Jan 11, 2013 | By Tim Stoddart

Why do we have Drug Dreams?

Addiction & Recovery News

Recovering alcoholics or drug addicts may sometimes suffer from reoccurring dreams about the drugs of their choice. While this may be troubling to individuals in recovery, it is typically not a sign of a relapse waiting to happen. Learning about the way the mind reacts when in recovery will help those to understand what triggers they might face in terms of relapsing as well as how to deal with vivid drug dreams.

drug dreams

While someone in recovery may be doing well and have sworn off drugs or alcohol, their subconscious mind could have a whole other feeling about the subject. The conscious mind of the individual might know that trying even a sip of alcohol or a drug is relapsing and would damper the whole recovery process by setting the individual back again. However when the individual falls asleep, their subconscious mind could bring forth very visual drug dreams of one actually drinking a glass of alcohol or consuming their drug of choice. This can be due to the person’s subconscious mind working through the phases of the recovery process.

Although drug dreams may be harmless to the person, they can seem so real that the individual might wake realistically thinking they have consumed or are in possession of their favorite drug of choice or alcoholic beverage. This can be so frighteningly real that some people will have convinced themselves they will not be able to recover completely. However, it is important for one to know that this is only a phase as the mind is recovering and relearning how to adjust without stimulants. It is also beneficial for those who are having vivid drug dreams to speak about them with their counselor or therapist to help them realize specific triggers.

There are some things that one may do to help them have less chances of inducing a dream-induced state thereby eliminating drug dreams. While trying these techniques may work well for some, they may not work as well for others as everyone is unique. By helping to eliminate drug dreams, this will also help the person along in their recovery process by removing the temptations the subconscious mind may bring about. One important thing one may do is to of course speak with either their counselor or therapist about all of the details about their drug dreams. Intense drug dreams may even prompt the person to try a 12-step meeting so they may recover from the realistic feelings of their drug dreams better. Lastly, another important thing one can do is to perform exercises before bed time. This will help to drastically reduce the ability for the subconscious mind to enter a dream state. By doing this, the person will help themselves stay away from such a visual, vivid representation of engaging in activities in their drug dreams.

37 responses to “Why do we have Drug Dreams?

  • i still have drinking dreams after 6yrs and 3 months can still wake up feeling the shame as if it was yesterday but then realise it was just a dream and the relief is great .i was told it instills a healthy fear of alchol ..

    • 27 years in recovery from alcohol, I had a vivid drinking dream early this morning. These dreams do not concern me. I know I can’t be enticed from a dream to start drinking again, however i do see it as a coping tool, to not drinking again. We escape into another world in our dreams, sometimes back to a world we left behind. There are no what if’s or maybe’s for me. I will die an alcoholic who is in recovery. I nerver want to forget my past, it will be a constant in my future.

      • I appreciate what you said here. I had a using dream and immediately felt shame. Thank you for your insight.

        • Im in recovery at the moment and these dreams are driving me crazy. Is it normal to constantly feel emotional x

          • adriana

            7 years ago

            Yes it is normal, especially if you are recently sober. Your body and mind need time to recover from the substance abuse. This takes time. What helps speed up your biological recovery is exercise.

  • I have been off of opiates for almost a year om jan 29 2014. Yet I have very very vivid dreams of having pills on my or going and getting them and giing through the breakdown process or dream about the fun times I had. It has not caused me to relapse but I do wake up rather bummed because I had to tur n my back on that life and create a whole new life and forget about my past. I had to create a whole new identity. So when I dream about my past it really s addens me. I wish the dreams would cease. In love this article and think a lot of people probably relate to it. Everyone should share!!

    • gabriel goza

      9 years ago

      Hey I’m going thru the exact same thing I just had a oc dream last night an I’ve been clean a little over a year now and it made me wanna relapse bad but like you I moved away from my past and live in a new town in stuff now .. it’s crazy but I found jogging long distances really helps and gives you a natural high so I do that, plus I go to college here so that helps. I think the key is to stay busy, plus I found God when researching Buddhist and other eastern religions and I learned about how real the laws of karma really are… But Ya I just thought I’d share that

      • I have been sober for 7 years and I just had the most VIVID heroin dream last night! I haven’t had a user dream in over five years. I woke up sweating, shaking, and crying it was totally out of the blue and really shook me up. I wasn’t even slightly mentally prepared for it, I guess they will continue to happen forever. I find the thing that helps me the most is forcing myself to remember how horrible detoxing was, how much that addiction took from me, everyone I lied to and stole from and disappointed, and last how much money I wasted on the stupid crap and that I could live the rest of my life without working my butt off if I hadn’t have done that mess. It seems to slam me back to reality, although I was highly upset for a good while.

