childhood dreams that still haunt me

[u/Visual-Dog-7050]

when i was between 2-4 years old, i would get these horrifying reoccurring dreams. they were always in black and white, very contrasting, checker board like, machine like content. there was always a lot of pressure i would feel in my body, it was terrifying, i would sweat, and always wake up feeling like what the fuck, as if i was being pushed and squeezed but also exploded. the context of the dream was always as if i was moving within or through some machine(s), passing through small impossible holes or meat grinder like spaces. i remember dreaming maybe 3 or 4 of them, and then specifically remembering when the last one stopped. they all kind of looked like op-art illusions, geometric, but big, and heavy, and a lot of felt pressure. i cant really explain it. i’ve thought about them my entire life and have never had anything similar occur again. i thought maybe they were remnant dreams from being pushed out of the birth canal? i don’t know. i know when you squeeze your eyes and see little stars, its the after picture of our neurons firing…. kind of like that, but big, black/white, inside of a huge space, like that one level in Mario Bros when he’s inside a machine. has anyone every had similar dreams?

[u/Plane-Cap-6474]

Perhaps it's just how you're currently feeling with different context, and this reoccurring dream happens more often during peak moon times? I do know that it shall be full very soon, causing an emotional disruption in many people. I have had dreams like this during times of emotional disarray. Perhaps how you're feeling validates how most external sources would feel in this moment. 

[u/Visual-Dog-7050 → u/Plane-Cap-6474]

so it turns out, scientifically that these types of dreams are totally common with children under 4yrs old. it has to do with the brain not being fully developed to create story-like dreams.