New twist on an old nightmare

[Stormy Kromer]

I dreamed I was in trouble for no reason back in High School when my old High School Principal came up to me and started riding me for no reason at all.

I had enough and told him "I'm going to buy this place and Fire You!" I was 50 years old in this dream and could have....

 

[ERD50]

"How could I be so careless? I knew I must have registered for class but just blew it off all semester. Now I have a final tomorrow."

I think this comes from the unique experience of the new responsibility of college intersecting with becoming an adult and being on your own. ...

I can't decide if it is comforting or creepy that these seem to be common in this group.

I mentioned this to DW, she shuddered as she has had these same dreams (as we have discussed between us). She also said she thinks it has something to do with us being responsible.

For me, not being able to find the classroom, not remembering if I did any of the assignments, what were we supposed to read? Having no idea what my grade was up to the final, if I turned in any work at all, all very disturbing and unsettling.

Haven't had one in a while, hope this doesn't trigger it!

...

Although I had work nightmares for about a year after retiring they are now gone, gone for good, goodbye. [emoji3]

My work 'nightmares' were strange (also have not had these in a long time) - I'd be back at work, with interesting assignments, an understanding boss, and everything is going well, just enough pressure to keep you on your toes, no real stress. And very detailed, but not the place I worked. But the whole time, I'm just saying "but I retired, I don't want/need to be here, I have things to do at home (which might be nothing!)".

Weirdly unsettling.

-ERD50

 

[NW-Bound]

Since graduating from college 40ish years ago, I've had a recurring nightmare where I can't remember my class schedule.
Derivatives have been:
1) I can't find the class room
2) forgot I was taking the class and its now finals week... see #1 above
Well last night I had a new twist.
I dreampt I couldn't remember which class I was supposed to be in, what time, or where it was... similar theme.
The twist was the person next to me said: "that's ok. you have dementia".

We are about the same age, and I have had the same recurring nightmares.

Recently, I had one about work where I was not going to be paid for several weeks of work.

At megacorp, we had to log onto a labor tracking system at the end of each day to report the time expended on each project that we worked on.

And in my dream, I worked so hard but forgot to report my work for weeks. No pay for me! I woke up sweating.

PS. In real life, if an employee did not report his time, the system alerted his manager. It could be because the employee was missing due to sickness, on travel, or on vacation, in which case the manager would do it for the employee. If the employee forgot, he got a call from his manager.

 

[Teacher Terry]

"How could I be so careless? I knew I must have registered for class but just blew it off all semester. Now I have a final tomorrow."

I think this comes from the unique experience of the new responsibility of college intersecting with becoming an adult and being on your own. It is a time of growth and discovery of real responsibility, and the immature brain is still working things out. This uniquely common dream is a result.

Joe, this might be why I don’t have these dreams because I didn’t start college until I was 31).

 

[JoeWras]

"How could I be so careless? I knew I must have registered for class but just blew it off all semester. Now I have a final tomorrow."

I think this comes from the unique experience of the new responsibility of college intersecting with becoming an adult and being on your own. It is a time of growth and discovery of real responsibility, and the immature brain is still working things out. This uniquely common dream is a result.

Joe, this might be why I don’t have these dreams because I didn’t start college until I was 31).

Ah ha! Maybe I should get a second career in sociology/psychology?

That's a good data point. You've gone through the whole thing about buying your own insurance, paying rent, having a car payment, etc. You've lived as an adult with huge responsibilities. Class schedules are trivial by comparison.

A college kid doesn't yet have those things because they are either automatic, or mom and dad help. The college kid DOES have their class load to manage. It is beaten into them that it is important. Registration is a huge deal although less so today since it is online. For most of us, we had this manual process and usually a re-work day in a huge hall where registration conflicts, problems and changes were made. It was really obvious to us that this was big, possibly life impacting. It may mean a change in major is coming, or the amount of classes may impact one's ability to perform.

So, we share these crazy dreams as the anxiety of life changing decisions gets into our bones at a crucial time in adult development.

I'm going to guess here: someone who became a parent early yet went through college at a typical time (18 to 25) probably doesn't have this nightmare. The responsibly of child rearing erases other worries.

 

[MrEd]

Any Psychoanalysts here?

it is interesting that these types of dreams are so common

I have had the exact same dream for over 40 years as well.

Someone here must have had psychoanalytic training to explain to us why this occurs.

Meanwhile, my final is in two weeks and I need to locate that room!

