A dream about monsters that live under the bed

Dreams about monsters that live under the bed appear mostly to children, and are one of the most often occurring dreams at the time of childhood.

After turning the light off, the dreamer experience the unpleasant feeling that something is hiding under his bed, and is waiting for him to fall asleep to attack him. The dreamer suddenly wakes up, convinced that he can hear somebody’s breath, or a pair of eyes looking at him from the dark… The other version of this dream is a dream about monsters living in a closet.

How to interpret a dream about monsters that live under the bed?

Dreams about monsters that live under the bed express the children’s fear of everything which is unknown. They are related to their anxiety of going to a new school, meeting new friends, parental arguments, having younger siblings, the death of a relative, etc. Usually they accompany that period of life, when a child gets out of the safe world and interacts with other children, adults… First duties and acquaintances begin, and all events are piling up, what make a child think that those things are out of control.

If a dream about monsters returns, we should do everything we can to make our child feel safe and to minimize the violent changes in his life – remember that the changes should continue gradually, not ruining his settled life.

How would Freud interpret a dream about monsters that live under the bed?

Beasts, monsters, etc. appeared in Freud’s dream interpretations quite often. He believed that their presence in our dreams express the dreamer’s fear of latent, muted and hidden desires. A wild beast may represent a person suffering from these unrestrained problems, or his libido and it’s unused power. The dreamer may also distance himself from his neurosis and fears, turning them into a different creature and finding the way to soothe his anxiety.

How would Jung interpret a dream about monsters that live under the bed?

In Jung’s interpretations, a bed is the place where both the mind and the body rest – it is the portal between the world of consciousness and unconsciousness. Monsters from under the bed which appear in our dreams mean that some big strength in our unconsciousness is trying to get released and it needs our attention.