Dream of being attacked is an anxiety-inducing dream in most scenarios. These dreams lead to people waking up feeling threatened, unsafe or even very simply scared.
There are multiple reasons and symbolic meanings behind such a dream. So, let’s explore multiple scenarios that play out in the dream.
What Does It Means to Dream Of Being Attacked?
SUMMARY
Dreams of being attacked symbolize our fears, what makes us feel exposed or vulnerable, what we feel threatened by, and our own subconscious control issues. These dreams also represent how our internal feelings influence our external behavior.
The dream of being attacked leads to feelings of anxiety and fear. Dreamers may even wake up feeling scared and or unprepared for what they may have to face. These resulting emotions make these dreams an unpleasant experience.
- Vulnerability
The dream of being attacked is closely linked to feeling vulnerable in real life. It means that you may feel like you are an easy target for something that could truly hurt you. It is also indicative of a lack of faith in ourselves at times.
- Control issues
Dreams of being attacked are a sign that you may be feeling at war with yourself or your beliefs. This is such an internal war, that you cannot predict the outcome. This uncertainty and lack of control may make you feel threatened, leading to such dreams.
- Self-defensiveness
These dreams are a sign that we may be engaging in defensive behaviors to protect something that is important to us.
Moreover, this type of dream is quite common in people who are very critical of themselves. A dream like this is a sign that such an attitude has become too problematic and must be changed, but the dreamer is still being defensive about it.
- Trauma
This dream is usually common for people who have been attacked in real life. Very simply, if a dog attacked you in a dangerous way, you may be so influenced by the fear of that moment that you see it repeating in your dreams.
- Threat
Such dreams are a reflection of the threats we may feel in daily life. This means that there may be some person or idea that you feel scared of, whether or not it makes sense to other people.
Dream of Being Attacked – Scenarios and Detailed Interpretations
The dream of being attacked is associated with various symbolic meanings. The dream interpretation however also depends on the scenario from the dream. Read on to understand further.
Dream of being attacked
Dreams of being attacked represent an unpleasant situation that you may soon find yourself in.
This means that you may either be forced to choose sides or make a decision that you are not fully comfortable with.
An important piece of interpretation here is that you may be forced into such a situation.
Dream of watching someone being attacked
This dream means that you simply do not interfere in situations that don’t require your presence. Moreover, it also means that you have decided to stay on neutral ground.
Alternatively, it also represents your attitude towards responsibility. You may believe that each person should only be responsible for their own self, just like you are responsible for yourself.
Being physically attacked
This dream represents the fear of being exposed. This is particularly true for situations where you have some secrets that you must keep hidden and now feel scared of it ever coming out, and scared that people will soon force it out of you.
Being sexually attacked
Dreams about being sexually assaulted are not uncommon in women, and they can easily trigger some bad memories, some of which may not even be related to a sexual assault from the past.
These dreams can especially bother survivors of sexual assault and their close ones. However, other than that, people who are experiencing feelings of guilt, shame, vulnerability, helplessness, or self-consciousness may even have such dreams.
Being attacked by an enemy
This dream can be best interpreted by your reaction to the attack. If you successfully defend yourself, it means you trust your own capabilities.
However, if you see yourself just getting attacked, this means that there is a bigger threat in the competition.
Being attacked by a shadow
Shadows in dreams symbolize your own dark feelings and thoughts. Hence, such a dream type means you are afraid of your own dark side coming out.
However, this dream also means that your dark parts may be closer to the surface than we believe they are.
Being attacked by a terrorist
Such dreams signify a sudden attack or ambush that ruins all the things you have planned. Besides, these dreams are common for people who need control and especially require it when they are working on something important in their lives.
Being attacked by an invisible force
The dream symbolism of the invisible force is your own inner conflict. This dream is a sign that you may be engaging in some behaviors that are causing issues in your life.
Some even call this self-destructive behavior. Moreover, such dreams mean that you may need to pay more attention to your life and how you lead it.
