Illness dreams are more related to family than dreams in general. They are less related to animals, less related to unnamed people, and less related to fantastic beings.

Illness dreams are more related to happiness, more related to sadness, and more related to grief and sorrow than dreams in general. They are less related to fun.

Dreams of illness are less related to human-made places, less related to transportation, and less related to natural places.

Dreams of illness are more related to sex, more related to death, and much more related to health events than dreams in general. They are less related to aggressive acts and less related to disasters.

Illness dreams are more related to nightmares, more related to sleep paralysis, and much more related to bad dreams than dreams in general. They are less related to weird dreams, less related to vivid dreams, and less related to good dreams.

Illness dreams are less related to vision and less related to touch.

You can gain insight from thinking about any dream, no matter how strange. Only you, as the dreamer, have final say on what your dream may or may not mean. Each dream is unique.

The DreamWell dictionary provides information on how each dream symbol appears in dreams in general. Finding how experience illness in dreams can be a key to understanding its meaning.

Our emotions in dreams can help us understand its meaning. Pay attention to how you felt in the dream. Pay attention to how you feel about illness in dreams. See how you feel about illness now, in your waking life.

This interpretation is from ""The Dream Interpretation Dictionary: Symbols, Signs, and Meanings" and is provided by J.M. DeBord aka "RadOwl". He is the author of several acclaimed books about dreaming, the host of The Dreams That Shape Us podcast, and is a moderator of r/Dreams, one of the largest dream sharing communities on the internet. While illness in a dream is likely to symbolize something unrelated to physical health, first consider the obvious: you might really be ill, or have an illness developing and aren’t consciously aware of it. For example, a dream about finding sick fish in a fishbowl filled with bad water warns the dreamer that a urinary-tract infection is coming on. By applying a simple home remedy, the dreamer treats the condition before it flares into a full-blown illness. An illness can be represented directly, but is more likely to be referred to using symbolism, such as in the last example. Illness is sometimes referred to as “a bug,” so a dream can represent an illness as an insect or infestation of insects. See: Insects Generally, a reference to illness in a dream is more likely to mean that something is out of kilter, not working as it should. It is “ill,” dysfunctional. That idea can apply widely to create symbolism. For example, a dysfunctional work or home environment is said to be ill. Societies can be ill. The idea applies to dysfunctional organizations and people, too, creating cross-references that can be used as symbolism. “Sick in the head” means mental illness or moral depravity. See: Psychologists Behaviors that cut against the grain can be labeled as mental illness and represented as physical illness. For example, today’s ADHD diagnosis in children used to be called “rebellion” or “free thinking.” Dreams can use this contradiction between what we’re told is illness and what we know to be true to create symbolism. Illness can begin with belief. Belief that you are ill can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and dreams know the difference. Dreams will create scenarios involving illness then leave it up to you whether to believe it. If you react with disbelief, or a dream character reacts that way, it’s an indicator to examine the connection between belief and reality. What the mind believes to be true—especially about health and the body—becomes true. This is especially true in dreams, because they create simulated realities based on what you believe to be true, and what you believe to be true in a dream can become true when you are awake. For example, author Robert Moss dreamed about seeing through the eyes of another man as the man was shot multiple times in the chest. Moss woke up with welts on his chest where the bullets penetrated! During the dream, he thought it was real, and his body responded in kind. See also: Abscesses, Insects, Chasing, Disease, Doctors, Elderly people, Fevers, Hospitals, Infecting, Insanity, Psychologists, Vultures