Are these night terrors or bad dreams?

Question

I keep having repeated dreams about spiders, except the strange thing is it seems like I'm not really dreaming about spiders, but rather I wake up and I see spiders: spiders in the bed, spiders on the ceiling, etc. I always go ballistic and scare my boyfriend by jumping out of bed and screaming that there are spiders in the bed or on the ceiling or walls, and he tells me it's a dream. It takes me like a good 2-3 minutes after waking up to realize that it wasn't real. That's why I wondered if it could be classified as night terrors. Also, if anyone knows the significance of dreaming about spiders, help me out. Also, does drinking a lot of caffeine contribute to the probability of these nightmares?

Answer 1

Medical fact about Caffeine: It takes oxygen out of the brain and body.  

Answer 2

A night terror, also known as pavor nocturnus, is a parasomnia sleep disorder characterized by extreme terror and a temporary inability to regain full consciousness. The subject wakes abruptly from slow-wave sleep, with waking usually accompanied by gasping, moaning, or screaming. It is often impossible to fully awaken the person, and after the episode the subject normally settles back to sleep without waking. A night terror can rarely be recalled by the subject. They typically occur during non-rapid eye movement sleep.

Answer 3

To see a spider in your dream, indicates that you are feeling like an outsider in some situation. Or that you may want to keep your distance and  stay away from an alluring and tempting situation.  The spider is also symbolic of feminine power. Alternatively, a spider may refer to a powerful force protecting you against  your self-destructive behavior. If you kill a spider, it symbolizes misfortune and general bad luck.

To see a spider spinning a web in your dream, signifies that you will be rewarded for your hard work. You will soon find yourself promoted in your job or recognized for your achievement in a difficult task.  Spiders are a symbol of creativity due to the intricate webs they spin. On a negative note, spiders may indicate a feeling of being entangled or trapped in a sticky or clingy relationship. It represents some ensnaring and controlling force. You may feel that someone or some situation is sucking the life right out of you.

To see a spider climbing up a wall in your dream, denotes that your desires will be soon be realized.

To dream that you are bitten by a spider, represents a conflict with your mother or some dominant female figure in your life. The dream may be a metaphor for a devouring mother or the feminine power to possess and entrap. Perhaps you are feeling trapped by some relationship.

We all have had nightmares at various parts in our lives. They are quite normal. But what is exactly a nightmare and why do we have them?

Nightmares are a subcategory of dreams. The distinction of a nightmare is its frightening and/or emotional content. You tend to wake up in fear in the midst of a nightmare. Because of its frightening nature, you tend to remember your nightmares and the vivid details. They have a bigger impact upon your waking mind and its images stay with you throughout the day. One reason for nightmares may be a way of our unconscious to get our attention about a situation or problem that you have been avoiding. It is time to take notice and confront a problem or situation. Nightmares serve an important purpose in showing you what is troubling you from within you deeper levels. Discussing, analyzing, and understanding your nightmares can lead to a solution for some problem, internal conflict or personal difficulty.

Causes Of Nightmares

In general, stress, trauma, fears, insecurities, feelings of inadequacy, health problems, marital issues, etc may all be reasons for having nightmares:

Childhood and Family - Present nightmares can be rooted in past neglect and trauma from childhood. From lack of love, neglect, alcoholism, to severe abuse, family members can be the most destructive influence on a person's life. Nightmares may be a sign of such inner turmoil.

Life - The way your life is going and the larger society as a whole can contribute to nightmares. Your perception of the world, heath, natural disasters, criticism about politics, finances, crime in the streets and your inability to control such events may sometimes lead to nightmares.

Relationships - Your intimate relationships and  your daily interactions with people can also be a source of your nightmares.  Marital difficulties or pregnancy are other possible causes.. You may be paranoid about how your think others perceive you or fear that others do not understand and see who you really are. Isolation and unhappiness may appear in nightmares as abandonment and loneliness.

Stress - The way you handle and deal with stress can trigger nightmares. Nightmares are a normal response to unacceptable levels of fear and stress. People diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder frequently have nightmares about their traumatic event, like war, rape, death of a loved one, car accident, plane crash, terrorism, etc.

Work - Since most of us spend the majority of our day at work, it is no surprise that work-related issues are a common source for your nightmares. Stress, job security (or there lack of), change in jobs, co-workers,  unresolved work problems, or general dissatisfaction with what you do can manifest into a nightmare. The nightmare may reflect feelings of frustration and an inability to control your work-related issues. People in high-stress level or high-risk jobs often report of having nightmares. Nightmares of this nature may appear as you being attacked, chased, or being out of control.

Having nightmares are normal, but a high frequency of nightmares can be a sign of being overwhelmed and excessive stress which should be dealt with. Nightmares can be an important resource for self-knowledge and emotional discovery. They convey an important message and help clear up the conflict in your life. it is important to distance yourself and work pass the emotional content (fear, grief, anger, etc.) of your nightmare and analyze it from an objective perspective. The disturbing emotions may be a way for your unconscious to prevent you from digging deep into the meaning of your nightmares. Sometimes rehearsing or reliving the nightmare while you are awake and then changing the nightmare's content or outcome helps to dismantle the nightmare, breaking it down.  Although it may be difficult at times, it pays to try and make sense of those darker dreams.

Answer 4

Ok, BamBam is right... Kind of... Thats a wikipedia answer. You might want to ask a doctor about this because the fact that your dreams are repetative and you wake up and SEE spiders might be a sign of schizophrenia, I used to have this problem, I used to wake up screaming after dreaming of flesh eating undead (seams unreal but its true) and coffee and sugar might be fueling the nightmares, My uncle also had this problem and because he was anemic they would feed him sugar and sweets, to this day he can drink coffee with about 7 or 8 spoons of sugar. And of course he had night terrors and schizophrenia. But yes indeed they are night terrors and have this checked out.  

Answer 5

I've heard people say that dreaming of spiders means something bad is going on in your life. But I doubt that is true.

My opinion is that it is a night terror other than a dream. Once i woke up and thought i saw a pillow sized cat jumping at me and it was only a yellow pillow, and I don't remember dreaming about that. Maybe you confused spiders with bed patterns or something.

Some types of medicine makes us have night terrors but caffeine certainly does not contribute.

I hope that helped :)