What Does It Mean If You’re Dreaming About Being Chased?

The “thrill of the chase” takes on new meaning when it happens in your dreams. Indeed, dreams about being chased can bring up fear, stress, and night sweats as you struggle to outmaneuver whatever ominous entity is on your tail.

No matter who you are or where you’re from, there’s a high chance you’ve had some form of this unsettling dream. “Being chased is one of the most common nightmare themes. It’s interesting that across time and cultures, human beings tend to have very similar dream themes, and often these are related to survival impulses,” says Dr. Leslie Ellis, Ph.D., RCC, author, and educator specializing in teaching mental-health professionals how to work with dreams in their practice. “I have written a paper on nightmares and the nervous system and suggested the dreams of being chased might be equated with a fight/flight response, a signal that the person’s stress levels are elevated because they are experiencing some kind of threat,” adds Dr. Ellis, who also specializes in working with nightmares related to trauma. “Being chased is a primal experience, and I think dreams like this reflect memories that have been part of our universal survival instincts.”

As you might have guessed, your chasing dream is likely not about literally being chased. “Dreams tend to be multi-determined, and the literal level is always worth considering, though I find this to be the least likely or interesting way to understand a dream. Rarely in modern life do we have to worry about actually being chased by a predator,” says Dr. Ellis. “But we have retained our autonomic threat responses and simply overlaid them on what we now perceive as threatening — and these threats become our dream pursuers or some symbolic representation of them. Being chased in a dream suggests that a person is feeling pursued, persecuted, or in some way unable to escape a situation. It could mean there is something in themselves or in their life or environment that they are not facing, and this is stirring up anxiety, making them want to escape from it.”

“More often than not, a chasing dream has to do with what we are running away from,” says Autumn Fourkiller, Indigenous mystic and writer behind the Dream Interpretation for Dummies newsletter. “This can take a multitude of forms: a heavy conversation, a deadline, doing the dishes, etc. Any stressful period in life can bring about chasing dreams, and they are especially common for those of us who avoid confrontation, conflict, and big displays of emotion.”

Layne Dalfen, founder of the Dream Interpretation Center, Concordia University lecturer, and author of the Have a Great Dream books, urges you to pay attention to what you are being chased by in the dream. “Since the symbols we choose are never random, the best idea is to investigate who or what is chasing you,” she advises.

Such dreams have been especially common following the coronavirus pandemic. Fourkiller tells the Cut, “I think many of us do not have the time nor the luxury of processing what occurred to us in the pandemic, and so a chasing dream could signify that it’s time to, little by little, start going through our emotions, feelings, traumas, and the like.”

Anything that may pose a threat to our sense of safety could spark a dream about being chased, according to Dr. Ellis. “Threats to survival or one’s sense of safety are not unique to our times. However, chase dreams in 2024 could reflect the specific threats we are currently facing such as environmental concerns or the increased political polarization the world is experiencing,” she explains. “The pursuer often takes the form of whatever the dreamer finds particularly threatening, so, for example, during the early days of the COVID pandemic, people more often dreamed of unseen threats, bugs, illness, and death. One theory about the purpose of dreaming is to prepare us for threatening situations, so such dreams might be viewed in this light. My sense is that such dreams are a reflection of the undercurrent of emotion that we experience, and when dreaming, these are more apt to rise to the surface.”

The upcoming election may also be influencing your dreams. Dalfen says she’s noticed recently dreamers describe the appearance of former president Donald Trump or Vice-President Kamala Harris in their dreams. In these cases, she says “you will definitely want to take a pen and write down what associations you have to each of them.” In doing so, she says you’ll be able to uncover “two key elements.” First, “it may help point you to someone in your waking life, with similar characteristics in some current dilemma you are facing.” Second, “that person chasing you may be encouraging you to adopt the same traits you described, in which case, revealing the dream’s solution.”
Of course, interpreting dream symbols is a subjective process, and the meaning of any detail your sleeping brain presents will depend on your personal associations with that item. Still, Jane Teresa Anderson, a dream analyst and the author of Bird of Paradise: Taming the Unconscious to Bring Your Dreams to Fruition, also believes dreams about being chased could indicate that you’ve recently been avoiding something unpleasant in waking life.