 

[Markola]

I cannot tell y’all how relieved I am to read this thread! All of my adult life, the same dream tortures me on occasion:

It’s my high school. I can’t find the classroom. I find the classroom and it’s a math class. There’s a test that determines whether I pass the class. If I don’t pass, I don’t graduate. If I don’t graduate, I don’t go to college, stay in my small town and work at the pulp mill. I haven’t studied for the test. I have no pencil.

I get so panicked that it wakes me up, at which point I laugh, smile and tell myself, “No matter what happens, no one can EVER make me take a useless, boring math class ever again!”

I thought I was the only one.

Maybe these are stress related dreams. One’s subconscious fears something, like dementia, and this is the well-worn path it takes in response.

 

[JoeWras]

It is amazingly consistent. We've discussed this with many friends our age who went to college and I'd say 50% had a variation of the dream.

As for dementia: I have a story.

My dad was experiencing early dementia. He liked to watch the town meetings on cable TV. One day he woke up and started yelling at me that I was so irresponsible to allow him to become the mayor!

Somehow, he was completely convinced he was the mayor, and he had all these responsibilities now.

It is a similar theme. Responsibilities.

Dad and I had a calm morning talk and he came down from the ledge. Some of his dreams were very real to him, and he was starting to mix up reality and dream world.

 

[COcheesehead]

After reading this thread I tried remembering if I had any anxiety based dreams and since I retired, I really can’t think of any. Maybe that’s the biggest sign that I am either completely at peace or my mind is shutting down.

 

[folivier]

Gotta laugh at some of these. For me I take Singulair for allergies, which works surprisingly well. One side affect are vivid dreams. Very vivid almost like reality. Some are like the above where I'm in a distressing situation and will kinda wake up and remind myself it's just a dream. Sometimes I'm able to re-direct the dream to where it's more positive. Other times it's almost a nightmare and I'll wake up and realize it's just a dream and usually able to re-direct it.

 

[CaptTom]

I had those getting lost in school dreams since sixth grade. They faded over time and I haven't had one in probably decades. But I'd wake up in a cold sweat!

I've had some w*rk dreams, but they were more like just me and my colleagues doing something, not usually stressful situations. Seven years into retirement, those are fading, too.

 

[DaveInMi]

My dream is that I receive a call from my Alma Mater stating that I did not graduate due to missing a class I forgot about.

 

[Andre1969]

I've had that same basic template of a dream, although mine tend to either put me back in my old days of waiting tables, or delivering pizzas. And sometimes it's scary how detailed those dreams could be...right down to the tricep-builder, failed power steering pump in my '68 Dart!

In both of these dreams, anything that can go wrong, usually does. With the waiting tables one, it always feels like I'm in slow motion. Orders come out wrong. Tables and customers keep disappearing. The layout of the restaurant changes. With the pizza delivery one, the layout of the neighborhood keeps changing randomly. And again, it seems like slow motion. And even though I cycled through a variety of cars when I delivered pizzas, without fail, in that dream it's always the '68 Dart, and with the bad power steering pump.

Oddly, in both of those dreams, the customers never complain.

And, now that I think about it, every once in awhile, I do have a dream that I'm back in either high school or college. Can't find the class. Or, decide to blow off the class. Or, in college, I stopped going to the class, but forgot to officially drop it. For some reason though, the back in school dreams usually don't seem as frustrating.

Have you ever had a dream, where something is off about it, and makes you aware that you're in a dream, but you still can't wake up from it? I had one dream where I was at work, my current job. At one point I was sitting at the secretary's desk, which was out in an open lobby area. In real life, it was in a lobby outside her boss's office, but still behind a glass wall/doors, but that wasn't what tipped me off. Someone walked by and said "Maggie's not going to like that." That tipped me off that it was a dream, because Maggie had retired years ago. But still, I couldn't wake up from the dream, or shake it off.

 

[Badger]

I have only had a few dreams about college years ago and only one that I still remember. I was late for my second semester Organic Chemistry final. I ran to class with only a short time left to complete the exam and nothing on the exam looked familiar. I was in a panic because I needed it for graduation and to go to grad school. Then I woke up in a sweat. Fortunately it never repeated.

Cheers!

 

[JoeWras]

I have only had a few dreams about college years ago and only one that I still remember. I was late for my second semester Organic Chemistry final. I ran to class with only a short time left to complete the exam and nothing on the exam looked familiar. I was in a panic because I needed it for graduation and to go to grad school. Then I woke up in a sweat. Fortunately it never repeated.

Cheers!

Only once, but you had THE dream. It varies a bit for everyone.

