Strange dream?

[scourge]

I remember a dream i had the other night where i even went past death, Afterwards my family could still hear me but not see me. As a spirit i roamed alone until another person that was closer to the family died as well. But i don't believe he was as inside of the direct family as i was just a cousin or known friend. We could then see each other again and roamed together. I was not so panicked after i had died but i do not remember moment of death so well. I believe i had an increased heart rate for sure. I could give more details if necessary. I was told that if you actually DIE in a dream you die in your sleep due to heart attack or something like that.

[CaptainPanic]

I was told that if you actually DIE in a dream you die in your sleep due to heart attack or something like that.

The obvious problem with this statement is that there is no direct evidence. The dead can't talk.

 

So, I guess it is important to know who told you this story? Where did this person hear it?

If anyone heard it from a dead person, then there might be some truth in it.

[scourge]

The obvious problem with this statement is that there is no direct evidence. The dead can't talk.

 

So, I guess it is important to know who told you this story? Where did this person hear it?

If anyone heard it from a dead person, then there might be some truth in it.

 

Perhaps so. But you do not always need an eye-witness account for it to be completely reliable. I guess ill look up on it and see what i find.

[Suxamethonium]

I think the saying probably just came about because most people wake up before they die in a dream?? Just like people will tell you that running in the rain naked or walking around with soaking wet clothes will give you a cold...

 

Unless you were to be (somehow) monitoring someone's dreams at their time of death, it would be pretty hard to find conclusive evidence of actually dieing because you dreamt it.

 

Also if we were to assume that one DOES die if they die in their dreams and that they have never yet died, then logically speaking they cannot know whether they died in their dream or not (as they have never experienced dieing before) unless they were to actually die or wake up. Basically I'm simply stating that you don't actually know if you were dead or not in your dream- you are just assuming you were because it best matched up with what you identify death as.

[Joatmon]

I remember a dream i had the other night where i even went past death, Afterwards my family could still hear me but not see me. As a spirit i roamed alone until another person that was closer to the family died as well. But i don't believe he was as inside of the direct family as i was just a cousin or known friend. We could then see each other again and roamed together. I was not so panicked after i had died but i do not remember moment of death so well. I believe i had an increased heart rate for sure. I could give more details if necessary. I was told that if you actually DIE in a dream you die in your sleep due to heart attack or something like that.

 

Two things - first you went past death which surely means that in your dream you died, but you are still alive!

Secondly, yes if you actually DIE when dreaming you will be asleep at the time. Much the same as if you actually DIE when awake you won't be asleep!

Edited April 18, 2012 by Joatmon

[MonDie]

The saying might be related to the old myth about that gremlin-like thing that stands on your chest while you're paralyzed in your bed. It was their interpretation of their sleep-paralysis. They thought it could actually kill you if you didn't come out of it soon enough.

 

EDIT: "might be related" as in "I see similarity between these ideas. Maybe someone should look for a connection."

Edited April 19, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die

[DrmDoc]

I remember a dream i had the other night where i even went past death, Afterwards my family could still hear me but not see me. As a spirit i roamed alone until another person that was closer to the family died as well. But i don't believe he was as inside of the direct family as i was just a cousin or known friend. We could then see each other again and roamed together. I was not so panicked after i had died but i do not remember moment of death so well. I believe i had an increased heart rate for sure. I could give more details if necessary. I was told that if you actually DIE in a dream you die in your sleep due to heart attack or something like that.

Dreams seldom reflect or suggest their literal experiences or depictions because they are not experiences or depictions in literal or physical reality. Dreams are first and foremost mental experiences, which suggests that they more readily describe mental phenomena. Therefore, dreams of death and dying may interpret or relate to some mental or psychological experience rather than the literal nature of the experience. For example, dreams about death and dying might suggests the dreamer's thoughts regarding a state of deep depression, ineffectiveness, and withdrawal from the viberant experience of life.These regard a state of mind resulting in a kind of mental death or ineffectiveness. I hope this helps.