        • Joni,
          7 years is amazing.
          Maybe one day the dreams will stop.
          I googled and found this page because I had a dream last night where I was debating acting out. I’m newly sober 80 days. I don’t remember actually acting out though.

        • I myself had my 2nd one about herion . I was actively using in my dream. Remind u I have only been clean 3months. N in my addiction I had never banged herion. But in my dream I was doing that n it felt so real like I coukd feel the needle go into my arm. N then I could see myself look into a mirror n my eyes looked aweful with the darkest circles I’ve ever seen n my cheeks on my face were sunken in. It was pretty intense . I woke up out of it finally at 6am. N I honestly checked my arm it was so intense . But I thought it was werid that I would shoot this drug in me considering I hate needles . So vivid just was very overwhelming n it’s my 30th birthday today very odd. For real!

    • I’ve been doing great for a while now until just now I had such vivid dope dream . Things are going good for me my life has never been so peaceful . Just asking the dream maker to make my dreams of love peace and serenity. Need prayers thanks

  • I have been addicted to crack cocaine for almost 3 years off and on. It sucks I want to stop and I read the na book in jail it really helped I stayed strong for almost 90 days but drinking assisted my relapse. I stopped drinking to try and get back on track but it seems like the drug has taken ahold of me again. I’ve never been to rehab and am trying to get myself into a rehab now. I need to go before I get stuck in my old ways too long then I’m afraid I can’t stop until I’m either dead or in prison. I hope one day I can look back at this comment years from now…clean andwith my family.

    • i smoked crack for over 8 years solid and went through at least 650,000. I have been clean since 2003, i was in a psych ward when my granny died. That was my bottom, not being able to say goodbye.

      I found the urges for crack always came in threes with me, the third day, the third week, the third month, and i was prepared for them by being with people to keep me occupied.

      We are stronger than any drug. We can do it, I cannot let my family down again, ever. I was able to spend 10 years with my mother before she died by stopping.
      Im here if anyone needs to talk.

      • I need strong support! I’m struggling and need to quit for the sake of my 3 boys and loved ones

        • Marilyn please connect to local support groups, sober friends and family. It also might be good to consider therapy. Find things you enjoy doing with your kids and go do them! You can beat this.

  • I have been clean for a yr on april 29th I have the most horrifying dreams I was an iv user and in my dreams I watch the blood go into the needle and I cant ever push it, my ex bf who was also my addiction is always in my dreams too especially when im getttin high in them, they drive me crazy and it just makes for a really hard day. idk wat they mean I wish I could just get some straight forward answers. 🙁

  • @ mk it sounds like you have the desire to stop using and therefore through thevfellowship of na and with the help of a sponsor and a higher power, it can happen as it did for me! God bless, I hope you find your path again. I have been clean for nearly 5 years and I also have been having these messed up using dreams cos I’m going through
    Some tough times. The triggers from the past are playing up! Better get myself back to a meeting quickly. As they say! This too shall pass…

  • @ mk it sounds like you have the desire to stop using and therefore through thevfellowship of na and with the help of a sponsor and a higher power, it can happen as it did for me! God bless, I hope you find your path again. I have been clean for nearly 5 years and I also have been having these messed up using dreams cos I’m going through
    Some tough times. The triggers from the past are playing up! Better get myself back to a meeting quickly. As they say! This too shall pass…

  • Not dreaming of peace

    10 years ago

    I have also been having using dreams. In June I will be 4 years clean from using meth intravenously. I have the dream where the blood is going into needle. I couldn’t push it in at first and then I did and I felt the high in my dream. I have had using dreams before but this is he first one where I could actually feel the high. It’s scary and horrifying. I will never go back there but it is so upsetting to have to feel that in my dream and know I can never have that feeling again. Whole day is disturbed now.

  • I have not been clean for a long time but for 50 days. I continue to have reoccurring dreams that I am using heroin intravenously when I wake up it upsets me to think I used and feei scared. I want this to end

  • Ive been on mmt for a little over two years now I got clean off of heroin and pills the second month I started.latley ive been having dreams of using again I dont know if its a sign of relapse becauae in real life it seems like my mmt isnt holding me all day and sometimes I want to take more.i dont want this to continue in my dreams or me dipping into my bottles and that becoming a habit I cant stop.