 

[Qs Laptop]

My work 'nightmares' were strange (also have not had these in a long time) - I'd be back at work, with interesting assignments, an understanding boss, and everything is going well, just enough pressure to keep you on your toes, no real stress. And very detailed, but not the place I worked. But the whole time, I'm just saying "but I retired, I don't want/need to be here, I have things to do at home (which might be nothing!)".

Weirdly unsettling.

-ERD50

I've had some w*rk dreams, but they were more like just me and my colleagues doing something, not usually stressful situations.

I've had a recurring work dream, from my previous job I had in the 80's, for the past 30 years or so. They would happen almost weekly at first and even now, 33 years later I still have one about once a month. I left this job in 1990 to start my own business, which I still own and run. Over the years the dream has evolved and changed. At first the dreams were disconcerting but now I quite enjoy them.

I worked in semiconductor research, mostly in a clean room fabricating wafers for specialized applications but also in a laboratory testing the finished devices. Yes, I wore the white "bunny suit" and did a lot of photolithgraphy work. When the dreams first started they were similar to the school dreams we've been discussing. I would misplace my notebook, or couldn't find the proper laboratory I was supposed to be working in. But then they began to change...

I'm in meetings and workflow is discussed but I'm not a part of the discussions. Pretty soon I'm asking my boss for assignments but I'm put off and told to ask a couple of scientists if they need help. "Maybe there will be something for you next week."

Then the dreams morphed into me walking around the building hallways, going into labs, greeting my coworkers, suiting up and going into the clean room and asking what they were working on, etc. Looking through microscopes, making comments, kind of wondering what I was doing there.

Years later the dreams change. I'm somewhat aware I may no longer work there. In my dreams I'm kind of wondering why I'm there. I walk around the hallways, go into labs, talk to coworkers, etc.

Then comes a decisive turning point in the dreams. I'm in my department head's office for my performance review. I wish I could remember how my review went but I can't. However, I had a distinct conversation with my boss, which I remember vividly.

Me: "Why are we having this review. I don't work here anymore. I haven't worked here for years, decades, at least."

Boss: "Well, that's not true. I see you here every day."

Me: "No one gives me any projects. I haven't drawn a paycheck here for decades. I haven't lifted a finger to do a thing here. I'm not on payroll. Log into personnel records and see for yourself."

[Boss logs into the payroll records and is shocked to see I'm not in there.]

Ever since then the dreams grew less frequent, like from twice a month to once a month, maybe 10 times a year. Now the dreams feature the building being much larger, it has been added on to, it's huge now, and I'm still walking around, doing nothing, but now I'm kind of lost and only when I get into the old section of the building from the 1980's, that I'm familiar with, do I feel comfortable.

OK, armchair psychoanalysts, let's hear your diagnosis. I've been pondering what this means for 30 years.

 

[Spock]

My dream is that I receive a call from my Alma Mater stating that I did not graduate due to missing a class I forgot about.

That was one of my original scenarios. I'm out of school and working, but find out I forgot to take a required course, so my degree is invalid. BUT it just so happens that if I take the final exam and pass it I can keep my job. Which then morphs into the above can't find the class room, can't find my shoes, can't find a pencil.


I know some of this is from final exams being combined into large groups (multiple sections and even different courses proctored in the same room). So the final exam would be in a different building, room, and time than the regular class. This was in the late 80's, so there wasn't any webpage listing where your final was and you couldn't trust word of mouth.

 

[JoeWras]

I know some of this is from final exams being combined into large groups (multiple sections and even different courses proctored in the same room). So the final exam would be in a different building, room, and time than the regular class. This was in the late 80's, so there wasn't any webpage listing where your final was and you couldn't trust word of mouth.

This gets me thinking... Do students today go through this?

I really think our dreams about forgetting classes or finding out at the last minute you signed up for one were a product of the times. Or the one you have about sections combining for finals which always gave me huge anxiety.

You registered, got a notification, and that was it. If you changed on the fly, you didn't get an email (didn't exist) or even snail mail about your change of class, section etc. You had to pay attention to know where finals were.

For registration, you could always go to the admin office and have them print one, but who has time when you are drinking beer? Same with going to your prof's office and looking at the finals location list on the door.

I'm going to guess that the bi-directional feedback students get from registration lessen this dream a bit. They also have apps that list everything. But I could be wrong, maybe they get The Dream too.

Aside: I once went to a final and the Professor and TAs did not show up. At 15 minutes, we were all panicking. Prof jumped in at 20 minutes and explained that someone stole the copies of the final exams. He printed on-the-fly questions in the blackboard instead, which changed everything! He also said we'd have an option to retake them if we wanted after he printed grades, which he did quickly. He posted them on his door. There was also a note about retaking, and a notice that the painters put a drop cloth over the box of exams and they were never stolen. What a fiasco! I think that contributed to my anxiety over finals. (BTW: I got an "A" on this econ final and did not re-take it, heck no!)

