I don't think I have ever dreamed as vividly as I did in the first six months of recovery. I suppose I had what's collectively termed "PAWS" -- a syndrome about which I am purposefully undereducated -- though at the time, I wrote it off as the expected damage resulting from years of addiction.
I do believe that we know and experience things below and above the level of human consciousness and that those things come out in our dreams. In my view of it, and likely supported in some philosophical school of thought (for which I'm too lazy right now to hunt down), addiction lies below, spirituality above. I guess Freud's id, ego, superego theories would fit the bill. Until we can get far enough along the path to bring those opposing forces into the light of conscious examination, they're going to fight it out while we sleep. Which seems to be what was happening to me in that first six months or so -- what still happens these days to an extent.
I never really considered it, but Ivan's experience goes along with my own. Those dreams greatly decreased once I got through the initial housecleaning. These days, if they appear again, I either need to spend some more concentrated effort on a 10th step--or watch what I eat right before I go to sleep.
Peace & Love,
Sugah
~Who has a crazy border collie who will bite a moving car, but never, so far, a human being.