Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. I once had this anxiety attack in a dream where I was literally in Hell. In fact, I remember feeling like it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

It was kind of “comical,” if you want to put it that way. What I mean is it wasn’t all death and gloom. By the same token, I even remember making the comment “this isn’t so mean.”

But then they grabbed a subbortunate and carried her away while she was screaming . That’s when the attack came. That scream was with me after I woke up. I thought I was next.

Then I woke up and realized how real the dream seemed. I was sweating to death and didn’t go back to sleep that night. So far, that was my worst, most vivid dream ever!

Panic Attack in Dream Meaning

Being that, anxiety dreams are bad dreams that can cause feelings of distress, apprehension, or unease when you wake up.

They often occur during rapid eye movement sleep and can be caused by a number of things, including:

• Firstly, Stress
• Daily stressors, such as work, relationships, or finances, can cause disrupted sleep or anxiety dreams
• Thirdly, Traumatic events
• Trauma, whether you experienced it or witnessed it, can trigger intense dreams
• Recent loss
• Lastly, Grief can manifest in many ways, including distressing dreams after the loss of a loved one

Other Causes

Fear, insomnia, substance use, medications, and mental health disorders can also contribute to anxiety attacks.

What is an Anxiety Attack in a Dream Like?

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. Even more, an anxiety attack in a dream can manifest in various ways, often reflecting the individual’s waking fears and stressors. Here are some common characteristics of such experiences:

Intense Fear or Panic: The dreamer may suddenly feel overwhelming fear or panic, similar to what one might experience during a waking anxiety attack.

Physical Symptoms: Hence, just like in real-life anxiety attacks, the dreamer might experience physical sensations such as a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating, or a feeling of being trapped.

Distorted Reality: The dream may involve surreal or distorted scenarios that heighten feelings of anxiety, such as being chased, losing control, or facing an insurmountable challenge.

Inability to Escape: Often, the dreamer may feel unable to wake up or escape the situation, leading to a sense of helplessness.

Recurring Themes: Indeed, many people experience similar anxiety-related dreams repeatedly, which can indicate unresolved issues or ongoing stress in their waking life.

Emotional Aftermath: Upon waking, the dreamer may feel residual anxiety or distress, carrying the emotions from the dream into their day.

Symbolic Content: However, dreams may incorporate symbols that represent personal fears or stressors, making the experience feel deeply personal and relevant.

These dreams can be unsettling and may prompt individuals to explore their anxieties and stressors more consciously.

The Bottom Line

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. Anxiety dreams generally just mean you’re dealing with some stress, but they’re still no fun.

Instead, try looking at them from a different perspective: They can actually have some benefit. They help you recognize stress in your life, for one.

A study from 2019 also suggests a more adaptive purpose of anxiety dreams: Improving your ability to cope with fear when awake.

However you look at them, taking steps to cope with anxiety can help these dreams disappear.

What Are the Types of Anxiety Dreams?

Furthermore, there are various types of anxiety dreams and various reasons for why they occur.

There is no single correct way to interpret a dream, but recognizing the themes can provide insight into what stresses you the most now.

Also, to figure out why you are dreaming about someone in your life. Being able to look at your dreams and try to manage them is important for your well-being.

Here are Sixteen Types of Anxiety Dreams and What They Could Mean

Severe Storms

In brief, this dream is common for people with generalized anxiety disorder.

Generalized anxiety can be similar to natural disasters: you can feel like the anxiety comes out of nowhere and destroys everything in its path.

Notwithstanding, in order to work through this dream it is important for an individual to become aware of their anxiety.

Like natural disasters, there are usually some warning signs that anxiety is creeping up on you. When these issues are ignored, they may wreck havoc in your dreams.

Drowning

Particularly, this dream is common for people struggling with panic attacks.

Drowning can cause a feeling of pressure in the chest or difficulty breathing, similar to the effect panic attacks have on the body.

Likewise, you may even experience cold sweats while dreaming, which can happen when a panic attack is about to occur.

Being Chased

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. This dream is common for people with social anxiety disorder.

When in a social interaction that causes anxiety, you may feel the need to run away from the current location or group of people.

Usually it is not clear what or whom you are running away from in these dreams, but dealing with your social anxiety could make this clearer.

Earthquakes

This dream is common for people with a lot of instability in their life.

The instability can be physical, emotional, or both. When dreaming about an earthquake you may have a physical sensation of the earth moving.

Overall, this can be symbolic of the instability in your life.

Falling

Nonetheless, this dream is common for people who feel that they are losing control. You may be losing control at work, in your relationships, or finances.

The gut-wrenching sensation you have when falling from a high place is similar to the feeling of not having control over the important things in your life.

