What do bad dreams mean?

Last night I had a bad dream, not necessarily a nightmare. I wasn't scared or terrified; but it was emotional. My mother became sick again and this time she wasn't going to survive it. At the point where she was dying in the hospital my other little inner persona jumped up and I took control of the dream. I tend to have lucid dreams, not often, but usually a couple of times a month I realize that I am in a dream and influence what happens next. Usually, I fix something I don't like about it.

But, as I sit here sipping my cranberry juice, my mind wanders and I wonder what (look at my mad alliteration skills) bad dreams foretell.

Now then, Freud would certainly tell me I'm repressing some kind of sexual need. Naturally, I think everyone in his time period was sexually repressed. But the nuts and bolts of a dream, to me, is the communication between your body and subconscious and your conscious self. Sometimes your dreams are sort and store, it's like the little monkey in your mind picks up all the pieces from the hectic day and tries to shelve them where they belong. Sometimes your body is trying to tell you something, "Hey, you are too stressed out and making me tense up!" or "Yo! Dummy. Stop eating so much crap!" I remember one time where in my dream I started suffering migraine symptoms. I woke up, and shortly after I did get hit with the aura of an oncoming migraine. My body recognized the chemical imbalance and tried to warn me.

Dream Moods lists eight types of dreams:

Daydreams:
Studies show that we all have the tendency to daydream an average of 70-120 minutes a day. Day dreaming is classified as a level of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness.

Lucid dreams:
Lucid dreams occurs when you realize you are dreaming. "Wait a second. This is only a dream!"

Nightmares:
A nightmare is a disturbing dream that causes the dreamer to wake up feeling anxious and frightened.

Recurring Dream:
Speaks for itself

Healing Dreams:
Healing dreams serve as messages for the dreamer in regards to their health. Many dream experts believe that dreams can help us avoid potential health problems.

Prophetic Dreams:
Prophetic dreams, also referred to as precognitive or psychic dreams, are dreams that seemingly foretell the future.

Signal Dreams:
Signal dreams help you how to solve problems or make decisions in your waking life.

Epic Dreams:
Epic dreams (also known as Great Dreams or Cosmic Dreams) are so huge, so compelling, and so vivid that you cannot ignore them.

I found a fun little dream interpreter tool that allows you to describe your dream and it pulls out significant words you use and tells you what that might mean. It's at Freakydreams.com .

So, what did my dream from last night mean? Well, I'm dissatisfied with work and I'm thinking of looking for a new job. I always worry about my mother's health. I would bet my subconscious was using my mother to symbolize my dwindling relationship with work. The great thing is, once you've dreamed and remembered, you can think through it and figure out what makes sense to you.

As a writer, I've certainly had some crazy dreams and honestly, I've gotten a few plot ideas from thinking through my dreams the next morning.

What type of dreamer are you? Have any that really stick with you?