[Haunted1]

If anyone has any theories on this, I'd love to hear them.
About two years ago I was friends with someone whom I won't name, we were really close and had a lot in common. There was a connection that I can't put into words, one I've never had with anyone else. It was like we were just made to be friends, he wanted to be more and so did I but I was scared so I kept him as a friend. I did love him, I can admit that now but our connection was so strong it was scary. He died, I was beyond devastated.

Being raised a Christian I was taught not to believe in ghosts, or any type of life after death other than Heaven and Hell. I was sick in thinking I wouldn't see him again but had accepted it.

A few months after his death I had a dream about him.

I dreamt I was at a store or restaurant with my best friend and it began to flood, my other friends showed up and they didn't have room for me in their car. I was upset and told my best friend she should go. She went outside and then returned and said there was a brown truck outside and I should get in.

I went outside and saw the truck I climbed in and when I saw the driver it was my dead friend. The feeling upon seeing him, I still can't put into words. It was relief and the most amazing feeling I've ever had. I've never had anything in my life awake or asleep feel as real as that moment did.
He started driving out these old backroads and he was just talking to me as if it were nothing and he wasn't dead.

Eventually I said that I thought he was dead and he looked at me and he said "I am, but you need me and I'm here." I spent the rest of my dream just riding in that truck nestled against his side until near morning. At the end of my dream he pulled over and told me to get out of the truck I said no. He told me that I was dreaming and when I got out of the truck I would wake up but that he did love me and he was always close. I cried and begged him not to make me get out, I didn't even care if I was in a coma I wanted so badly to stay in that truck. He said I had to wake up, crying I got out of the truck and was instantly awake.

I've had vivid dreams before, and nightmares. this was not a nightmare I woke up feeling as if I actually had spoken with him. It was so real I could still feel the heat from his body beside mine, I have never had a dream that I completely was aware of everything and time passed almost normally and everything was so real.

I brushed it off and tried to go on until it happened again.

I dreamt I was drowning, my friends were all standing on a dock not far away at all. I kept begging for help but they were frozen, they just stared at nothing with no reaction. Just as I was about to go under he appeared on the end of the dock, he leaned down and said to me "Stop it, you can swim." I said no I can't and he said "Yes you can, you just don't remember how. Now, swim" I started to swim and hold my own head above water and he was gone.
I woke up cold and feeling exhausted like I'd actually been swimming.

Once again it was so real, more real than anything. I've had days shopping with my best friend that I wasn't sure was this real.

A few weeks later my dog died, I was beyond devastated. I sunk into a deep depression that my family and best friend couldn't get me out of. Everyday my best friend came up and sat on the couch with me, she'd let me pick movies and make me terrible food to eat. She was my rock, but I was unreachable.
Then I had another dream.

I was walking in a field with my dead dog and someone else, I pet my dog and hugged her. I told I loved her and missed her. Then the other person was revealed as my dead friend. I started to cry because I realized it had to be a dream. Near the end of the dream we were sitting on a bench watching my dog play and he said she wasn't hurting anymore. I told him I wasn't ready to let her go and he said "I wasn't ready to let go either, but she's with me now and she's going to be fine." Then he stood up and they both walked away and I woke up.

I woke up completely feeling better, the next day I went out of my house for the first time in days. I didn't cry myself to sleep anymore and I got myself a great puppy.

Everyone said it was my subconscious, but it wasn't I know it wasn't.

It was so real I could feel her fur under my hands and when he said she was safe I felt the truth in those words.

Is it really all nothing more than my own mind? or do you think there may truly be more than that.

I read too many books I know, but I can't help the feeling that maybe our connection was stronger than death. Maybe he really is watching and making contact the only way he can, and helping me through. Maybe, he has my dog somewhere and they're both okay and miss and love me like I do them.
I just need some thoughts, and I don't know where else to get them.

[CANDC]

Hello haunted, I think what I would call it is not haunted, but guided. There may be situations where people have problems with ghosts, but when you tell the story of your dream it feels real and authentic. Plus in every instance it helped you heal a wound. It is hard to say exactly what it is, but it is definitely a source of healing for you.

