Recurring Nightmares

(image by Jay Conn 2009)

I have had several recurring nightmares for long periods of my adult life. They are usually associated with workplace stress and loss of control.

The first started when I had a waitressing job straight out of high school. Every weekend shift was so busy that we called it “being in a fog”. We all felt raced off our feet, so the dreams always ended with misplaced orders, disgruntled customers, and the kitchen pick-up bell ringing over and over until I woke up with a headache. These dreams lasted for ten years after I left.

The second repetitive nightmare was about university. There was always a sudden realization in the dream that I had missed a whole bunch of classes, or an entire semester of a course, and it was exam time. I could never find the exam schedule or room and when I finally did, the prof looked at me in disbelief, wondering who I was. I would stare blankly at the test, not understanding the material and knowing I was going to fail.

I have recently retired after thirty years of teaching, so naturally I have frequent dreams about losing control of the classroom. Often the class is wildly misbehaved, or I have lost a child on a fieldtrip. Last night I dreamt that I couldn’t find my special needs student because she had taken off her protective headgear, so I no longer recognized her. I was panicking, looking all over the school while my class was left unattended.

I assume that these types of dreams are very common, but I need to hear from others. Have you ever had a job that gives you stress nightmares?