Dreams

[fgd135]

Greetings to all members. I've been off and on this site since Sept. 2008, with varying degrees of success and failure. Something occurred two nights ago and I would like to know if others have experienced this. The P I've been looking at in the last five years is much more extreme than when my habit began. I had two sexually related dreams that ranged from very disgusting to really disturbing. No real need for details but the dreams really shook me up. This was shocking to see as a fully realized dream with people I've known for nearly 40 years. I'm hoping that this has shaken me up so much that I will do a better job of staying away from the sites. Has anyone experienced this and can you give me any advice?

[gnein]

Everyone who has ever quit (or tried to quit) P has had dreams of that nature during the quitting phase. My dreams were of myself accessing P on the computer. If you're having those dreams, it's just the way your mind instinctively reacts when you're asleep, trying to somehow replace the P that you're trying to quit.

In the short term, I don't think there's anything you can do about it (although someone can correct me if they've found a way). Really, try not to beat yourself up too much about it. What you need to do is focus on the long term, and staying clean during your waking hours. If you put less P in your mind, it creates space to fill it with healthier things. Over time, if you do that, I believe the P dreams will eventually 'starve' and you'll go back to normal again. You just have to keep trying and be patient.

[maggie]

fgd... the dreams


My pa husband has these, but will not reveal the content. I only know that he trembles and wakes up disturbed.

Do they occur only when viewing p, or do they also occur when you are abstaining from it?

[gnein]

My experience is that they tend to occur when you're abstaining from it, or trying to. It seems to be your mind's way of replacing the thing that it became "attached" to that it doesn't have anymore. When I was actually viewing P, I never had the dreams, but when I was trying to abstain, that's when they became an issue.

[maggie]

Thanks gnein,

So the vivid p dreams are the result of the mind trying to replace what has been shut off. The mind is craving the input of what it is use to receiving and focusing on.

[Daniel]

Has anyone experienced this and can you give me any advice?

FGD,

As gnein said, this is part of the garbage-in-garbage-out principle: your dreams are a reflection of the active thought life.

I've had them too, pretty much as gnein described, after I was clean they appeared infrequently.

I would also agree that the mind-body conflict is the driver behind the timing of these dreams, i.e., why they appear only now and not before.

There is some good in this "shock value" you mention, as you may be seeing your previous P-viewing 'as it really is' vs. how it appeared when your brain is fogged from indulgence.

You see the horror of it and realize "Wow, I REALLY need to stay away", in other words it provides needed additional motivation to make the right call the next time you're faced with an urge.

And the dreams are a sign post that you're on the right track: moving away from the old habits instead of towards them, and the old attachments giving you a knee-jerk reaction to this new paradigm.

Hang in there, we've all been through it.

Daniel

[fgd135]

Thanks to all of the responses to my dream event. It seems as though the basic analysis is the same from all. That it's the mind trying to recapture the images that have not been inputted at the same frequency as before. The mind and brain now realizes that the habit has been destructive and has reached the end of its life. Thank you to everyone who took the time to help me in this matter. As Bob Dylan once sang, "He not busy being born, is busy dying."