Recurring Dream

Nightmares or sad dreams are definitely not a new thing to me since I have had them my whole life, but a dream that I've had twice in the last week is really bothering me. They're a little different but they focus on the same thing.

The first dream: I woke up one morning to find that no one else was home. I don't know what made me think it but I was almost certain that my family was dead (which was why they weren't home) and I felt that I really had nothing to live for. So I went to our medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of painkillers and kept popping them into my mouth until the bottle was nearly empty. Just as I finished, my family came walking through the door. This instant wave of horror swept through me and I desperately tried to throw the pills up, but nothing would come up. I told my mom what had happened and she began to panic and called 911. She was unable to get through though. So for the rest of the night I was terrified that I could die at any moment, but the night went on and I seemed to be fine.

The second dream (that I had last night): I have no idea why, but my mom and I were running from the law. We kept driving all day and all night for many days, but neither of us seemed to say a word the entire time. Then one day as my mom was driving, she pulled the car over to the side of an isolated road, in between cornfields so we couldn't really be seen by anyone else. I could tell from the look on her face that she had had enough and she pulled out a sandwich bag filled with pills. I don't recall what she said exactly but it was something along the lines that she was tired of her life and tired of running so we somehow came to the understanding that we would both take the pills. The part that made me so sad was that I felt such a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders and such relief at the thought of doing such a thing. Anyways, this dream ended pretty much like the last one. I took the pills (I'm not sure if she did) and something happened (I don't remember what) that made me regret my decision and there was nothing I could do to reverse it, but later on I turned out to be fine.

I have no idea what could be stirring up dreams like this all of a sudden. And I don't think the interpretation is as straightforward as it seems. Any thoughts?

Hi,
Your general daily thoughts impact on your dreams. However what happens in your sleep during the night causes the dreams, as every external or internal intrusion into sleep needs a dream to deal with it. If you get a stream of negative thoughts intrude into your sleep your subconscious creates a dream round them, either to divert your attention from them or to wake you up.
This part of the dream indicates that you were actually feeling sick in your sleep and needed to be woken. Your subconscious used your delicate family situation to wake you up. Perhaps you need more independence.
Is your mother posessive, and tries moral blackmail to keep you from achieving independence?