Page updated 25 December 2024
Dreams
"You're dreaming."
"In your dreams."
"Stop daydreaming..."
"Dream on."
"Dreamy eyed.."
"What a dreamboat."
"He's a dreamer."
"I'll see you in my dreams."
"In your dreams."
"Stop daydreaming..."
"Dream on."
"Dreamy eyed.."
"What a dreamboat."
"He's a dreamer."
"I'll see you in my dreams."
"Dreams seem to help us process emotions by encoding and constructing memories of them. What we see and experience in our dreams might not necessarily be real, but the emotions attached to these experiences certainly are. Our dream stories essentially try to strip the emotion out of a certain experience by creating a memory of it. This way, the emotion itself is no longer active. This mechanism fulfils an important role because when we don’t process our emotions, especially negative ones, this increases personal worry and anxiety. In fact, severe REM sleep-deprivation is increasingly correlated to the development of mental disorders. In short, dreams help regulate traffic on that fragile bridge which connects our experiences with our emotions and memories. The saying implies that the eyes are the window to the soul. In a similar way, dreams are the mirror to the mind." Sander van der Linden, Ph.D, researcher in social experimental psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-behind-dreaming/
When recovering from porn, we should expect a change in our dreams and in deed private research has shown this to be the case. Initially pornographic dreams occur, much to the discouragement of the one who is recovering, but as healing takes place in the mind, dreams of nudity and sexual interaction with strangers are replaced with dreams that align with non-pornified thinking. Recovered persons appear to go on a journey of healing that is mirrored by their dreams.
Many times these 'porn' dreams greatly trouble and stress the recovered person and the partner, who think they must be 'busting' or relapsing but this is not necessarily the case at all. As the person alters their thinking every day and continually blocks their eyes and thoughts from pornification, real changes occur in the wiring of the brain. It takes time for the brain to re-wire itself. In dreams it seems that messages are sent out to 'check' if the neuronal 'wiring' along the old porn pathways, should be 'pulled up' (the connection severed) or if the connection should be maintained for later use. As the person continues to reject the old thinking, the pathways to pornified thinking (and dreaming) will not be maintained. Hypersexualised thoughts have ceased and so no longer demand the building of neuronal pathways to process the many existing hypersexualised thoughts that used to poison the mind throughout the day.
There are also triggers that connect anchors formed in porn use which will cause pornified dreams to occur. For example, revenge/pay back thoughts in response to perceived injuries can trigger pornified dreams. The pornified dreams pay back the partner for emotionally injuring the recovered person. In these cases, some recovering porn addicts use the porn dreams that their subconscious mind creates to 'escape' from their partner's reach and pay back the partner in a way that the partner has no control over. The partner has been paid back, by her spouse indulging in 'escape' porn in his mind, safe from discovery by his partner. Just like masturbating in the bathroom to porn takes place in private, away from the partner's gaze or knowledge, so too the recovering sex addict seeking revenge, creates a private place in his mind where the partner cannot prevent him from doing what he wants to do in order to get revenge on her. If the recovering sex addict tells his partner about the dream, he shrugs it off as saying, "It's not real" and "I can't help what I dream." That is not true of course. He creates the dream in the conscious mind and holds the grudge that is sure to surface in a porn dream to pay-back his wife. He can continue to do porn and not be held accountable. This is not acceptable and the thinking processes that cause the recovering sex addict to feel entitled to continue doing porn in his sub-conscious brain must be challenged.
In some dreams, the partner will be introduced at the beginning and then be sent away by the recovering sex addict who then gives himself over to unbridled lust with another naked body.
