Dreams that protect myself - a coping mechanism?

[Joe.]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this so if it needs to be moved please do so. When I was a child I was bullied a lot at school. It upset me a lot. I started having nightmares about the bullying but a boy would come and stick up for me then take me away. I never knew who he was and I didn't recognise him, but I knew he was my saviour.  He would visit my dreams when the bullying was at its worst and it always made me feel better, but sad when I woke up because I still had to face the bullies.

Recently, things have been hard for me again and I haven't been coping all that well. I've been having nightmares about everything that's worrying me and the boy has came back in my dreams. I still don't recognise him but he helps me a great deal in my dreams again.  This has got me thinking. What if the boy in my dreams is me? What if he is the person I buried for so long in my subconscious and the only way for him to come out and help me was in my dreams? He only appears in my dreams when I'm going through a hard time but he always defends me and then takes me away from the pain. What if it was me all along? When I was a child and bullied, the boy in the dream was a child and now I'm an adult the boy in my dream is an adult. I'm wondering if this is a coping mechanism that my mind started when I was very young. This is something that has been on my mind and I'm curious to see what others think.

[Shaina]

Hi Joe

Sorry to hear you're going through a rough patch ::hugs::

It sounds like you may have answered your own question with your theory that the dream boy may represent you and appears as a coping mechanism. I would agree with you! However, since you asked for opinions, here's another possible interpretation. Could the boy as a savior represent the interventions you wish happened in real life? That is, is the boy-now man-indicative of your desire for others to help with your problems? Kind of like a cry for help?

Who knows-maybe it's both. Maybe you're motivating yourself to get through a difficult time though you'd also welcome the help of others. I'm sorry I wasn't more help-I didn't pay enough attention in Psych I'm afraid.

Good Luck with everything!

[Sephirah]

Honestly, my first instinct is to say that this person in your dreams is an aspect of yourself manifesting itself in your dreams, rather than an identity as such. Maybe your determination, your strength, your will.

It may well be a coping mechanism, however I suspect it may also be a part of you asserting itself through your dreams. The part of you which refuses to quit. In our dreams, we are susceptible to every part of ourselves. And for every negative thing you feel about yourself, there is also a positive aspect to yourself. I wonder if the traits this person represents are not those you want for yourself. The way you feel you would be were you able to fully express yourself.