After I read the book Life after Life, by Dr Raymond Moody, MD, I realized that dreams can sometimes be a perception of another reality than the physical reality we are used to living in. In the book patients report their experiences during death from medical causes from which they were revived and lived to tell about their experiences while they had no vital signs and were medically dead.

Warning: Some people have these experiences and do not talk about them openly because they do not want people who do not understand these experiences to openly criticize them. Psych Central is a unique place where acceptance is higher. People may not understand but do not criticize. Keeping these experiences under your hat is strongly advised when talking to people who have strongly held beliefs that might not accept your inspiring stories and might try to get you to deny them. If you must share, select only people who you share a very deep relationship with.

Thank you for sharing these stories of healing and guidance that have helped you through some difficult times. To me that is the take away. Through your dreams, you were healed and guided toward a healthier life.

Life gives us what we can handle. Sometimes not knowing what is ahead is for the best. You are truly blessed with an inner guide.

[MissSquish]

Dreams like these can be confusing but weather it is a dream or it is a loved one giving you guidance it put you on the right path so embrace and enjoy them. My grandmother on my mothers side died when i was 11, she was babysitting me at the time because my mother was in hospital. I went to wake her up in the morning but she wouldnt wake up. for a long time i would see her in my dreams and think somehow my mind was taunting me. But when i finally came to terms with her death the dreams seemed to stop. Recently i have been going through some family issues and i keep having a dream where i am in my bed and i feel a hand touch my shoulder. i turn around and its my grandmother smiling at me like she is reassuring me. she doesnt say anything and it only lasts a second before i wake up and there is nothing there but it feels so real, i miss her so much and just that second with her means everything...even if it is a dream.

[Thunder Bow]

They were Healing Dreams. Healing dreams can seem very real. For your healing was very real. In every dream you returned to the real world. What you dreamed was much better than "Ghosts", and much more real, and is a real part of the Spiritual Universe.

[Artchic528]

I had a simular dream experience. My grandmother had died suddenly and as I was half way across the country, I couldn't have possibly had a chance to say goodbye.

Then, one night a few weeks later, I had a dream. I was walking through a door into my grandmother's kitchen. She was at the stove, busy cooking, as I always remembered her doing in life. The kitchen smelled of good things cooking. Upon hearing myself entering the kitchen, She turned around, and was wearing a flowered apron, just like she always did. I instantly burst into tears as she walked up to me, and she did too. I told her I missed her dearly, she said she missed me too, and that I would always be her special little princess (something she told me often when I was growing up), that I was strong and beautiful outside and in. She hugged me and I can still feel that hug and her slight frame as if I was truly hugging her. Then she looked at me and I vividly remember looking into her eyes, so blue and wise looking, and then she said I had to go, that it was time for me to leave. Reluctantly, I said goodbye and I walked back out that door to my grandma saying goodbye back. As soon as I did, the rest of the nonesensical dream came flooding back, and the door disappeared.

I know it was my dear grandmother getting the chance to say goodbye to me that she never had in the real world. I know this deep within my heart.

These things are real, so treasure those memories and maybe look forward to seeing them again in your dreams. Those truly are special and should be cherished.

[Haunted1]

So, I wanted to discuss something and it has to do with this thread. So, rather than retyping I'm just going to comment here.
I've suffered night terrors my entire life, graphic ones that make me dangerous to myself. Recently my doctor offered me a new pill that will suppress dreams. No more nightmares, that seems so impossible after spending 26 years of my life having nightmares 5 nights a week sometimes more.
The catch is, no good dreams either.
I can't decide what to do, I don't want nightmares but...the dreams of my dead friend, they're few and far between and I don't want to lose those.
My best friend offered to take them with me so I wouldn't be scared but I'm scared of losing certain dreams. I didn't tell her this but I can't let him go.
My dreams of my dead friend are all I have of him and I'm not prepared to lose those.
I don't know if I should let go and take the pills and lose what I have left of him and no longer have nightmares or if maybe...just maybe...the nightmares are worth it for those few nights I get to see his face.

[Thunder Bow]

If the healing dreams with your dead friend is stronger than the nightmares, tell you doctor you do not want the pills. If the night terrors are of lower intensity than before, you may not need the pills any more.