Stress-induced dreams.

[elwen]

Lately I've been having dreams, on average maybe once every two weeks, about not being able to remember my class schedule and wondering if I haven't been missing a certain class and not doing homework for the entire term. The setting of these dreams is usually something resembling high school or junior high, and the names of teachers are from that time, too (though I will get junior high teachers' names in my high school-based dreams and vice versa). The class I'm missing is usually either history or English, and I always have this nagging feeling that I was supposed to have had some book read, or some paper written, but I just can't remember the teacher telling us the specific requirements, because I can't remember when I last went to class, and I can't remember when or whether I was supposed to even have class.

For example, last night I dreamt of a time kind of like high school, and I was trying to figure out when I was supposed to have English AP and choir practice. And I had the very strong feeling of knowing that I had just gone through the same schedule last week, and why couldn't I remember what I did on Monday? Then reality began to slip in a little -- I thought, "oh yeah, my choir practice is on Monday evenings" -- and then the dream must have shifted.

I won't say I don't subscribe to dream interpretations, but I am more likely to believe the obvious and direct explanations than any deep psychoanalysis. So I'm guessing these dreams mean I'm stressed out about school. Go figure. And that I'm worried about not being able to keep track of everything?

Ironically, the dreams make me more stressed out, because I wake up really thinking I've forgotten to do some history assignment or whatever and I've been missing some class on my schedule. Then I remember that I'm in law school, and I don't have assignments to turn in! :o

The last time I had dreams with a recurring theme, they were about being really really frustrated and not being able to make any sounds when I tried to scream at people or tell them why they were wrong. I guess I'm just so full of negativity like that...

Comments

[bobthemole.livejournal.com]

I had the same dreams upto 1.5 years after leaving tech. I had them in semesters I didn't even have classes. The dream usually involved me forgetting to show up for a lab course every week, and then I had to do all the experiments during finals.

It's either residual tech-stress or lawschool-stress. Either way, it eventually fades. I think mine stopped after I told someone about them, so that might happen for you now.

[ctrl-a.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess it confuses me that they're all set in high school or junior high rather than Tech or law school. Especially since, in reality, high school was when I was least stressed out about forgetting assignments or classes because both were on very regular schedules.

I think it's more likely residual Tech stress. My sources of law school stress tend to deal more with interpersonal issues, either actually dealing with people or with people's perceptions of me. Which fits neatly into all those stereotypes about engineers vs. lawyers. D:

I usually write down dreams that I liked and want to remember (and always hope I can somehow induce it again by replaying it in my head)... maybe I've got the strategy backwards. >_>

[ling84.livejournal.com]

Maybe the dreams are your way of expressing and dealing with the school stress, and you're choosing to set them in high school when you had more control and a more regular schedule in order to make it more manageable?

I have that nagging "I must've forgotten something REALLY IMPORTANT" feeling when I'm *awake.* :(

[bobthemole.livejournal.com]

I'm certain mine was residual tech as well. Isn't that insane?

Someone should put up a warning on the tech admission website. "We will haunt your dreams for years to come".

[jyasu.livejournal.com]

Those dreams occupied nearly every restful night during my tenure at `Tech. They were almost always set at my middle school; I don't recall a missed-class dream ever being set at `Tech though.

Me? Stressed at `Tech? I lived for that stress...

[lirillith.livejournal.com]

I had tons of dreams like that as an undergrad (often involving classes in the middle school library - where no classes were held - and college classmates.) I've only had a few since starting grad school, though. They usually involved a very college-based situation, having a final in some class I hadn't attended all semester or forgetting when the final was. I think we go back to high school because it's such a constant setting. My college classes could be in several different buildings and take place at different times of day, but the middle school library was really distinctive-looking.