Fires

Subsequently, this dream is common for people who are dealing with a lot of stress. The bigger the fire, the more stress you are under. This dream is also an indication of burnout.

It is important to evaluate the stress you are dealing with and to create more balance in your life in order to prevent these dreams from reoccurring.

Being Naked in Public

Specifically, this dream is common for people who are struggling with an inferiority complex. These feelings can make it hard for you to connect with others.

Being naked in public can make you feeling inferior and prevent you from engaging with the people around you.

Similar to being naked, feeling inferior can leave a person feeling vulnerable and alone.

Losing or Forgetting Important Things

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. Straightaway, this dream is common for people who are dealing with high-pressure events.

Losing or forgetting something important can be symbolic of trying to manage a high-pressure situation that you may not feel confident about.

Therefore, it is important to remind yourself that you are a lot more capable and in control than the dream is depicting.

Uncomfortable School Situations

In sum, this dream is common for people who are dealing with uncomfortable situations in their life.

Everyone has had an uncomfortable situation at school, which creates anxiety, embarrassment, and stress.

Although you are not in school anymore, managing the uncomfortable situations in your life can bring up the same feelings as when you were in school.

Losing Teeth

Dreaming about your teeth falling out is common for people who are dealing with loss. The loss can be the death of someone close to you, the loss of a job or your home.

Thus, historically, losing teeth was associated with the loss of something important, which can create anxiety or depression about losing teeth.

This is symbolic of the anxiety and depression connected to the concept of loss.

Tragic Accidents

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. In short, this dream is common for people who are dealing with anxiety or depression.

Dreaming about people you love being in a tragic accident can create the same anxiety and feelings of helplessness you are dealing with in your life. This can lead to depression.

Flooding

In particular, this dream is common for people who are feeling overwhelmed by the daily grind of life.

You cannot be in control of floods and dealing with the aftermath is overwhelming. This is symbolic of feeling overwhelmed and not in control in your life.

Feeling like you have no control over your life can be a risk factor in developing mental health issues, such as generalized anxiety disorders.

Car Problems

In general, this dream is common for people who are feeling a loss of control in their life. A car is an essential part of our daily lives.

Dreaming about having car problems is associated with feeling out of control or not being able to steer in the direction you want to.

The car is symbolic of your own body. When there are issues with your body it can be hard to focus and go in the direction you want to.

Running Late

In this case, this dream is common for people who are dealing with the pressures of a deadline.

Punctuality is a very important part of being responsible and accountable.

Similar to punctuality, being able to meet the expectations of a deadline is important in life.

Back to School

Whereas, this dream is common for people who are dealing with stressors at a job. School is the first real job we all have had.

When attending school, there are expectations, deadlines and graded outcomes.

Dreaming about being back at school is associated with stressors that an individual might have with a job.

In truth, some individuals might be struggling to meet the expectations that are set forth, and this can cause stress and anxiety.

Being Unable to Find a Place

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. This dream is common for people who feel that they don’t belong in a certain place.

When you are unable to find a location in a dream, you are not where you belong. This is symbolic of not belonging at work, in your relationships or your home.

Feeling that you don’t belong in a certain place can bring forth feelings of depression or anxiety.

Dreams About Panic Attacks

Dreams about panic attacks can be intense and often reflect underlying anxiety or stress in a person’s waking life.

Here are some common themes and elements associated with such dreams:

• Feeling Trapped: On one hand, many people report dreams where they feel confined or unable to escape a situation, mirroring the feeling of being trapped during a panic attack.
• Physical Symptoms: Dreamers may experience sensations similar to those of a panic attack, such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, or dizziness, even though they are asleep.
• Loss of Control: On the other hand, dreams may involve scenarios where the individual feels a loss of control, whether it’s in social situations, public speaking, or facing a daunting task.
• Surreal or Distorted Environments: The dream setting might be chaotic or disorienting, amplifying feelings of anxiety and panic.
• Recurring Nightmares: Although, for some, dreams about panic attacks can be recurrent, indicating ongoing anxiety or unresolved issues in their waking life.
• Emotional Overwhelm: The dream may evoke feelings of dread, fear, or impending doom, reflecting the emotional turmoil associated with panic attacks.
• Social Anxiety: Also, dreams may involve being in social situations where the dreamer feels judged or scrutinized, triggering panic-like responses.
• Awakening in Distress: Many individuals wake up from these dreams feeling anxious or shaken, carrying the emotions from the dream into their waking state.
• Symbolic Representation: Of course, the panic attack in the dream may symbolize deeper fears or stressors, such as fear of failure, rejection, or overwhelming responsibilities.
• Desire for Control: These dreams may also reflect a subconscious desire to regain control over one’s emotions or life circumstances.