  • My clean date is March 3rd 2015. I went to rehab for 38 days and had a few using dreams while there but nothing too bad. I left rehab on April 8th and last night was the first night I have had a using dream since I’ve been home. But in it I didn’t even actually use, I just fought with myself throughout the dream and in the end I ended up not using. I also haven’t had any serious cravings since I’ve been home either, but when I woke up this morning from that dream I felt extremely guilty and it made me question my recovery. It had me thinking that maybe I have been wanting to get high when I know I really haven’t. Our mind/addiction is such a powerful thing.. like they say “cunning, baffling, and powerful” I really let that dream shake me up for a little while this morning but I think it’s a good thing I had it because it just reminded me that my disease didn’t go away just because I quit using. Its still right there waiting for me to slip up so it can take control again. And that makes me wanna stay clean even more now because I REFUSE to let addiction kick my ass any longer. My Higher Power is in control now and as long as I look to Him to remove the obsession and keep doing what I know I need to do then I never have to get high again and that’s such a wonderful feeling of relief. This way of life really is the “easier, softer way” I’m figuring out.

  • Brittany Sherrill

    9 years ago

    My clean date is March 3rd 2015. I went to rehab for 38 days and had a few using dreams while there but nothing too bad. I left rehab on April 8th and last night was the first night I have had a using dream since I’ve been home. But in it I didn’t even actually use, I just fought with myself throughout the dream and in the end I ended up not using. I also haven’t had any serious cravings since I’ve been home either, but when I woke up this morning from that dream I felt extremely guilty and it made me question my recovery. It had me thinking that maybe I have been wanting to get high when I know I really haven’t. Our mind/addiction is such a powerful thing.. like they say “cunning, baffling, and powerful” I really let that dream shake me up for a little while this morning but I think it’s a good thing I had it because it just reminded me that my disease didn’t go away just because I quit using. Its still right there waiting for me to slip up so it can take control again. And that makes me wanna stay clean even more now because I REFUSE to let addiction kick my ass any longer. My Higher Power is in control now and as long as I look to Him to remove the obsession and keep doing what I know I need to do then I never have to get high again and that’s such a wonderful feeling of relief. This way of life really is the “easier, softer way” I’m figuring out

  • Sober 5 years off blow. Had a super vivid dream and I woke up like it was a nightmare. I am in the midst of actively pursuing a passion of mine that I put on the sidelines for almost 20 years because I was on drugs. I feel so powerful knowing the cause of the nightmare and it makes me glad to know that I am doing the right things, changed my life and have been given the opportunity to turn my life around. It makes the nightmare of relapsing less frightening and I laugh it off, as if it were an annnoying trick my brain is playing on me.

  • My partner and father of our 2 year old son has been clean from a 10 year heroin addiction for 5 years now (after multiple rehab stints). And since he stopped smoking weed a month ago his addiction dreams have been terrible, it scares him and for a split second when he wakes up he thinks he wants it again he has to remind himself he has a family, a house, a life now.. He hates these dreams and they get him down. I don’t know how I can help….. I fear / know that this fight against addiction will be with him forever.

  • Alley Kaye

    8 years ago

    OMG, I thought I was the only one that had these! I quit my DOC (drug of choice) almost 10 years ago, but have frequent dreams about relapsing. Glad to know I’m not losing my mind.

  • This makes so much sense! Especially the part that its just helping me to remember I don’t want to go back to doing meth! Its been 2 years and 1 month ago that I literally just said “no”. That night was the end of my constant 10 year neth addiction (I have tears and goosebumps as I’m typing) the dreams are still so real. Now I know not to be confused about them. Stay sober! And be proud of it!!!!

  • The dream was so real I get tied up inside the dream and think I’m actually participating in things I really feel like they’re getting stronger I’m going on 5 years clean from crack cocaine I love my clear time, I just want the dreams to stop I have no urge to use but the dreams are bothering me does anybody have any feedback out there that can help me please desperate and alone Loretta

    • I understand it can be super hard!!! I think the best way to go would be to open up about your dreams, to a professional or even a close trusted family member/friend so you can get out of your head and see what others might think. Also start a dream journal, whenever you have a “drug dream” detail it, and also detail the day you had before the dream, You can figure out if some particular thoughts,feelings,stress or situation during those days are triggering the dreams (look for similar situations in each day you have these dreams). Usually people don’t get addicted to a drug just because they like the drug, it’s usually because there trying to bury something inside themselves, maybe you need to work through or figure out the issues that caused you to become addicted in the first place.
      I can’t say I’ve heard of anybody finding a way to get rid of these dreams completely, but acknowledging them and being able to talk openly about them will help you work through them and understand why you’re having them so often!

