Do you dream about people who've died?

[trustingfrogs]

This isn't a 'woo' thread, more just a way of seeing if others dream of people they've lost?

My mum died suddenly a couple of years ago. She was on her own when it happened - cardiac arrest - but thankfully no signs she had a struggle or knew anything about it.

In the early days I'd dream about her all the time. In my dreams, she was always happy but we could never communicate. She would often give me one of her famous mum hugs though and then I'd wake up feeling sad, missing her.

Last night I had a dream that I've had several times. I dreamt that she hadn't died at all but instead had been sectioned into a secure unit and was not allowed any visitors. In my dream I was ringing round, desperately trying to find someone who'd give me access but no one would let us see her. Not a particularly nice dream and I imagine just my brain's way of continuing to process it all.

Does anyone else have dreams about someone they've lost?

All the time. About a grandparent that died over 30 years ago now.

My parents pop up in my dreams sometimes, always doing humdrum things in my dream world, just being “around” in a normal way if that makes sense. Things like being there while I’m shopping or waiting for a train or something. They’re usually together, but in real life they’d been divorced a long time. When I wake up I always feel it was nice to see them again.

Sorry for those of you who have distressing dreams about your deceased loved ones. That must be very painful. 💐

I have a few times, I always wake myself up crying but during the dream it brings me some comfort.
The night my DGD died I dreamt of him, he told me he had come to say goodbye ❤️

Yes frequently

Yes. Had a dream about a dear friend who had died more than 20 years ago. It was so lovely. We were just hanging out like we used to. I told him I missed him.

Yes for me. I have had very pleasant (but confusing dreams) with my parents. I do think of them every day though, so perhaps an occasional dream is not surprising.

Yes, lost both of my parents in my 20's and I actually have quite vivid dreams about them, mostly good and connected. The hardest one ever though, was when I woke up within the dream thinking/relieved they were alive and it was not real. Turned out, when I actually woke up in reality, it hit me like a train they were both dead and I was back in the real world. True story, still makes me cringe. Like a dream within a dream and then awake sequence.

I look forward to going to bed so I can dream about my husband. Most nights he turns up and we hang out together getting up to bizarre adventures or visiting places we've never even been too.
Some mornings I feel even more grief stricken as the dreams reinforce that he's gone forever, but then I comfort myself that the dreams felt real and the love just carries on.

Yes, once after my friend died. I couldn’t go to his funeral which I was really guilty about. I had a dream that he was standing in a doorway with a bright light shining behind him. He waved and smiled at me and he turned and walked away through the door.

One of my closest friends died suddenly a few years ago. I dream of her at least once a week. She's always still alive and we know she's going to die but are enjoying our time together and she never actually dies in the dream. It's always uplifting and I love that I get to remember her in this way so I find the dreams comforting. I think it's my brain doing its best to come to terms with the shock and sadness of losing someone close so young.

My partner died last November and during the first three months after his death I dreamed about him a few times- he was his old self, gradually becoming more confident and doing the stuff he used to before his breakdown - I also felt someone sit on my bed a few times too . But haven’t felt or dreamed anything for a few months now - i hope this means he has now moved ‘on’ and is at peace but selfishly I do wish he would come back x

I've always had very vivid dreams. My Dad died over 20 years ago now and I only very occasionally have a dream with him in, but it's like I dream of a past scene from my past and he's about 40 in my dream. We were both laughing at something my younger sister did. She was trying on hats. I've also dreamed about him in his allotment digging and I was taking him a drink and he smiled at me but did not speak. My Mum died 10 years ago and I dream of her more often. She is always younger/middle aged as she was in my childhood. She is always wearing a blue raincoat. She is often gardening. She was often gardening whilst alive. In my dreams she turns smiles and waves and I go and make her a drink but when I take it to her she's gone. I often dream about my 2 Aunties who were like second Mums to me and one arrives in her car and wants me to get in. I get in and we drive to a beach. She did this a hundred times whilst she was alive. My other Aunty I only dream about less often but sometimes she is talking to my Mum and I go over and she says it's lovely to see you but I have to go now and then leaves. The day after my Mum died of pancreatic cancer and she was so ill I was in the dining room of her home putting away a few cups and I glanced up and thought I saw her in the blue coat she had worn years before watering plants in the outside yard. I rushed through to the kitchen to look outside the door but no one was there. But I just knew it was my mum. But Mum had died the day before. I told my sister's because we had all moved back in with Mum to care for her so she didn't have to go into a hospice. They said it was because I wanted to see her so much and I must have imagined I'd seen her but I just know she was somehow there I just felt her presence before I looked up and I really didn't believe in anything woo. It left me feeling better because the last time I'd seen her she was in such pain and dying. Make of that what you will.