Understanding the content and emotions of these dreams can provide insight into one’s mental state.

Also, it may encourage individuals to address their anxieties more directly.

How to Cope With & Reduce Anxiety Dreams

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. Anxiety dreams create a vicious cycle, where a person is experiencing anxiety during the day, which creates anxiety dreams, which makes their daytime anxiety even worse.

To emphasize, coping with anxiety dreams is helpful in managing the effects it has on a person’s quality of sleep. 

Sleep impacts mental health, and when a person is not sleeping properly they will struggle with increased anxiety during the day.

There is no way to control anxiety dreams, but there are ways to reduce stress and improve sleep.

Furthermore, addressing the core causes of an anxiety dream can reduce the frequency or stop them entirely.

Tips for coping with anxiety dreams include:

• Write down the dream: Recalling the details of a dream is important for identifying what is at its core. That is to say, dreams can be easily forgotten, and being able to identify the details of what caused the distress is helpful.
• Practice mindfulness: Mindfulness can ground you and help with distressing emotions and thoughts. Therefore, breathwork is a mindfulness technique that can be particularly helpful in reducing stress.
• Talk to someone about the dream: Discussing your dream in detail with someone you trust can be helpful. Provided that, having a space to be heard can be helpful in letting go of the distress the dream has brought forth.
• Relaxation exercises: Relaxation exercises such as progressive muscle relaxation help to physically release distressing emotions.
• Follow a regular bedtime routine: To be sure, having a consistent bedtime routine can alleviate the stressors of the day, which allows a person to fall asleep in a more relaxed mindset. This reduces the chances of experiencing anxiety dreams.
• Avoid heavy foods or alcohol before bed: Heavy foods and alcohol can create indigestion or other abdominal discomforts that affect a person’s quality of sleep.
• Keep your bedroom cool and quiet: Being in a comfortable environment allows a person to relax and enjoy being in bed. To conclude, it is hard to sleep in a bedroom near loud noises or with uncomfortable temperatures.
• Avoid phone usage: It can be hard to put your phone down, but slowing down and reducing the stimulation to your brain is essential in being able to fall asleep.
• Make a plan: What’s more, creating a plan to manage your anxiety dreams is helpful, especially if they are interfering with your daytime activities.
• Practice self-care: Self-care is important! Doing something that makes you happy can be helpful in reducing distress.
• Get up and get active: Exercise and mental health are connected. To that end, the hormones released during physical activity can help you manage your emotions and reduce stress. Exercise gives a stress-reducing boost.
• Limit media that triggers anxiety: TV shows involving drama and action are popular, but these shows can create anxiety that exacerbates distressing thoughts and feelings.
• Ask for support from family and friends: With this in mind, having emotional support from loved ones who you trust can help you feel less stressed.
• Talk to a mental health professional: It is important to address anxiety, depression, or other mental health disorders that may be contributing to emotional distress and poor sleep. Therefore, acknowledging the big stressors in your life can help you find ways to deal with them.
• Reach out to a sleep specialist: You may find that you need support from a specialist to develop a plan on how to manage anxiety dreams.

Sum It All Up

Awakening the storm: anxiety’s grip in the dream world. Subsequently, have you ever had a dream that seemed so real?

That was the dream I described in the beginning. I literally felt like I was in Hell.

I remember everything so vividly. And then I had the anxiety attack which brought me out of it. This happened about a year ago, yet I remember every detail.

To tell you the truth, my sleep hasn’t been the same since then. I have trouble falling asleep and also staying asleep.

If the schizo were to come out of me, I would say that that dream was real. But, you never know…Until next time…

Articles About Anxiety Attack in a Dream

-Anxiety Dreams: What You Need To Know

https://www.charliehealth.com/post/anxiety-dreams-what-you-need-to-know

-What is an Anxiety Dream?

https://www.talkspace.com/mental-health/conditions/articles/anxiety-dreams/#:~:text=Stressful%20dreams%20might%20be%20your,anxiety%20disorders%20and%20troubling%20dreams.

-Stress dreams: What they are, causes, and how to stop them

https://www.calm.com/blog/stress-dreams

Have a Good One,

Cindee Murphy, One Voice In The Vastness Of Emotions

“Mantra for Anxiety: This is not you. This is something moving through you. It can leave out of the same door it came in.” – James Clear

“I don’t think people understand how stressful it is to explain what’s going on in your head when you don’t even understand it yourself.” – Unknown

“Stress is self-created, I decided to stop manufacturing it. We can choose an internal calm and joy even amid the chaos.” – Brendon Burchard

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