“The question to ask yourself is: Do I feel like I’m running away from something that’s chasing me, or trying to hide from something I don’t want to face?” Anderson tells the Cut. That something could be a deadline, financial issues, health concerns, or a relationship — anything that makes you feel like bolting when it springs to mind. If you’re having these dreams, however, Anderson cautions that continuing to duck your demons may only make the situation worse.

“When we run from our fears, they get bigger and bigger and bigger in our imagination,” she says, “but when we turn around and face our fears, we actually see them for what they are and we can figure out how to cope with them and find solutions.” According to Dalfen, the solution may be available to you within the actual dream. You just have to do the work to uncover it. For instance, she gives an example of a woman who dreamed she was being chased by a rhinoceros. After delving more deeply into what the animal symbolizes for her, the woman said she views them as “very powerful.” According to Dalfen, this led to “a surprising solution by her figuratively allowing the rhinoceros to ‘catch her.’” Dalfen explains, “During a time she was feeling vulnerable and weak, the rhinoceros turned out to be the dream’s solution to her current waking circumstance.”

Here’s what it may mean if you’re dreaming about being chased.

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If you dream you’re being chased down a dead-end street …

If you dream you’re running and running from something until you run into a wall, Anderson explains that your brain might be nudging you to please deal with the stressful situation already. “If you’re being chased down a dead-end street,” she says, “you can say, ‘Well, whatever it is that I’m frightened of … it’s not getting me anywhere, it’s only getting me to a dead end.” You should consider trying to address the situation head-on, she suggests.

Fourkiller agrees that this sort of dream indicates that it’s “time to face a problem head on.” She explains, “your subconscious is probably giving you a warning that there isn’t much time left to turn around and face whatever is chasing you before it becomes impossible to avoid and your hand is forced.”

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If you dream you’re being chased by a person …

Say your dream finds you being chased by a person — whether they’re a stranger or someone you know, “ask yourself what’s the personality of that person — how do they approach life?” Anderson suggests. “You might say it’s someone who’s always really critical,” because the people we see in our dreams often represent parts of ourselves, Anderson explains, the presence of a judgmental person trailing you in your dreams could mean you’re fleeing your own overcritical impulses. Determining what this person represents to you may help you to determine which aspects of your own personality you have been suppressing or denying.

Fourkiller adds, “if you dream you’re being chased by someone you know, it’s a perfect opportunity for you to evaluate your relationship with that person. Is it a fluke? Or, are you fearful of why they are pursuing you and what they might do if they catch you?”

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If you dream you’re being chased by an animal …

The same logic would apply: Consider your personal associations with the animal and apply that to your life over the past few days. While cautioning against taking a “dream dictionary” approach to unpacking this type of symbolism, Anderson says that “in general, if you dream of animals, you often dreaming of your own animal instincts.” So ask yourself: What’s the instinct of this particular animal? If the animal in your dream is a bear, for example, what does thinking about bears bring up for you? If the instinct that jumps to mind is a bear hug, then consider what has been making you feel smothered lately. “It might be an overenthusiastic partner, it might be an overwhelming job that wants to suck the breath out of you,” Anderson says. Alternatively, it might be “your own instinct … to get so involved in things that you suffocate.” Dreaming about trying to escape an alligator, meanwhile, could suggest you’re avoiding a certain someone’s sharp, biting criticism — or that same tendency in yourself.

Dalfen shares, “You will always want to consider how our dreams are capable of giving us several tools simultaneously. So, for example, while the appearance of the bear points you to feeling smothered by someone recently — at the same time ask yourself if you have been showing enough affection in your relationship. If your answer is that you are rarely demonstrative to your partner, perhaps the bear chasing you is the part of your personality you need to develop! In this case, it’s the bear who provides the solution to your waking situation.”

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If you dream you’re being chased through a building …

In dreams, buildings “quite often represents your own inner world,” according to Anderson. An unfamiliar building might be a stand-in for the parts of yourself that feel unfamiliar to you — elements of your personality that you may have pushed down or disavowed. If that’s the case, Anderson suggests you address those aspects of yourself the same way you would after a dream about being chased down a dead-end street: confronting them directly.

