Sunday, September 14, 2003		Dream Theme

Dreaming of being abused
Vinaya K. Manhas

MOUTHING bad words and insulting someone in your dreams is somewhat unusual dream. It means the same thing as hitting out at someone, or wishing the person harm.

As per Indian thought, if you dream of someone insulting you, it is not a very good omen. It means that you shall be involved in some sort of quarrel with a person who is closely related with you. Your relationship with that person could turn sour to the point of enmity. Should you be involved in some business then you could face losses. There are even chances of you getting looted. You are advised to be very careful after such a dream. If, on the contrary, you are cursing someone else and saying bad words to that other person then too the dream is not a good omen. It spells ill luck.

As per western thought, a dream in which you are cursing or abusing a person means that you will be unfortunate in your affairs and suffer financial losses. If someone else abuses you, it means that you shall suffer at the hands of your enemies, as they will have the upper hand. For a woman to dream that she is being abused foretells that she shall the victim of someone else’s envy and jealousy. Should she dream that she is abusing another person, it means that her bad conduct will bring mortification and remorse for her. She shall lose respect and friendships.

Psychoanalytically speaking, abusing in dreams is a sort of catharsis for feelings that are otherwise suppressed by society. You could be angry with the other person for some wrong you feel the person has done, but because of social restrictions you may not have been able to express your anger. To see yourself being abused could carry two interpretations. It could either mean that you are feeling victimised by the other person or it could denote your sense of guilt for a wrong that you have done to the other person.

A 21-year-old man would often dream that three or four girls were abusing him and he, in turn, was also abusing them. He could, however, could not understand the reason for this dream and nor was he ever able to recognise any of the girls. He did not interact much with girls so he could not understand his aggression towards them in his dreams. The reason for the aggression lay in the fact that he was not able to communicate with girls. This lack of interaction was creating a sense of frustration in the man and this frustration was finding an outlet in the dream. On one hand, he felt that the girls were at fault for ignoring him and thus he saw himself abusing them. On the other hand, he accepted the fact that he, too, might be at fault and thus he saw the girls abusing him.