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What does it mean when youn dream of people you know?
First thing you gotta understand is there is no scientific concrete answers. One psychologist may say people mean one thing and another may say something else.
When I took a class on dream interpretation the generally accepted meaning is that the people we see in our dreams represent aspects of ourself. The more influence a person has in your life the greater the aspects they will represent in your dreams. For example you might dream of a stranger who you simply thought was attractive or ugly. What this represents about yourself in your dream is far less significant then say if you had a dream of your father.
The aspects that people can represent in our dreams are mainly personallity traits and inner desires. For example; you desire lust and so you drempt of this person who pressumably is sexually attractive to her and "took advantage in the dream". I've done that plenty times too. The person you drempt of represents lust (assuming the dream was sexual in nature). If the person represented true love you likely would not have had sex with them. The dream may have been intimate, but not overtly sexual.
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Well anyway just wondering if you dream of people acting a certain way does that mean anything? Or is it just you?
Its just you but they can represent environmental factors. Perhaps you act differently in certain circumstances. Alot also depends on the context of the dream itself. When you dream of somebody other than yourself you may be dreaming of how you feel about them. They still represent aspects of yoruself because they represent the emotions they make you feel.
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Oh also another question, what exactly (if there is one) could be the link between the dream world and the real one?
The dream world is a sub-conscious reflection of the real world wherein your sub-consciousness can process sensory information, emotions and desires. Because the laws of the dream world are dictated not by physics, but by imagination, this allows people to have some pretty far out, surreal and sometimes terrifying dreams.
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And last what do I do to stop a group of nightmares? (One I woke up almost in shock I think and breathing hard ><;;)
Nightmares are caused by fear, anxiety, guilt and repressed memory. Usually the body deals with most forms of fear and anxiety on its own. But these emotions can manifest through dreams due to repressed desires or traumatic memories. Generally speaking desires that manifest through nightmares are often things we consider taboo or will be riddiculed because of. For example some homosexuals who don't know they are gay have homo-errotic nightmares because of it. This is especially true if they simply denial. The level of fear and anxiety it takes to cause nightmares varies. For example a soldier who has post traumatic stress disorder may be plagued by re-occuring nightmares of intense combat where as an otherwise perfectly healthy five year old with no severe past trauma may suffer from night terrors - perhaps caused by watching none other than Freddy Crugger.
Night terrors are nightmares, often re-occuring ones, that do not go away and happen every night leaving the subject in a state of shock or near to it. This disorder can only be diagnossed and treated by a professional. Usually they occur in children especially those who's parents fight alot or are divorced. But night terrors can affect really anybody who's ever experience some severe trauma in their lives.
For you I'd suggest creating a dream journal to recall your dreams in. Don't tell me you don't usually remember your dreams because if you take the time to think about it you should at least be able to come with two sentances. Even if thats all you can remember write it down. Pay close attention to nightmares. The more detail the better. Watch for patterns - specific people, places, times, colors, any monsters or hellish scenery. Realize that inorder to interpret your own dreams often what you must do is look for metaphors. Often the mind expresses itself through metaphors. The purpose for paying such close attention to detail is to look for any and all emotions, past events, desires, any other memory that might relate that could cause you to feel fear, anxiety and especially guilt. Once you concsiously understand the meaning of the nightmares you can begin to deal with them. Really just by writting in a dream journal with such intentions you are acknowledging your inner self and that alone may be enough to end the nightmares. If all else fails you can always ask for interpretations from us. If these nightmares interfer with your day to day life I'd advise getting help from a professional.