Dreaming About Self Harm

[molly691]

So the other month I had a vivid dream about self harm. In was in a bathroom with quite a few other people and I went into the toilet to get changed because we were all supposed to be going somewhere.

Next thing I know, I have a blade in my hand and I'm doing deeps cuts on my wrist.

Is this normal?

[Ennui.]

I would say that you are not the only one who has ever had this happen. I have seen other posts from people on this site who have experienced something similar to what you have. Since self harm is a part of your life, in my opinion it is only natural that you would dream about it.

That being said, I'd keep your self harm tools out of your room or at least somewhere hard to get at for now, because if the dream gets triggering enough, you want to be able to avoid any urges you may have to self harm when you wake up.

It may also help to practice some sort of relaxation technique such as meditation or yoga before bed, or even just take a warm bath. Certain scents are also relaxing. At least this way you won't be going to bed as stressed out.

Oddly enough, I had a dream about self-harm about a week ago that was kind of similar. In my dream, I was changing in my room for a party, and I went to put on my dress. I hadn't worn the dress in a long time, and when I put it on, a razor blade fell out. The next thing I knew, I was cutting with it.

I, for one, get these dreams quite often. I feel it is because I am still struggling a bit with trying to stop. I haven't cut in almost five months, and the urge is still pretty strong some days. I've noticed the dreams will usually correspond with the days I had the strongest urges, so I am thinking it is my mind's way of dealing with the urges. I read somewhere that when you sleep, dreams are caused by your brain trying to sort through the day and store the things it feels important to remember. And since I read that, I've paid attention and noticed that all my dreams will have some sort of relation to a event that day. For example, the night I had the dream I described above, I came across a red dress I haven't worn in a while and I thought about wearing it on my birthday at my party. I think my dream was related to that. Some aspects of the details will change (my party or someone else's, the color of the dress, the room I was in, etc), but there will be some sort of resemblance to an event that day.

After a dream about self-harm, I find it helpful to try to relax before going back to sleep. As Dez said, certain scents are relaxing. I find eucalyptus spearmint lotion to be relaxing. I found it at Bath and Body Works, it is one of their aromatherapy scents. It is for stress relief, and it does work. A lot of people tell me it smells like Irish Spring soap, I'm honestly not quite sure it does. Lavender is also calming, at least to me. I'll look up some more once I finish my train of thought and stick it to the bottom of this before I post. Listening to calming music, or doing yoga is also helpful.


Top ten relaxing scents:

Lavender
Chamomile
Bergamot
Sandalwood
Mandarin
Jasmine
Vanilla
Rose
Lilac
Ylang-Ylang (although some people say it is NOT relaxing, but the opposite)

[Chai.]

Hey, you are not the only one. When I was struggling with self harm and when it was a part of my daily life, I used to get these dreams often. The main thing I'd focus on was not doing it when I woke up, because for me when I woke up from a self harm dream the urges would be unbearable. I never really found a way to stop it totally, but relaxing music and scents did help reduce their frequency. Lavender and sandalwood helped the best for me, because I love both scents. If you have a particular favorite scent, you could try lotions or candles, maybe that will help you get some peaceful sleep. If you are okay with music playing while you are asleep, you could have some calming music play in the background. Doing yoga/meditation before you go to bed, is also very helpful.

I hope this helps. Stay strong.

Yes I have had plenty of dreams about self harm. One a few days ago was about when I was at youth group and asked to go to the bathroom. So I did and sat on the counter by the sinks and started using a knife to make deep cuts on my arm but then I started to bleed out and screamed so everyone came rushing in and I had to go to the hospital. But ya I believe that it is very normal to dream about it if it happens in your real life.