What It Really Means When You Dream About The Same Person Over And Over Again
Dreams are a fascinating phenomenon. They can be filled with people, places, and circumstances we recognize, or they can be an interesting amalgamation of things we're unfamiliar with. Although most people tend to forget their dreams upon waking, others try to decipher what these subconscious messages mean and whether their dreams reveal something significant about their health. If you're curious about your dreams, it can be beneficial to learn more about the subject to help you determine what's going on inside your brain while you sleep.
Dr. Carder Stout, a psychotherapist, often encourages his patients to look inward to gain perspective on their dreams. As Dr. Stout explained to Goop, "There is a shared understanding among therapists in my field that dreams are compensatory, meaning that they are not arbitrary and meaningless but have a distinct intention and purpose, which is to bring material from the unconscious into consciousness."
Bringing this material into your consciousness is beneficial for a number of reasons. It allows you to understand yourself better and helps you pinpoint your anxieties, fears, suspicions, hopes, and desires. This is especially true if you dream about the same person over and over again. It doesn't necessarily have to be a romantic dream — if you find yourself repeatedly dreaming about a friend, family member, or coworker, this subliminal message may be pointing you toward significant personal insight.
Dreaming about the same person over and over may indicate unresolved conflict
If you've been wondering what it really means when you dream about someone, especially if they are recurring dreams, several possible explanations exist. According to Country Living, you may be dreaming of someone because there's unresolved conflict in either your personal or professional life.
Dreaming about a coworker doesn't necessarily mean you're infatuated with this individual or even that there's tension between you. These dreams may be your subconscious' way of reflecting certain anxieties you're currently experiencing in the workplace.
As Dr. John Mayer told Elite Daily that dreams about your boss or coworker can indicate an unresolved work situation. This is because these figures essentially represent the demands and stresses of the workplace, which are often difficult to separate from even when you're home for the evening. Maybe there's a project you're struggling with, or a coworker who is making you uncomfortable. Either way, it's important to resolve the issue when you're back at work to relieve yourself of these recurring dreams and daytime stressors.
The same is true for unresolved tensions in your personal life. Have you gotten into a fight with a friend recently? Or perhaps you're struggling to communicate with your mother? These people may be in your dreams as an indication of how you're subconsciously feeling about these situations. Try speaking with the individual who keeps showing up in your dreams and work together to find a solution to whichever tussle you have.
The people in your dreams can serve as representations of your own personality
The things we dream about aren't always straightforward — the brain tends to play tricks on itself when we're asleep. If keep dreaming about the same person, it may not be a reflection of your feelings toward them.
According to Lauri Loewenberg, a professional dream analyst, the people in your dreams can be an unconscious representation of your personality. "The thing to remember about dreams is that everything and everyone in your dream represents some part of you or something that directly affects you," Loewenberg told Bustle. She described a time when she had a recurring dream about a 3rd grade classmate and recalled how shy this person was. Loewenberg believes she was dreaming of this classmate because there were matters in her life that she was remaining silent on, and her subconscious was trying to tell her to speak up.
Psych News Daily agreed saying you could be dreaming about your former partner because he or she was extremely confident, and you're unconsciously wishing you could mirror this assurance.
The trick to understanding what these dreams is to examine what you think of the person you keep imagining. What do you envy about them? What do you like or dislike about them? How do they make you feel? Once you take a closer look this, you'll be able to understand yourself and what your dreams are trying to tell you.