“Perhaps this dream is the picture of how you feel being unable to get where you want to get to,” suggests Dalfen. “We humans more often don’t like discussing our feelings and have a tendency to hold things in. The great news about our dreams is how the unconscious mind always has the same goal. Being chased through a building will very likely encourage you to talk about your dream to a friend or family member you trust. Once you bring this interior discussion ‘outside,’ you will get feedback! Ideas spring forward the same as brainstorming. If your chasing dream inspired you to share, it has served you well.”

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If you dream you’re being chased outside …

Pay attention to the landscape, Anderson recommends, and consider its most salient characteristics. “Question the landscape knowing that the landscape is also an aspect of yourself, and just ask, If this landscape had a personality, what would it be?” Say, for example, you dream about being chased through a desert: What does the word desert connote inside your mind? If that instinctual association is dry and desolate, perhaps you fear being boring and empty yourself.

Relatedly, pay attention to the weather in your dreams about being chased through the great outdoors, because dream weather may reference your emotional state.

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If you’re being chased by a car …

Assess the overall energy of the situation, Anderson suggests: “What does the car look like, what’s the model of the car, who’s driving it?” Take stock of the scene as a whole imparts, and “ask yourself: ‘Where in my life do I feel like I’m running from that?’”

“If it’s a really old falling apart car that’s chasing you, but it’s still doing a really good job of scaring you, then it may be you running from your fear of being old and falling apart,” Anderson says. “If it’s a totally powerful, macho kind of car and you’re running from it, you might be running from your fear of being very powerful in your life. If it’s a car that’s totally top-end, millions-of-dollars worth of car, then you may be running from your fear of having too much money.” (And then losing it all?)

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If you’re being chased on water …

Dreaming about a high-speed swim chase or a boat chase might hold some clues about your emotional state. Anderson says that “if you’re being chased in water,” it may help to think about if you currently feel yourself “drowning in your emotions to some extent.” If you can pinpoint what’s causing you to feel so overwhelmed, you might be able to take steps toward managing it.

The takeaway: No matter the details of your dream about being chased, Fourkiller recommends processing it by asking yourself, first, “What am I afraid of?” Next she suggests asking, “What’s been bothering me lately? Is there a resolution to that problem? How can I face this in a healthy way?” If you have had multiple dreams about being chased, you might have some more work cut out for you: “If it’s a recurring chasing dream, it might be time to buckle down and start, well, emoting more, learning how to speak your mind, thinking deeply about what it is, exactly, you are worried is going to catch up with or capture you.”

Dalfen suggests looking more specifically toward what happened recently in your waking life. “Since our dreams are related to a specific waking situation you thought about, or something that happened to you the day before you had the dream, the first goal is always to help you name the circumstances you were discussing with yourself in the dream,” she says. “When I hear a being-chased dream, I will typically begin by asking the dreamer questions related to something they may feel pressured about: ‘What’s after you?’”

Dalfen also echoes her recommendation to focus on the subject of what it is in your dream that’s chasing you as this can unlock some surprising truths about yourself. “When we arrive in the world, we arrive here whole. We have a plethora of potential, of possibilities. We are shy, assertive, selfish, giving, frightened, heroic, funny, sad,” Dalfen says. “While growing up, we get the idea from the people who bring us up that one way of behaving is better than another. As a result, we become more practiced in some personality traits than others. They are our over and under ‘exercised’ aspects of our personality. If you want to look for deeper meaning in your being-chased dream, stay open to your definition or description of who is chasing you. On a surface level, if the chaser’s qualities remind you of someone in your life, it might help point you to the recent waking situation you are attempting to problem-solve.”

If you are feeling particularly terrorized by your nightmare about being chased, Dr. Ellis has some wisdom that may help. “I usually approach chase dreams and other nightmares in a series of steps — first by asking the dreamer to slow down, calm down, and take stock of the situation,” she begins. “If they can attenuate their fear response, the thing that is chasing them typically becomes less scary. Then they may be able to stop and face their pursuer and find out what it wants. This kind of encounter can transform from the dream character into something far less frightening. Typically when the dreamer calms down and faces their pursuer with open curiosity, the figure itself shifts as well and may even change from a monster into some kind of ally.”

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