He did not show up where we agreed to meet. I thought he had been shot to death.

I dreamed that my parents had one of my legs amputated, upon a recommendation from a doctor, even though there was nothing wrong with it.

I dreamed that I woke up in a dark room where I could barely see. There were people scattered in areas around the room, doing drugs and smoking something. There was a strange man sitting next to me talking. I had no idea where I was, or who the people were. According to what the man next to me said, I became aware that I had done some very bad things of which I was not aware at all. It scared me badly because I did not remember going there at all, or being there at all, or what I did.

Again, this was all in my dreams, not for real. But I dream this kind of stuff all the time. . .

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by peaches100

Here are two other things I've dreamed this week:

I dreamed that my husband and I were in a very bad neighborhood where there were a lot of gangs and killings. We got separated in a big apartment building and I could not find him. He did not show up where we agreed to meet. I thought he had been shot to death.

I dreamed that my parents had one of my legs amputated, upon a recommendation from a doctor, even though there was nothing wrong with it.

I dreamed that I woke up in a dark room where I could barely see. There were people scattered in areas around the room, doing drugs and smoking something. There was a strange man sitting next to me talking. I had no idea where I was, or who the people were. According to what the man next to me said, I became aware that I had done some very bad things of which I was not aware at all. It scared me badly because I did not remember going there at all, or being there at all, or what I did.

Again, this was all in my dreams, not for real. But I dream this kind of stuff all the time. . .

dreams are the brains way of sorting out our daily living, our emotions, thoughts memories.

short version everything our brain takes in every day is mish mashed together...

example one night I dreamed that I was out walking with my children and suddenly my children turned rainbow colors and I lost track of who they were and what time it was. lost hours in the dream.

working with my therapist on this I remembered that day my emotions were all over the place (the rainbow of colors) not knowing who my children were was a representative of meeting and giving a tour to so many children that it was impossible to know all their names and who they were, and losing hours was my normal way of being. i dont keep track of time very well even at work I have to have a small travel clock sitting on my desk because I normally do not focus on time.

at first when I had this dream I panicked thinking omg at some point Im going to forget I have children something is going to happen to them and Im not going to be focused enough to help them.

my therapist told me to calm down just because I dream something doesnt mean its about dissociating and something happening.

so for me if I had your dissociative dream I would remind myself that the brain works in amazing ways and look at it as a mishmash of my feelings and life not as a literal sense. its normal for me to space off lose track of time so of course its normal for me to dream about that.

im guessing since you are a dissociative its normal for you to dream you are dissociating. of course only your treatment provider can diagnose and treat this if it is a mental or physical health problem rather than normal.

my suggestion if this continues to bother you contact your or a treatment provider. they can help you locate a class on how the brain works, where dreams come from, ...there are also some great documentaries on PBS, the health channel, netflix and youtube on this kind of thing too.

[finding_my_way]

i have had very strange dreams as well that i believe are related to dissociation. i have had a lot where i am other people, ages, genders, etc. i don't know if other people have those types or not...and i try not to think 'too' much about it..but i find it interesting. i have also dreamed about switching from being in the body to not which is not something i actually do in waking life, but in dreams it has been watching things from a distance at times too.

i have also dreamed about losing people, but for me it is related to people i do know/did know, past or present. i tend to dream every few years about a friend i used to have. i thought i had resolved (in waking life) things with her, but i still find i dream about her..but that also has to do with the connection i had.

i think dreaming about people you don't know still can be linked to similar feelings/events you experienced in real life. your brain does a lot of strange things to process what you have experienced when you dream.

I have had dreams where a line of people file by me and introduce themselves. Some are children and don't speak;they take my hand. I've assumed these were alters as they are like the ones I know of.

I think this post has influenced me --- My dreams have never involved dissociation, until last night - I dreamt I lost a lot of time in my T's waiting room!

I hardly ever remember my dreams, but when I do...it's so like the life and times of other people, more full of entertainment value then it is about myself. Some are adventurous like 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Then of course there are those "What If.....?" dreams.

Sometimes they're straight up blackout.

Last night I dreamed several others were on here posting things because earlier last night it was true!