To feel hugely distressed by this?

[dreamer24]

Last night I dreamt that my partner died suddenly, and then visited me as a ghost a few days later to say he was sorry he left me and I just clung to him while I sobbed saying I can't do it without you, etc. Then I woke up and it felt so real, I had to check my phone for messages for him (he was at work) and just to reassure myself it wasn't real. I can't get it out of my head and I feel quite distressed. He's had a few health problems recently requiring hospital treatment but he's much better now, and he's only 40 so it's not as if he's close to end of life? It's just playing on my mind so much, I feel quite distressed this morning. Is this normal?

Sorry I meant to add that I'm worried this dream was some form of premonition? That's what has escalated my anxiety. I'm now scared something is actually going to happen to him.

Do I need help? 😢

No, it's your fears playing out in a dream.

Sometimes dream can be really distressing. You need to spend some time processing your response to it. Your subconscious concerns are legitimate.

Dreams are not a premonition. Your brain is subconsciously dealing with your fears that you are too busy or too worried to consciously think about.

Clearly you are scared of him dying, but i have heard that you are everything in your dream. So what are your thoughts about your own mortality?

Just your anxious mind in overdrive while you sleep.

Dreams can linger a while once you wake, just try and acknowledge to yourself that it wasn't real and then try distract yourself and carry on with your day. You'll shake it soon.

I've had very upsetting dreams in the past @dreamer24 , and when I woke up (and checked that everything was ok) I still felt unsettled for hours. I now call it 'dream residue'!

I don't think it was a premonition, just a bad dream.

I know the feeling. I had a dream that my brother had died and I couldn't settle at all until I'd heard from him.

Then this horrible feeling hung over me for the rest of the day.

It's horrid when you wake up from a dream that feels so real and stays with you.

I've had all sorts of dreams over the years where people have died. They never have. It's unsettling, but it's just a dream.

It’s not a premonition but sometimes dreams can feel so real. The worst one I ever had was that DH and my Mum weren’t letting me see my children in the dream, it turned out they were hiding from me that we’d died and the children were alive, and I remember the feeling of utter devastation that I couldn’t get back to my kids and had no way of knowing if they were okay! Actually tearing up writing this, I remember it so vividly. I went downstairs sobbing to DH hysterically after I woke up! Some dreams just FEEL so real.

Your brain is just processig all of your thoughts and fears. Of course it isn't a premonition.

After my mum died for years after I would often have vivid dreams where she would call or write and tell me she wasn't really dead, but was somehow living somewhere we couldn't reach her.

A couple of weeks ago my kids were at their dads, I had the most awful nightmare about my youngest being hit by a car. I woke up in a huge panic (especially since they weren’t home) and immediately text their dad asking if they were all ok. Very soon after I came down with an illness, I always have rotten dreams when ill so probably related. But they leave you shaken all day, I hope you can take some time to breathe and remind you that it’s just your mind playing out worst case scenarios.

I've had dreams that people I know have died but are still walking around and doing the stuff they usually do. It is quite disturbing and hard to shake off. The subconscious mind is a very strange machine sometimes

It’s normal to be upset by a nightmare about the death of your partner. It isn’t a premonition. There is no such thing as premonitions in dreams.

You love your partner (and you mention he’s been unwell recently) so of course you’re scared of losing him. Your dream is just that subconscious fear playing out in your mind, not a premonition.

Im a very, very vivid dreamer and almost all my dreams are anxiety/fear type dreams. It is horrible, and I sympathise, but I promise you it isn’t any kind of prediction.

You’ve probably had to bury those thoughts while he was ill to try and stay strong, but now he’s better, you’ve relaxed so those fears are coming out. It’s a mixture of relief and post - trauma reaction.