What Does it Mean When You Dream of an Operation?

I was recently asked, via the contact form, “What does it mean when you dream of having an operation?”  This type of dream actually depends on whether or not you have an upcoming doctor’s appointment or trip to the dentist.  If you have an upcoming exam, procedure, or even a check-up, dreaming of an operation is simply a matter of your mind “acting out” anxieties you may have. It most definitely doesn’t indicate that anything is seriously wrong with you.  You’re simply anxious about the appointment and/or procedure.

If you do not have an upcoming appointment, dreaming about an operation indicates something different, all together.  Operation dreams (or even dreams of having your teeth pulled or your hair cut) indicate the subconscious desire to REMOVE something from your life or for someone (sometimes even yourself) to CUT something out!  For example, many people who are struggling with overcoming a bad habit (overeating, smoking, etc.) or correcting an undesirable trait (bad temper, dishonesty…) will have operation dreams.

It’s their mind’s way of processing their desire to REMOVE something from their lives.  And, yes, sometimes this something might be a specific person! If a relationship has gone very bad, you may dream of an operation, symbolizing your desire to remove either the trouble or the person from you life.  Only the dreamer knows for sure which is the case.

If you dream of another person having an operation, you must be very careful about your dream interpretation.  The dream analysis could go one of two ways:

• The operation in the dream could symbolize something you want THEM to cut out of their life or remove from their personality/disposition.
• The dream could indicate something in your own life – something that’s related to this particular individual in some way.
• The dream could have nothing whatsoever to do with the person having the operation in your dream!  It could be that they were on your mind recently and their appearance in the dream has nothing to do with the interpretation – the only thing that matters is the operation, itself.

When you think back to the dream, pay close attention to the emotions you remembered having in the dream.  If your dream involved someone else having surgery, the more you focused on THEM in the dream, the more likely they have something to do with the interpretation.  However, if the main focus of the dream was the operation, it’s likely that they were simply a “stand in.”

As with all dreams, only you can get to the real analysis.  Think about the things in your life that you’d like to change.  What thing(s) would you remove from your life if you had the power to do so? When you come up with an answer to this question, you’ll have the analysis of the dream.