Hello Jack
I agree with Charles. Quite a lot of work has been done on our dream life and, yes, I believe that they can be a good way of ‘working through’ certain things that are difficult, which we may have ‘buried’ in order to get on with the demands of daily (waking) life. This is perhaps one of the reasons it is important to get adequate sleep, too, for our overall well-being.
I don’t think it is necessary to try to ‘explain’ our dreams to ourselves in a logical kind of way, when we are awake, because they are dealing, as Charles says, with deep, inner stuff, which is anything but logical! On the other hand, some people find it useful to write down some dreams that they remember and to think a bit about why they might have had that dream on that night, what kind of feelings it aroused whilst dreaming and what kind of feelings it leaves the next day. If you are having any kind of counselling, it can sometimes be useful to discuss dreams (depending on how your counsellor works). If you write some of them down in a reserved notebook, for example, you can look back at them, too and note new things maybe.
All part of the learning process of life. Not something to get too ‘heavy’ about, but maybe interesting to think about a bit.
Re the kind of person you want to be – it sounds like you need ways other than gambling that are good at releasing the tension and coldness that builds up. Do you know what else works/would work for you? Exercise, some forgotten hobby, a new interest? Another area to explore, perhaps.
All good wishes,
Monique