    • Ive been clean from use for almost 2 weeks now and i know its not a long time, but i’m proud of myself. i’ve stolen from and wronged and lied to people close to me, including my girlfriend of 15 years, high school sweetheart, whom i’ve know for at least 20 years now….. i’ve been ashamed and desperate myself. i now have a job where i’ve been promoted within 1.5 months to management and its definitely a push in the right direction. i’m finding that the more i can keep myself busy in real life, the easier it is to put smoking crack behind me. although, it hasnt been easy at all and I also experience dreams of relapse where i wake up thinking i have some somewhere and i want it. im trying hard to stay strong and resist. ive been a dealer for some time and the more i disassociate with that lifestyle, the easier it is to put the past behind me and i almost “hate” that lifestyle now. i miss my friends who use and most of all, i miss the hustle, but it put me at ground zero with crack and i’ve found it almost impossible to resist. if you can disassociate yourself to the lifestyle and really desire to stay sober for yourself above all else, you can get past it. you are definitely not alone. the struggle is real.

  • I was addicted to opiates (different types of pain killers) for about 5 years and have been clean for 18 months now. I dream about going out and buying/abusing pills (and even hiding the drug abuse from my boyfriend) very often…. Basically the dreams consisted of everything I had actually done in my past.
    But last night I had a dream that I was shooting up heroin. I shot up and then I was lying on the floor unable to control my body to get up… I was never addicted to, nor have I even tried heroin (it couldn’t be found around here when I was still abusing pills) I woke up in a sweat it felt so real! I’m confused as to why I’m now dreaming about heroin, maybe knowing it is available in my city now is screwing with my head. I don’t know. But for the most part these dreams just keep me wanting to MOVE FORWARD! When I first awake I’m sometimes disappointed that I don’t have drugs or that I’m not high, but quickly it turns into being glad it was a dream!!!

  • Kimberly Mitchell

    7 years ago

    December 19, 2016
    I awoke from a drug dream around 2:15 a.m. in the dream I manipulated for money and was about to prostitute myself. These two things are old behaviors for me. I have been sober for 2 yrs.and 2 months. I awoke feeling excited because I had scored and was about to use. I’ve had drug dreams before but never woke up feeling happy and excited. This alarmed me so I googled “what does drug dreams mean?” and found this site. Thank you to everyone who shared their experience, strength and hope. I also went on another website that said it could represent insecurity in my life or a need to relax from my life due to the fact that I dreamed about crack and marijuana. I’ve journaled and am about to take a shower and pray. I will be discussing this dream with my therapist and sponsor.

  • I’ve been a user of heroine for just about 4 years now and crack cocaine for a few months , weirdly I got off of dope my drug of choice by smoking Cain , I have been clean from dope for 1 month almost 2 and it’s a great feeling , although I’ve only been clean off of Cain for 1 week and I was using it very very heavily, i was getting it for free from my friends who sold it and my ex bf it was so easy to get and now I’m trying to stay away from it I will get extremely strong vivid dreams that I’m with my dealer I use to chill with and I’d always have the stem in my mouth with a lighter but never smoked it, its always in my possession and the dreams are so real and i can even sometimes smell it during my daily activities, smh or I’ll have ppl txt me saying I’m around… and I hate it I also have so many triggers and I just want it all to stop I never stole from anyone I’ve always worked I just have a very additive personality when I lost my father in 2015 to a motorcycle accident I lost it all!! I was a daddy’s girl I’m only 24 and struggle with life so hard I wish I could live normal if my dad was here I would notttt ever touched crack im so weak without him.. please pray for me

  • I’m 5 months and 24 days sober off crystal, I’m 15 side, wasn’t the only thing I would smoke but it was the one I liked best because it was cheapests and lasts long. Ever since I was put in foster care I started having night mares about smoking again it would be terrible because in the dream I liked it but deep down I hated it. Foster care was fine for me but at times I’d break down sometimes during the day usually during night when I was alone with my own thoughts. After foster care my friends stopped contacting me. I just wanted to know if these dreams meant I was willing to do it again if offered, one thing I do know is I’m staying away from any of my friends that still smoke it, because my dad passed away from it and well that’s how I learned YOU EITHER GET CLEAN OR DIE.

  • Veronica Isela Medina

    7 years ago

    I’m having. Hard time . I’m scared to fall asleep cuz my dream of shooting up meth seems so real. And I wake up feeling like I’m high
    No one understands, and family accuses of my being high . I don’t want to be high I want to be normal

  • Vivianamr

    6 years ago

    I had a cocaine addiction for 13 years. I’ve been sober for the past 8 years, but still dreaming almost every night with cocaine. Different scenarios and people, but the same common factor always, so realistic I can feel the same effects. It becomes exhausting sometimes, because I just want to have a normal life and normal dreams. I just need my subconscious mind to give me a break! In the meantime it is good to know that I’m not the only one. I will just ignore the dreams and keep on fighting every day.

  • Lacey Jensen

    4 years ago

    I’m almost 2 years sober and had a dream I bought heroin and crack last night. Why am I having this dream 2 years later. It scares me

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