Sometimes when people have suffered prolonged, unremitting emotional trauma (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), they are unable to immediately process the feelings that accompany the trauma. In response to suffering traumatic experiences, reality can become confused and distorted to a degree that often therapeutic measures are required to restore clarity of thought and harmony of the nervous system. Sometimes talking about the feelings with a trusted friend or even a therapist can offer insight and an avenue for healing to take place. If adequate, reliable emotional support is not available, many times the person who has untreated CPTSD might find that their minds still try to make sense of their traumatic experience and their confused emotions. As the therapeutic support peels off the layers of emotions and organises and validates them, the person undergoing therapy might experience vivid and emotionally charged dreams. The dreams might make the person aware of the emotional issues that have been suppressed due to the trauma. It is as if through dreams, the emotions are brought up to the surface of the conscious mind in order to be dealt with and then filed away in the correct place.
These dreams tend to bring to the mind, memories of the trauma and while the content of the dreams might be different to the actual event that caused the CPTSD, the feelings will likely be the same, so when paying attention to these kinds of dreams, pay special attention to the feelings generated in the dream. They can be most useful in working out what the mind is presenting for our conscious deliberation.
The healing journey can take a similar path to these dream stages:
When recovering from porn, we should expect a change in our dreams and in deed private research has shown this to be the case. Initially pornographic dreams occur, much to the discouragement of the one who is recovering, but as healing takes place in the mind, dreams of nudity and sexual interaction with strangers are replaced with dreams that align with non-pornified thinking. Recovered persons appear to go on a journey of healing that is mirrored by their dreams.
Many times these 'porn' dreams greatly trouble and stress the recovered person and the partner, who think they must be 'busting' or relapsing but this is not necessarily the case at all. As the person alters their thinking every day and continually blocks their eyes and thoughts from pornification, real changes occur in the wiring of the brain. It takes time for the brain to re-wire itself. In dreams it seems that messages are sent out to 'check' if the neuronal 'wiring' along the old porn pathways, should be 'pulled up' (the connection severed) or if the connection should be maintained for later use. As the person continues to reject the old thinking, the pathways to pornified thinking (and dreaming) will not be maintained. Hypersexualised thoughts have ceased and so no longer demand the building of neuronal pathways to process the many existing hypersexualised thoughts that used to poison the mind throughout the day.
There are also triggers that connect anchors formed in porn use which will cause pornified dreams to occur. For example, revenge/pay back thoughts in response to perceived injuries can trigger pornified dreams. The pornified dreams pay back the partner for emotionally injuring the recovered person. In these cases, some recovering porn addicts use the porn dreams that their subconscious mind creates to 'escape' from their partner's reach and pay back the partner in a way that the partner has no control over. The partner has been paid back, by her spouse indulging in 'escape' porn in his mind, safe from discovery by his partner. Just like masturbating in the bathroom to porn takes place in private, away from the partner's gaze or knowledge, so too the recovering sex addict seeking revenge, creates a private place in his mind where the partner cannot prevent him from doing what he wants to do in order to get revenge on her. If the recovering sex addict tells his partner about the dream, he shrugs it off as saying, "It's not real" and "I can't help what I dream." That is not true of course. He creates the dream in the conscious mind and holds the grudge that is sure to surface in a porn dream to pay-back his wife. He can continue to do porn and not be held accountable. This is not acceptable and the thinking processes that cause the recovering sex addict to feel entitled to continue doing porn in his sub-conscious brain must be challenged.
In some dreams, the partner will be introduced at the beginning and then be sent away by the recovering sex addict who then gives himself over to unbridled lust with another naked body.
Sometimes when people have suffered prolonged, unremitting emotional trauma (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), they are unable to immediately process the feelings that accompany the trauma. In response to suffering traumatic experiences, reality can become confused and distorted to a degree that often therapeutic measures are required to restore clarity of thought and harmony of the nervous system. Sometimes talking about the feelings with a trusted friend or even a therapist can offer insight and an avenue for healing to take place. If adequate, reliable emotional support is not available, many times the person who has untreated CPTSD might find that their minds still try to make sense of their traumatic experience and their confused emotions. As the therapeutic support peels off the layers of emotions and organises and validates them, the person undergoing therapy might experience vivid and emotionally charged dreams. The dreams might make the person aware of the emotional issues that have been suppressed due to the trauma. It is as if through dreams, the emotions are brought up to the surface of the conscious mind in order to be dealt with and then filed away in the correct place.
