What Does Dreaming About Being Kidnapped Mean?

Many specialists say that kidnapping dreams, specifically dreaming of being kidnapped yourself, reflects the fear of deprivation or loss of freedom. Dreaming about being kidnapped is a more common dream than you might think and can be due to you feeling unable to do what you want to during certain stages of life. What leads to you being unable to do this may be a lack of control or censorship of your feelings. When other influences are stronger than your own will, dreaming of being kidnapped is the ultimate depiction of a lack of control, to be incarcerated physically might be representative of an emotional or philosophical lack of control in your own life.

The fear which often accompanies dreaming of being kidnapped might have relevance in real life. If you still live at home, perhaps simple parental prohibitions might be your concern. If you are having difficulties at work, maybe it has something to do with the controlling nature of your boss. Despite this widespread interpretation, meanings of dreams are very subjective and we must know exactly the context and the circumstances of the dream in order to understand its true meaning.

If you fear that someone else might be doing your job better than you, that someone might be taking over in a position that you used to occupy, you may have dreams where you are kidnapped by an unknown person. It is not uncommon for human beings to fear the unknown, dreaming about being kidnapped may be closely linked to the concerns you might have in the present or future.

If dreaming of being kidnapped represents a fear of censorship or being unable express yourself, maybe you should find ways to express yourself. This could be artistically, through sport, through obtaining your professional or personal goals or however you might feel validated.

Interpretations of these dreams are diverse, but it is likely that dreaming about a kidnapped relative does not have the same meaning as dreaming of criminals kidnapping an unknown person, like a bank manager for example. The connection you have with a family member is nothing like what you have with a bank manager, so the interpretation may be quite different.

In the first case, it is a clear reflection of fearing the loss of someone special. Perhaps this is to do with a romantic relationship where you may be drifting apart or your insecurities are acting up and you fear this person will leave you. This may be due to personal issues between each other, but equally dreaming of someone close to you being kidnapped can mean there are outside influences which might be concerning you. Perhaps work circumstances are changing or you fear you are growing lower in your partner's priorities. If this is the case, communicating your worries in a positive way might be useful to you. If there isn't a problem in your relationship then you may be reassured enough to stop dreaming about being kidnapped.

In the second case, your reaction is worth analyzing as much as what's happening in the dream. If you dream of someone you don't know being kidnapped, but are glad that this unknown person is being kidnapped, it may mean this person represents something in your life which needs to be overcome. Following the example of the banker, if you're glad he's being kidnapped it could mean you are expecting an economic windfall. Conversely, if you are afraid, it may relate to hidden fears that you have about your finances or related problems which need to be solved. Depending on the unknown person being kidnapped, their relationship to you, their profession, their circumstances, etc., your subconscious concerns might be represented by them.

Are you dreaming about being kidnapped due to some kind of misunderstanding such as not reading the fine print of a contract? It is common to feel like you have signed your soul away on your mortgage or a big professional contract which will tie you down for great lengths of time. This kind of dream can be caused by worrying about important commitments, very strong ties which create an obligation and a responsibility of great importance. It is quite possible that after a commitment you may start to dream of kidnappings.

Do you make friends with your kidnapper during the dreams? Having Stockholm syndrome will just mean that you want to face your fears though you are unsure whether to trust yourself, your instinct or others. You may be doubting whether to rely or not on someone. Dreaming of being kidnapped and doubt can go hand in hand, again partly due to the lack of control. Housing markets and many professional considerations are out of your control, so this may be what is weighing heavily on you as you dream.

Are you a shy person? If you have trouble relating to others and it's hard for you to open yourself to the world, it is likely that you may be dreaming of being kidnapped. For a person with few social skills, there is always a personal conflict about whether to accept the rules which govern life in society. Introverts are less likely to accept the norms that would allow them to be integrated into society, perhaps because there is a feeling that these rules have led to their loneliness or isolation. It is very common for these people to dream of being kidnapped because of their inability or difficulty to follow the rules. If you are at school, college or in a professional environment, perhaps you feel like more popular or sociable people are intimidating you and you feel trapped in your own mind. If you are introverted and are dreaming of being kidnapped, you should try to talk to a mental health professional in case these feelings dominate you and lead to further problems down the line.

If you dream that it is you kidnapping another person, subconsciously you may like the idea that people submit to your will. If you usually impose your will onto others, if you regularly take control in your social group and if you do not like people to contradict you, it is likely that you get this kind of dream. The people around you who tend to submit to your will may not do it forever and you might be forced to change your attitude.

Others may interpret a dream where you kidnap someone you know to the feeling of not being able to overcome loss, to not being able to let go. There may be an issue you have been dwelling about in your head for a long time. This dream may mean it's time to get it out of your head, not an easy thing to do and it may require the assistance of someone else.

If you are frustrated constantly, you bite your tongue and avoid all conflict, you are most certainly repressed. Therefore, it is very normal that you dream of being kidnapped. This could be the result of a weak character and how impressionable you are. A good tip to stop these feelings of torment is that you fight for your opinions and make others listen to you.

The reasons for this fear of conflict may be genuine, especially if you are being kidnapped by someone you love or are close to in your dream, as it may mean this person is contributing to your insecurity. If you are in a family where there are a lot of arguments, dreaming of being kidnapped may be a fear of conflict, but equally it could be a desire to evade this conflict because of the harmful repercussions you are experiencing in your conscious life. There may be underlying concerns or worries which are being unaddressed because of this fear of conflict, so you should try to find ways to engage with these issues before they come to define you.

We also recommend taking a look at these other dream meanings:

• What does dreaming of falling mean
• What does dreaming about money mean

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