Do you dream about your anxieties? Lately I’ve been having dreams where my teethe are gone. Sometimes they are hanging by threads, sometimes I just have a mouth full of dental dust. I’m grinding my teeth so severely that I’ve woken up and feel like I have sand in my teeth. I wake up in pain…my jaw muscles hurt, my teeth hurt, and nothing really helps it. I wear a nightguard to bed, and sometimes that makes things worse. My dentist has gone as far as giving me muscle relaxers to take before bed to lessen the intensity and force of my grinding…didn’t work.
I noticed that I grind my teeth more when I’m stressed out about something. Sometimes I don’t even know what it really is so I have to stop and think about what it is deep within me that is making me pulverize my teeth.
I believe in the dreams. They’re not just simple mashups of the day. Dreams are our personal interpretations about how we feel about our days based on sociological constructs we’ve learned throughout our lives. (Let me be clear that I don’t think dreams are literal…even though I have literally cracked a tooth during a tooth dream).
Here is what I found on DreamMoods.com about teeth dreams:
“Dreams about your teeth reflect your anxieties about your appearance and how others perceive you.”
“Such dreams may stem from a fear of rejection, sexual impotence or the consequences of getting old. To support this notion, a dream research found that women in menopause report to have frequent dreams about teeth. This points to teeth dreams as being related to getting older and/or feeling unattractive and less feminine.”
“Teeth dreams may be rooted in your fear of being embarrassed or making a fool of yourself in some situation. These dreams are an over-exaggeration of your worries and anxieties.”
“Teeth are used to bite, tear, chew and gnaw. In this regard, teeth symbolize power. And the loss of teeth in your dream may be from a sense of powerlessness.”
“You may be experiencing feelings of inferiority and a lack of self-confidence in some situation or relationship in your life. This dream may be an indication that you need to be more assertive and believe in the importance of what you have to say.”
Are any of these true about my life right now? Heck yeah!
How about the massive anxiety from a cross country PCS move? Driving from San Diego to Virginia Beach with two dogs, two kids, and two cars after surprise orders. That was massive, especially since it didn’t go as smoothly as it should have gone.
One that I started struggling with recently is age – I’m not old, but I’m getting old. The military community is such a young community that at 30 I’m considered an “older” spouse. Since when is 30 old?
I know many of us military spouses, no matter how independent, still feel like we have no control over our lives and that the military will do with us what they will without any consideration of our lives and careers. To military spouses with kids, this extends into the lives of our children – think mid year moves means switching schools, losing athletic eligibility, lost hours in school, being snatched from friends and social circles they worked so hard to build year after year.
Here is a list of the most common anxiety fueled dreams:
Had you had any of these dreams? Please share in the comments or send me a personal email: carmen at msbnewmedia dot com. Lets start attacking our anxieties head on together.
[…] Teeth Gnashing Dreams—Do You Get Them? Another interpretation of losing teeth in a dream is that you are subconsciously worried about your looks. […]