[cowboydaddydon]

So I tend to have what I kind of refer to as working dreams, they feel like I'm at work doing things and I will wake up and fall back asleep only to have them start all over again. I started to think maybe they were flashback related because I felt scared, on edge and inadequate at fixing what I needed to fix. Not sure if this sounds weird or not, hoping others may experience something similiar.

[MickeyCheeky]

Welcome! i can't say i have had similar experiences so unfortunately i can't help much in this regard. Hopefully others will have more to add but perhaps your therapist or doctor has already something to say about it? Sending many Safe, warm hugs to BOTH you, @cowboydaddydon, your Family, your Friends and ALL of your Loved Ones! Keep fighting and keep rocking NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, OK?!

[~*glass_owl*~]

Flashbacks are usually about a traumatic event,<trigger>like I was strangled by my ex partner so I see his face in my dreams and I have to do PTSD exercises to ground myself when I awake. </trigger>. I get work related dreams too about waiting tables even years after being a waitress. I don't know what it means, but you can still ask a therapist. It could still be a different kind of flashback, particularly if work is stressful or if something traumatic happened at work.

[Fuzzybear]

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by cowboydaddydon

So I tend to have what I kind of refer to as working dreams, they feel like I'm at work doing things and I will wake up and fall back asleep only to have them start all over again. I started to think maybe they were flashback related because I felt scared, on edge and inadequate at fixing what I needed to fix. Not sure if this sounds weird or not, hoping others may experience something similiar.

my thoughts? (from your title)

my thoughts are that dreams and flashbacks are two entirely different things.

a flashback is when I am fully awake. I see someone on the street that reminds me of my abuser, this triggering moment causes my brain to go into fight, or flight mode of a panic attack and my mind literally replays the moment of abuse from years ago. in other words to me a flashback is reliving a traumatic moment while not asleep or dreaming. it happens any time any where and not one specific location ect..

a dream is when I fall asleep and my brain enters its dreaming REM. A dream for me can take elements of my real life at times but theres no panic and so on. sometimes it can be confusing or a bit frightening but nothing major.

A nightmare on the other hand is me going to sleep and having a dream that is extremely frightening. sometimes about something that has happened in real life, sometimes its something I may fear may become real or it can be completely fiction but the end result is my waking up in fear and panic.

based on my own interpretation of what a dream, nightmare and a flashback is, and having experienced each type and been in treatment for each type, I would say my thoughts are what a nightmare this must have been for you...

heres why I would say that... the key words in your post...

you refer to them as a dream (working dream)
you state you wake up and fall back to sleep
when you wake up you feel scared.

now this is only my thoughts (my interpretation of your situation and your working dream) like you asked for in your tittle...

to actually find out whats going on contact your own treatment provider, they will be able to actually diagnose what this problem is in you, directly related to your life and so forth.