These dreams tend to bring to the mind, memories of the trauma and while the content of the dreams might be different to the actual event that caused the CPTSD, the feelings will likely be the same, so when paying attention to these kinds of dreams, pay special attention to the feelings generated in the dream. They can be most useful in working out what the mind is presenting for our conscious deliberation.
The healing journey can take a similar path to these dream stages:
- Dreaming of sexual actions with unknown, naked strangers such as were encountered during porn experiences;
- Dreaming of being sexually involved with 'taboo' people - often linked to injuries suffered in childhood;
- Dreaming of being invited to interact sexually, but that the body parts necessary for masturbation aren't working properly.
- Revenge/pay back dreams often occurring after an upset in real life where the recovered person dreams they are searching for an image to use for masturbation purposes, but they can't find any images to do so. The experience is that the 'door is closed' to porn in the mind. This is challenging for partner who might consider such a dream to be yet another betrayal. However, it is important to understand that 'revenge dreams' occur when the recovered person believes he/she is 'hard done by' 'rejected,' neglected,' abused etc. This belief triggers the 'escape' button in the recovered person. Previous conflict or abuse in earlier, formative experiences, triggered the 'escape' response to go to porn for relief of the stress. This neural pathway was built by the continued effort to escape feeling the emotional pain caused by rejections, abandonment, abuse etc. The wounded person quickly realises that porn actors/actresses don't reject you. They are always ready for 'business.' The porn actors/actresses don't verbally insult, disempower, shame and criticise their partners. They are always accepting, desiring 'sex' and never, ever rejecting. They are emotionally 'safe.' Of course, that's not true, but it is the thought pattern of many wounded people who have turned to porn to medicate their pain. The dopamine levels drives the 'injured' person to seek out the 'comforting reward' and opiate hit of orgasm. The bonding chemicals explode at orgasm and the wounded person feels a bonding sensation at first with the all-accepting, submissive and comforting porn actor/actresses. When the recovered person understands that they have not been rejected or abused by their partner, or that they have alternative methods to cope with rejection, they can challenge those fear-based thoughts and change their victim-escape behaviours. When this change occurs in the mind, it is also reflected in the person's dreams.
- Dreaming of incidents where invitations are offered by sexually enticing actors/actresses/strangers to engage in sexual activity, but strongly refusing the invitation.
- Dreaming of being sexually active with their loving partner.
Dreams From Demonic Influences
Sometimes dreams continue to occur even when the recovering porn addict is no longer actively watching porn or masturbating.
It appears that these distressing dreams can be caused when a 'door' is left open that gives Satan legal right to harass the person's mind. We believe that porn/lust dreams a such a way that Satan uses to harass a person who has in the past been willing to engage in lustful behaviour, but who at the present time desires freedom from sexual compulsion and is seeking to develop purity of mind.
It appears that these distressing dreams can be caused when a 'door' is left open that gives Satan legal right to harass the person's mind. We believe that porn/lust dreams a such a way that Satan uses to harass a person who has in the past been willing to engage in lustful behaviour, but who at the present time desires freedom from sexual compulsion and is seeking to develop purity of mind.
In the video below, David Ng describes the reality of being harassed, possessed by and how to be delivered from demonic forces. He reveals what activities open doors to allow demonic entities to inflict suffering and oppress and even possess certain individuals. David also reveals how those doors can be closed.
According to David Ng, there are some main avenues that demons can take advantage of in order to attack a person.
