Since about the age of 19, I have had reoccurring zombie themed nightmares. Sometimes I have been the hero toting a gun and leading people to safety and other times I have been the victim of the zombie, not necessarily dying in my nightmare but getting the impression that I m about to die a horrible death being torn apart by zombies. Not all the dreams are exactly the same but the theme of hiding, running and combating mass hordes of the undead remains the same.

Sometimes I have these dreams multiple times in a week and sometimes I won't have a zombie dream for a few months but they always come back and I find myself waking up screaming. I do enjoy a good zombie flick now and again but don t watch them often enough to warrant these many dreams (I think). I am now 29 and wondering what it all means.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Tired of the Zombie

Dear Tired of the Zombie:

Not being a zombie fan, I was unaware of the massive presence of zombies in our culture. A zombie is a reanimated dead or mindless human being with a temporary spiritual entity. African Voodoo tradition believes that after a time God will take the soul back. The zombies in your nightmares could be sending you a message. Or perhaps, they are seeking you to free them from eternal bondage.

You may have seen reruns of the famous 1968 horror fiction Night of the Living Dead by George Romero. He brought the zombie to the West and made it popular. Now you will find zombies everywhere: in the media; at the movies, DVD's, video's, music, and the gaming industry. You might consider avoiding the zombie themed entertainment in an effort to provide less influence on your subconscious.

It appears these nightmares can make you fearful, bring you terror, cause you to panic and feel out of control? Or you can become the hero, save the day and bring others to safety. Your zombie nightmares may delve into your unconscious desires to run from responsibility or face facts and deal with serious consequences. These issues seem to become so intense to you that you believe you are actually interacting with evil from outside yourself. Only you can come to terms with the reality and impact the nightmares are having on your personal life. It is important that you take control of your thoughts; or these problems will take on a life of their own. The nightmares can signify deeply rooted psychological problems or memories that have been suppressed for a long time. Dreaming about the trauma of the past is usually an indicator that your conscious mind is getting ready to remember what has happened and face the past.

Then again, perhaps these zombies are not a part of your “reality” and belong only in your dreams. They do not need to be judged by waking standards. Only you can make that determination.

Another aspect to be considered is the practice of lucid dreaming. The scientific potential of lucid dreaming was revealed in Celia Green's Lucid Dreaming (1968). It was described as ‘the phenomenon of false wakening' and associated with rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). Stephen La Berge of the Lucidity Institute at Stanford University popularized lucid dreaming in the 1980's. It is the process of teaching the dreamer how to be consciously aware of what is going on in the nightmare, to exercise control, participate in the dream and change the direction of the outcome.

When you have these nightmares recognize that you are dreaming; breathe and calm yourself. Through awareness and a freeing of consciousness, these nightmares can give you insight into what you are dealing with in your life. They can expose major or minor emotional conflict, or problems you are struggling with in yourself. A therapist can listen, ask questions, look at your life from the outside and help you see the bigger picture. But, only you truly know your past history and secrets. With help you can figure out what is going on inside. No one is better than you to analyze your dreams and understand what they mean.

“Ask Shirley” questions can be focused on any topics involving life, health, fitness, mental training, competition, clinical issues or addictions. All questions will remain anonymous. Email your questions to Askshirl@gmail.com.

Shirley K. Durtschi is an Applied Sport Psychology Certified Consultant (AASP-CC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Chemical Dependency Counselor Supervisor (CDCS) for the State of Alaska.