Escaping your past,when you are dreaming

Hello everyone.

Escaping painful memories of the past is easier when a person is awake but when the past haunts someone in their (very vivid) dreams how does that person escape the pain of those dreams?

Thank you and have a nice day.

I would have to say if they are breaking through when you are are not consciously aware, it would mean that you haven't escaped it in your waking hours.
I don't know what kind of memories you are talking about here, so I don't know the extent of it, but I would guess you need to stop escaping and deal with them head on. Accept that they happened and move on from them. Let go of it and be happy. I think, until you can do that, they will continue to creep into your unconscious mind.

You only dream about what you have thought about during the day, in my experience.

If I ever think about my gran who passed away 7 years ago (even briefly, for a second) during the day, then I ALWAYS dream about her vividly in my sleep as if she's still alive, only to wake up disappointed.

I never dream about her except on the very rare occasion that I think of her during the day.

(My fate is sealed for tonight!)

I agree with TheRealCallie.

in my dream experiences i cannot escape past memories...

i still dream about my brother regularly who passed away over 14 years ago...he is always alive in my dreams and we are children sometimes and other times we are adults...

i still dream regularly about my 1st ex-husband <still alive> and we divorced in 1989...

i still dream regularly about the 1st boyfriend <still alive> i had after my 2nd divorce which was 20+ years ago...

i quit smoking over a year ago after 33 years of being a heavy smoker...i would constantly dream about smoking...luckily that stopped recently

i get how you can dream something that transpired during your waking hours that day but my dreams are far from that random...my dreams are clear, vivid, intense, seem real and are methodical...

i know that doesn't help but just my 2 cents