- Thoughts - evil entities present their own selfish thoughts to their target person and convince them that they are thinking their own human thoughts, when in reality those thoughts originated from the mind of a demon;
- Open doors:
- generational sins
- sins of the flesh - pride, lust (porn, fantasising), unforgiveness (often unforgiveness originates from abuse as victims find it so difficult to forgive the person/s who deliberately abused them)
- occult activities such as:
- sins of the flesh - pride, lust (porn, fantasising), unforgiveness (often unforgiveness originates from abuse as victims find it so difficult to forgive the person/s who deliberately abused them)
- Ouija boards
- enchanted charms
- amulets
- tarot cards
- seances
- foretune telling
- palm reading
- rosary beads
- books, music, movies
- speaking in tongues
- horoscopes
- horoscopes
- speaking in tongues
- books, music, movies
- rosary beads
- palm reading
- foretune telling
- seances
- tarot cards
- amulets
- enchanted charms
David Ng has a training college in Malaysia where he teaches afflicted people in person, how to help others become free of demonic harassment or possession. The 4 month long training course teaches about the Christian God and focuses on the books of Daniel and Revelation in the Bible. Part of that training course focuses on how to become free of demon harassment or possession. David offers a 1 week online course for those who can't attend in person. It is incredibly economical to do the 1 week online course.
David Ng presents several steps that the afflicted person might take to be free.
- Confession - confess their sins/selfishness/wrong actions and wrong thoughts to God. The Christian God as demonstrated by His Son Jesus, is loving and willingly forgives every person who genuinely repents ie they confesses and forsake any sinful behaviours, demonic connections, demonic activities and demonic thoughts
- Close any open doors - eg renounce any generational claims, destroy any 'enchanted' or 'blessed' jewellery, delete evil movies and images; renounce the false identity that demons have tried to apply to you (shame, porn addict, not good enough, failure, drug addict, prostitute etc)
- Memorise Scripture - use Bible verses to defeat the demonic attacks. The easiest way to do this is to learn Scripture songs.
Patti Valliant has 5 CDs with beautiful Scripture songs. You can listen to them on Youtube or you can purchase your own set of CDs from Amazon.
People need to learn to how to recognise the origin of their thoughts. This can be extremely difficult, especially when a person identifies with a certain sinful lifestyle or behaviour.
Demons usually attack a person with negative thoughts, sent in the 1st person tense, not the 3rd person tense. A demon knows better than to say to its victim, "You're a loser." Instead he breathes into the target's ear, "I'm a loser. I'm a porn addict. I'm so disgusting no one would want me. I'm a hopeless case. Even God wouldn't want me. I'm a prostitute. I'm a nothing." This strategy of delivering the attack on the mind, causes the target to assume he/she is thinking those thoughts about himself/herself and not to suspect any demonic involvement.
If demonic forces are trying to influence a targeted person, and the targeted person realises it, then they are able to defeat the demonic attack by quoting scripture and even by singing scripture songs.
For example, if the (demonic) thought enters the mind "I'm just too evil and too far gone. Even God wouldn't be able to forgive me," then the targeted person can simply quote "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). "As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalms 103:12). The fact is that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Demons usually attack a person with negative thoughts, sent in the 1st person tense, not the 3rd person tense. A demon knows better than to say to its victim, "You're a loser." Instead he breathes into the target's ear, "I'm a loser. I'm a porn addict. I'm so disgusting no one would want me. I'm a hopeless case. Even God wouldn't want me. I'm a prostitute. I'm a nothing." This strategy of delivering the attack on the mind, causes the target to assume he/she is thinking those thoughts about himself/herself and not to suspect any demonic involvement.
If demonic forces are trying to influence a targeted person, and the targeted person realises it, then they are able to defeat the demonic attack by quoting scripture and even by singing scripture songs.
For example, if the (demonic) thought enters the mind "I'm just too evil and too far gone. Even God wouldn't be able to forgive me," then the targeted person can simply quote "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). "As far as the east is from the west so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalms 103:12). The fact is that "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
We highly recommend watching the videos (links below) in instances where the person is committed to turning away from viewing porn and attaining a pure, lust-free mind, but is suffering from recurring, sexual dreams.
These two videos are similar. If you have limited time, and can't watch both videos, we recommend watching the first video (above) as it contains more details.