 

[Qs Laptop]

This gets me thinking... Do students today go through this?

I'm going to guess that the bi-directional feedback students get from registration lessen this dream a bit. They also have apps that list everything.

I think this is a solid theory.

 

[Spock]

One thing I've noticed is that the school/work dreams are usually remembered after waking up. The content/subject of "other dreams" seems to evaporate faster and faster... I can remember having a dream but not the contents. This can be frustrating when I can vaguely remember "this is a great idea! remember this when you wake up" and then poof it's gone. The more I try to puzzle together what it was about the faster it evaporates... like chasing fog.

When I would visit my Dad (diagnosed with dementia) he would be sleeping soundly in his chair (difficult to wake him up, couldn't tell if he was still alive, but that's a different thread). Some times he would be talking in his sleep. But upon waking up (groggily) he'd claim he wasn't dreaming and doesn't dream at all. Since he can't remember a lot of things he claims they never happened. "It didn't happen! I would have remembered something like that!". I've begun to wonder if the accelerating evaporation of dream content is a symptom of dementia.

 

[pacergal]

When I do remember any dreams/nightmares, they are usually this type with it being either high school or college classes.
It actually did happen to me in high school. My 12 th grade LA teacher was the very old thinker and we had vocabulary lists and tests every week, hand out the list Monday, test on Friday and they were not easy words! One week, I totally forgot, never once looked at the list. Walk in Friday, everyone had their paper and pencils out. Quick glance at my list to review and took the test. Passed it but Ugh, talk about anxiety. The tests were 1/4 of our grade.

 

[braumeister]

Sometimes the nightmare spills over into real life.

A good friend in college was called into the dean's office two weeks before graduation and told he was one credit short.

No workaround would be accepted; his only option was to come back in the fall and do another semester, taking the minimum number of credits, not just one.

He told the dean what he could do with his extra semester and had a great life without the degree.

 

[JoeWras]

One week, I totally forgot, never once looked at the list. Walk in Friday, everyone had their paper and pencils out. Quick glance at my list to review and took the test. Passed it but Ugh, talk about anxiety. The tests were 1/4 of our grade.

Oh no, it really happened!

What perplexes me is although I had the dream where I forgot about the class, or the test, I had a really puzzling version.

It went like this:
- I signed up for class and knew about it
- I blew it off all semester - INTENTIONALLY
- I show up at the final and have no idea what is going on

I was a good kid and a good student. I somehow think this dream was the "bad Joe" coming out in me. We all have a little Mr. Hyde in ourselves, whether we want to admit it or not. I think this skipping classes was part of it for me.

 

[Koolau]

Since graduating from college 40ish years ago, I've had a recurring nightmare where I can't remember my class schedule.
Derivatives have been:
1) I can't find the class room
2) forgot I was taking the class and its now finals week... see #1 above
Well last night I had a new twist.
I dreampt I couldn't remember which class I was supposed to be in, what time, or where it was... similar theme.
The twist was the person next to me said: "that's ok. you have dementia".

Oh, yes! 54 years later - I have THESE dreams way more than dreams about old Megacorp. Probably at least once a year my whole college c*areer is in jeopardy in my dreams. AND if I flunked out of College - I would have been drafted and sent to SE Asia. Not the nightmare of a monster chasing me, but pretty close!


Never understood why I rarely had a "bad dream" about Megacorp. Probably because I LIVED all those "bad dreams" in real time and space!

 

[Koolau]

Mine was some version of I skipped class and didn't hear about the exam, and was now trying to dream up an excuse to the Prof for why I didn't show up for the exam. Usually in that same dream I also am entirely unprepared for the exam which I will now have to take on the spot. This may or may not have actually occurred at some point in my academic career ;-)

My real-life version of this (not a dream): Some how I missed the fact that we were having a "last section" test before the FINAL. SO I had been studying for the final but not the last test. Two days before the test, my lab buddy reminded me somehow. I panicked and ended up with the world's worst headache during the last test. I barely passed that course. I was a basket case and in deep depression that last semester. I had secured a j*b at Megacorp, but had to pass that course. By the skin of my teeth!


Perhaps that's why I still have dreams of my college c*reer. It was more traumatic than much of Megacorp. Oddly, my Masters program, 15 years later I got a perfect 4.0 GPA.