(Guido - man, age 23)
Dream:
"I am at a place where there are a few swimming pools next to each other. A man comes over and pours some liquid into the water. When I ask him what it is, he says it is a medication. This puts me off from swimming in there. I reply to him that I don't need the medication because everything is ok with my throat.
"If you notice an unconscious fantasy coming up within you, you would be wise not to interpret it at once. Do not say that you know what it is and force it into consciousness. Just let it live with you, leaving it in the half-dark, carry it with you and watch where it is going or what it is driving at." - Marie-Louise von Franz
In the next part of the dream, I am on holiday with my dad and mum. We are at a swimming pool and someone tells me that I can jump into the pool from a very high height. I am standing at the top and it looks like it is at least a hundred metres down from there. I am extremely scared, but I am assured that this is completely safe even despite the fact, that I can't swim (I am told that the water will push me up). I jump down and I am falling for a really long time. When I am getting closer to the water I am scared that I am going to hit the edge of the swimming pool. But I dive inside the pool safely and I continue to go down very deep to the level where it is almost completely dark. I am then swimming up. It's hard and I am slightly scared, but I keep calm and I can even breath a little. Once my head was above the water surface I feel relieved.
Dream interpretation:
The first part of the dream indicates signs of the external interference with the dreamer's unconscious. The fluid that is added to the water in the dream may symbolise antidepressant that the dreamer recently started taking a few weeks before that dream. His throat is a tool of self-expression, and when in a dream he finds there is no need his throat is alright, it illustrates some kind of subconscious rebellion as a result of which he rejects the medicine. It is a natural reaction of the body to these types of medication, and often occurs in the early stages of taking them. The idea of vacation indicates that the repressed or suppressed emotions of the dreamer are being decompressed. The originally rejected drug starts working and opens up a new perception in the dreamer's mind. The great height from which he should jump symbolises the ego's detachment from reality. It may also relate to his enhanced self-esteem; possibly the effect of antidepressants. The dreamer is assured that the jump into the water is completely safe and this refers to the dreamer's therapeutic process in which he acquires theoretical knowledge. However, such knowledge (i.e. therapeutic advice, new resolutions) must first of all be synthesised on an unconscious level in order to have a real impact on well-being. Otherwise, deeply rooted schemas which may no longer serve him or even be the source of his problems will still lead to the known behaviour, despite the new knowledge of the mind and his willingness to change . Medications alone cannot cure mental illnesses, so in this dream he symbolically falls "to the ground". In fact, even deeper; below the surface of the water to dig into the real causes of its difficulties. The fear of jumping reveals the challenges posed by his therapy, and the jump itself is an expression of the willingness to follow and deepen his therapeutic process. The depth of the pool reflects part of his unconsciousness, and the dreamer's context can also mean depression. When he discovers that he is able to breathe underwater, he accepts his emotions and synthesises suppressed energy as part of his own psyche, which can have a therapeutic effect on the way he perceives reality.
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