[MonDie]

Dreams seldom reflect or suggest their literal experiences or depictions because they are not experiences or depictions in literal or physical reality. Dreams are first and foremost mental experiences, which suggests that they more readily describe mental phenomena. Therefore, dreams of death and dying may interpret or relate to some mental or psychological experience rather than the literal nature of the experience. For example, dreams about death and dying might suggests the dreamer's thoughts regarding a state of deep depression, ineffectiveness, and withdrawal from the viberant experience of life.These regard a state of mind resulting in a kind of mental death or ineffectiveness. I hope this helps.

I don't go for popular dream symbols anymore, but I have noticed that my dreams often incorporate the emotion of a recent situation together with new situations; the new situations are either situations that occurred in the near or distant past, or situations that might happen in the near future. However, the matching of an emotion with situation(s) can be absurd, and different situations are often combined together.

Edited April 19, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die

[DrmDoc]

I don't go for popular dream symbols anymore, but I have noticed that my dreams often incorporate the emotion of a recent situation together with new situations; the new situations are either situations that occurred in the near or distant past, or situations that might happen in the near future. However, the matching of an emotion with situation(s) can be absurd, and different situations are often combined together.

Emotions are also mental phenomena; however, it is a mistake to perceive the imagery of dreams as "symbols" because they are not. The imagery in our dream are essentially how our waking-state brain interpret something it believes it experienced amid sleep. Dreaming is a product of activation in the brain arising from the brainstem activation and deactivations at the onset of atonia, which is the suspension of muscle elasticity and gross locomtion. The residual effects of those activations in the brain amid atonic sleep is what our waking-state brain seeks to quantify amid our arousal from sleep. Essentailly, dreams quantify or interpret our unconscious neural experiences.

Edited April 21, 2012 by DrmDoc

[Joatmon]

I had a dream last night which, for me at least, has implications that I can't explain.

I was in a house, not my own, when the door bell rang. I was aware of being alone. I went to the door and found it slightly open. I opened the door fully and a female figure stood outside wearing a long navy blue cape. The cape had a collar that was raised enough to hide her lower face and a hood pulled over the top of her face so that I could really only see her eyes. She told me she was a nurse from Social Services who had come to visit. (I never have dealings with Social Services). I said that she had better come in, which she did. She then lifted the hood and lowered the collar.Then I could see that it was my own daughter who was laughing because she had played a practical joke on me.

So what's my problem? Well, my brain must have set up this situation and so my brain must have known the identity of the hidden female figure all through the dream. How could my brain know and yet I, myself, me, if you like my real self not know? Your mental existence surely lies within, not outside of your brain. I don't understand how my brain could play a practical joke on me!

Edited May 6, 2012 by Joatmon

[MonDie]

Well, my brain must have set up this situation and so my brain must have known the identity of the hidden female figure all through the dream. How could my brain know and yet I, myself, me, if you like my real self not know? Your mental existence surely lies within, not outside of your brain. I don't understand how my brain could play a practical joke on me!

 

The brain does a lot of stuff that the conscious mind is not aware of. Do you know about the split brain studies, or the way light sensation is changed into an image by the brain?

 

Forgive my amendments to my account of this phenomenon.

Especially when I'm tired, I can hear things in my mind. Although they are clearly imaginary and seem to be related to my more conscious thoughts, I don't anticipate them. It's as if my own thoughts are routed off to some other part of my mind, and a reaction thought is routed back to "me." Both the voices and their words are often familiar (e.g. someone I know calling my name).

 

If that were my dream, the person at the door would have a revolver or a chainsaw. I've dreamed it before.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die

[DrmDoc]

I had a dream last night which, for me at least, has implications that I can't explain.

I was in a house, not my own, when the door bell rang. I was aware of being alone. I went to the door and found it slightly open. I opened the door fully and a female figure stood outside wearing a long navy blue cape. The cape had a collar that was raised enough to hide her lower face and a hood pulled over the top of her face so that I could really only see her eyes. She told me she was a nurse from Social Services who had come to visit. (I never have dealings with Social Services). I said that she had better come in, which she did. She then lifted the hood and lowered the collar.Then I could see that it was my own daughter who was laughing because she had played a practical joke on me.

