DREAM - Heroin I was a heroin addict. Then I was out shopping for clothes.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION The dreamer had just been accused by her boyfriend of talking obsessively about her new job. She was going to be working abroad. This outraged the dreamer who felt that this was completely exaggerated. She had been talking about her new job but she was obviously excited about moving to a new country.

DREAM ANALYSIS: When analysing a dream it is important to make little connections or associations. This dream is quite interesting as it features two things, heroin and shopping, which we could link together in an interesting way. Heroin is an obvious and dangerous addiction. Shopping can also be an addiction. The dreamer was a woman and for women shopping can be an outlet for obsessive behaviours. So we can link together these two key symbols from the dream. A shopping addiction is obviously a much milder addiction.

In some ways we have to link together these two symbols of shopping and heroin addicts because it was only a short dream with two symbols. We have to look for some connection in order to make sense of the dream.

This connection may have some value because the dreamer was focusing on her obsessive and addictive behaviours after her boyfriend had said that she was talking obsessively about her new job.

When something happens we start asking ourselves questions. This dream maybe links to this type of conversation that the dreamer was having with herself "My boyfriend accused me of being obsessed about my new job! How dare he! I am not obsessed. Am I obsessed? I don't think so. I might be a bit compulsive. I don't think I am obsessive. By the way he is talking you might think I was some kind of heroin addict."

Perhaps this direct accusation that she was "obsessed about her new job" had made the dreamer examine her own obsessive and compulsive behaviour. She was maybe looking at any example of compulsive behaviour and maybe thought about much milder compulsions such as a shopping addiction.

In real life the dreamer had said "How dare he accuse me of being obsessed. I might be talking a lot about my new job. But it's in a new country and obviously I am going to be excited about it."