Being attacked by an intruder
This dream means that you may be scared of an aspect of your own personality. It also means that you may have some negative quality or habit, and you are scared it is becoming a problem.
This could potentially happen to people who are either addicted to something or have a habit of lying, etc.
Dreams Of Being Attacked with A Weapon
Often, our dreams of being attacked include a weapon that is being used to harm us. These various weapons have different interpretations in the dream world.
- Knife – This means that someone betrayed you and you finally saw their real colors, only after it was too late. According to some other interpretations, dreams of being attacked or stabbed with a knife also signify a toxic relationship that is doing us more harm than good.
- Scissors – You may have made someone very angry or upset. Besides, if you have been behaving badly towards others, it is possible that they may get angry enough to retaliate. So, this could be a sign for you to pay close attention to your own aggressive behavior.
- Sword – It symbolizes the childhood wounds you carry. Also, it means that you may still feel like you are doing something wrong that you would’ve once been punished for; it is in reality your own critical voice.
- Bullet – It signifies the fear you feel in a relationship. This could be any relationship in your life or even a fear of a stranger who you think has the ability to hurt you.
Dream of being attacked by an animal
Dreams of being attacked by animals have varied meanings based on which animal you see in your dream. Following are detailed examples based on the animals in the scenario.
- Bear – Such a dream means that you are worried about being able to protect your family from harm.
- Dog – To see such a dream means that you may actually be involved in a fight or argument with a member of your family. This symbolizes your attitude towards them or a particular situation.
- Cat – Someone in your life may not always have your best intentions at heart. It also means that when you are succeeding, someone else in your life is not entirely happy. So, this dream can be a good warning sign to think of who in our life deserves to be in our inner circle.
- Shark – It means that you may soon be emotionally attacked by someone or something. In a simpler way, this indicates that you may either feel hurt, someone may say mean hurtful to you or people may behave in ways that are not considerate of your feelings.
- Wolf – Some dreams indicate that you may be sabotaged in some career move by a peer or colleague. In some other interpretations, it signifies emotional viciousness.
- Lion – They represent the threat you may be feeling in the company of someone a lot more powerful or influential than you.
- Tiger – It represents the real threats that you are trying to avoid in real life. While it is good to be careful and cautious, this dream could also be a warning sign to be smart and take a look around us.
- Bull – It represents some bad news that you may soon have to hear. Some interpretations even suggest having fake friends in your life. This means that it may be time for you to pay more attention to people who may seem harmless in your life but in reality, are not.
- Eagle – It means that someone could be taking advantage of the affection you have for them and it is not coming back to hurt you. It could even indicate a challenge you face by others; they could be trying to distract you from your goals, but you must keep your focus on yourself and away from your competitors.
Biblical Meaning
Biblically, dreams of being attacked are considered common as well, since humans live in such strong numbers and groups. It is possible that you are merely remembering such an incident that did happen to you.
Besides, they are also a reminder of protecting from the threat and harm of others wherein people may always have either good or bad intentions.
Alongside this, these dreams indicate you may be carrying around hurt from the past. Also, this dream is a sign to think more calmly before immediately reacting in defense.
How To Deal With Dreams Of Being Attacked
As you may have seen so far, dreams of being attacked lead to various emotions.
One of the primary emotions is fear, however, there are also other emotions like anger, past issues, protection, threats, and lack of control-related stress.
- Tell yourself that dreams and reality are two different things.
- Remind yourself that a memory of an attack does not mean you will be attacked again.
- Remind yourself that competitions are a part of life, and you are capable of fighting. Also, understand that you are capable of handling threats of others.
- Tell yourself that it is okay if some things are out of your control.
- Give yourself a chance to understand what hurt you in the past.
- Give yourself a chance to understand what can still hurt you in the present.
- Make a list of things you feel powerless against, and try to make a plan B.
Conclusion
Dreams of being attacked signify our fears, the threats we face, the rivals we are scared of, and the memories of some traumatic events from our past.
Dreams of being attacked are thus negative dreams, but they can also be a good way to introspect about what affects our sense of peace and security!