So what's my problem? Well, my brain must have set up this situation and so my brain must have known the identity of the hidden female figure all through the dream. How could my brain know and yet I, myself, me, if you like my real self not know? Your mental existence surely lies within, not outside of your brain. I don't understand how my brain could play a practical joke on me!

You are construing the nature of your overall brain function with the consciousness that brain function creates. Everything within a dream, including your persona and awareness, is produced by your overall brain function and it is that function which makes the distinction as to what you know and what you may not know within dream content. The imagery in your dreams are interpretations of the unconscious mental experiences that arise from the neural activations you experienced amid sleep. Your waking-state brain interpreted those neural activations as a scenario in which you were not aware of the joke about to transpire. In the content of your dream, you are a characterization or representation of only a small part of your awareness rather than the orchestrator of your entire dream, which is the whole of your active brain function at that time; i.e., your awareness within a dream is like a torch in the dark where you only see and understand what is apparent in the light rather than what is hidden in the dark. You were not aware of the hooded girl's identity for the same reasons you were not aware you were dreaming at the time--the experience was merely a personification of your unconscious thoughts and perceptions that may have regarded the type of scenario you experience in the dream. I hope this helps.

[Joatmon]

I guess it sort of explains if I can accept that my dreaming is basically a small window on my total brain function. I still find it surprising that my overall brain function could even consider playing a practical joke on me. I'm not really worried about this - just surprised.

[MonDie]

The imagery in your dreams are interpretations of the unconscious mental experiences that arise from the neural activations you experienced amid sleep. Your waking-state brain interpreted those neural activations as a scenario in which you were not aware of the joke about to transpire.

Are those bolded segments precise expressions of your concepts?

I'm not requesting elaboration because that will probably wear down my concentration before I can gain any further insight. past experiences with other people

Edited May 8, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die

[Suxamethonium]

Could it not just be that your brain didn't decide who the person was until it decided to make the person identifiable? If that makes sense.

 

Basically, I'm changing the premise. You're looking back on this interpreting it so it makes sense- but maybe at the time you dreamed it didn't need to make sense. The person was covered, but when it came to uncovering, your brain inserted a known person rather than taking the effort to fabricate a new person. You look back on this as the stranger being your daughter the whole time, playing a practical joke. In reality it was probably just your brain not knowing who it should be and not caring until it came up, where it then substituted in your daughter because you are very familiar with what she looks like.

 

Obviously this is conjecture, but when dealing with dreams how can it not be?

[Joatmon]

Could it not just be that your brain didn't decide who the person was until it decided to make the person identifiable? If that makes sense.

 

Basically, I'm changing the premise. You're looking back on this interpreting it so it makes sense- but maybe at the time you dreamed it didn't need to make sense. The person was covered, but when it came to uncovering, your brain inserted a known person rather than taking the effort to fabricate a new person. You look back on this as the stranger being your daughter the whole time, playing a practical joke. In reality it was probably just your brain not knowing who it should be and not caring until it came up, where it then substituted in your daughter because you are very familiar with what she looks like.

 

Obviously this is conjecture, but when dealing with dreams how can it not be?

 

I tend to agree with this idea. As far as I can remember I could get no clue from the person in front of me such as height, build or voice.

I suppose I'm fortunate that the person revealed wasn't some sort of Ogre with a chainsaw!

 

 

 

[MonDie]

Response to above:

Most people don't remember the images from their dreams as much as they remember conceptions of what happened, although one can train their self to remember more of the former (images).

Edited May 8, 2012 by Mondays Assignment: Die

[DrmDoc]

Are those bolded segments precise expressions of your concepts?

I'm not requesting elaboration because that will probably wear down my concentration before I can gain any further insight. past experiences with other people

Within the context of my additional comments, yes indeed.