On occasion, but not often

That sounds a very upsetting dream @trustingfrogs

I have, about my aunt who died very suddenly and unexpectedly and quite young at about 45 I think she was. I remember being so happy to see her and then the sudden shock when I remembered she was dead. I woke up sobbing.
I've never dreamt about my grandparents or other relatives who've died, maybe they are still to come.

Yes, I’ve dreamt about my dead uncle a lot. I didn’t really like him as he was a very difficult person to be around. My dd looked after him a lot until he died from a massive stroke he had. No surprise as he smoked like a chimney and drank whiskey like it was going out of fashion. The dream I have is of him in his old house and he’s trying to tell me something but he doesn’t speak.

I never dream about my dd who passed away 6 years ago, though dm passed away last year and I have dreamt about her. Again, she does the same as my uncle, trying to tell me something but she’s got a smile on her face. My dm had the most amazing teeth, they were her own teeth and she died aged 81. Her teeth were always a nice white colour.

Yes. I dream about my sister who died suddenly many years ago. The dream is always the same theme. I see her, try to talk to her but she’s unhappy with me, thinks I abandoned her. I follow her trying to explain, that I thought she’d died. It disturbs me every time I dream about her. I usually wake crying and feel off it for a few hours after, very weird.
I dream about my dad, he had dementia but he’s fine in my dreams, sometimes he talks about getting ill but as if it’s going to happen sometime in the future. Those dreams never upset me.

I have dreamt about my mum very rarely but she died when I was a teenager and we weren’t close.

Yes. I dream about my mum. Most times it’s happy dreams but one night I did wake up crying and I had palpitations/panic attacks for two days afterwards. We couldn’t reach each other. It was awful.

I dreamed about my dad once. We went on a trip in a double decker tardis bus. It was awesome, he's been dead 17 years.
I recently dreamed about my mother, much to my annoyance, to the point where I deliberately woke myself up. She was part of a dream about being lost in a city, she was wearing a floaty summer dress and was holding her arms out for a hug. Nothing like her in real life. She's been dead for 9 years, thank fuck.

I'm tearing up reading this! Have lost my cat and mother.

It took me 3 years before O dreamt about my Dad. It's so lovely to see him in dreams, he's always younger and just so 'vital'. My sister died last December and I have already dreamt of her regularly, always in 'family' scenarios. It's really rather nice

Yes, I have dreams occasionally about my father who died in 1988 when I was 27. I find it rather comforting.

My lovely mum died in 1989, I occasionally dream about her, she is alive but dying, usually. I also dream about a cat I had who got run over and killed in 1999, hes alive but badly injured.

Yes.
My brother died suddenly two years ago from an undiagnosed heart condition, completely unexpected and tragic. He was in his mid forties and perfectly healthy.
I dream about him a couple of times a week, and it always follows the same pattern. In the dream I have pre-knowledge of what is going to happen and I am trying to warn him to get to a doctor but for some reason I either can't tell him or I can't get to him. Sometimes HE knows too but we can't do anything.
Sometimes my Dad who died 5 years ago is there too.
I always wake up feeling like a chance has been missed and hugely sad.

My wonderful grandad died suddenly while I was pregnant with DD. In between him dying and her being born I had a really vivid dream about him and in my dream I was watching him look after a baby girl. And I knew, the way you just know things in dreams, that he was looking after my daughter for me until it was time for her to be born. I’m not remotely woo, but I still found it very comforting.

Last week I had a lovely dream where my Dad and me just took a stroll around the village just chatting about everyday things. He died nearly 10 years ago. It's broken me. I can't describe the intense sadness I'm feeling. It feels like he's died all over again. But it was a lovely dream.