Ever had the same dream over and over night after night? If so, you have had what is called a recurring dream. They usually occur because of an intense fear or stress taking place in a person’s life. Do you have a big event planned such as a wedding? You may be experiencing cold feet in the manifestation of a recurring dream. Are you an athlete and have a big game coming up? Maybe you are feeling all the pressure is on you and you are afraid of failing. Are you taking a test and failing it every time? Perhaps you are afraid of failing at something significant in your real life. This might also manifest itself in the form of a recurring dream.

Another reason a recurring dream may happen is that you have an irrational fear that has been on your mind lately. Or maybe a not so irrational fear, as the case may be. For example, is it storm season and are you under tornado threats often? You may experience dreams about tornadoes. Perhaps you have a fear of tornadoes and this subject has come up a lot in conversations recently. This may also lead you to have recurring dreams about tornadoes. Remember, tornado dreams are just an example. Your recurring dream could be about anything that you are subconsciously afraid of. This type of recurring dream may not even occur on consecutive nights as other stressors may induce.

Lastly, if you have experienced some sort of psychological trauma you could have recurring nightmares about it. This could be something that happened to you as far back as childhood or something closer to the present. It may be something so painful that your mind tries to repress it. The only problem is that it keeps coming up in your dreams anyway. Therefore, the only way to stop the dreams is to deal with whatever has happened to you in reality instead of in a dream state. However painful it may be, you need to identify what it is that you are suppressing and face it head on. You may need outside help for this and it is alright to visit a counselor or therapist.

In fact, the only way to stop any of the types of recurring dreams from occurring is to find out what is causing your inner anxiety or stress. After you have identified the source, you can begin to work on the problem. See if you can reduce the amount of stress you are under. If it is a fear, see if you can end the fear or lessen the fear by eliminating causes of the fear or finding out how likely your fear is to happen. If you are afraid of tornadoes, find out all you can about them and when they occur. If you are an athlete, reassure yourself that you are ready, that you have practiced enough. If you are getting married, it might be helpful to speak to your fiancé or someone else about what you are experiencing. You may find that you are simply nervous and this is to be expected. In any case, once you have dealt with the causes in reality you should begin to see your recurring dreams either cease altogether or to become less frequent.

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