About a week ago, I had a dream that really bothered me. I dreamt that I had been raped, but none of the rape was in the dream, only the knowledge that it had happened. I was discussing the rape with another person whom I believe was acting as a sort of lawyer or counselor, that was unclear. Nonetheless, the first thing he asked was if I had thought about disease. I broke down in tears and cried: “I never even thought of that!” Then he asked me if the “man,” again a totally unknown figure who didn’t appear in the dream, had hurt me physically, inflicted pain upon me. At this I put forth my hands with my wrists facing up. I don’t know what the injuries were, again it was just the knowledge that I had been physically hurt.
What did this dream mean? It was so vivid. So real. So disturbing. Was it playing on underlying fears? Was it implying that when I hurt myself it was my rapist indirectly hurting me? I am unsure, but the dream made me very uneasy.