Have you ever awaken from a dream and wondered what it might be telling you? Dreams can mean lots of different things and can tell you a lot about yourself. Many dreams you have throughout the night aren’t fully remembered when you wake up and can possibly be completely forgotten throughout the day, but some dreams will stay with you for a lifetime (International Association for the Study of Dreams).
During our sleep, many people experience dreams. Dreams can be defined as a series of images, thoughts, and sensations in a person’s mind during sleep. Focusing on the effects of dreams and processing why they happen may help to better understand what they mean.
Studies show that most of our vivid dreams are experienced in a stage called REM Sleep, or Rapid Eye Movement. The muscles in your body are relaxed during this state, while your brain is extremely active. Your eyes also move rapidly under your eyelids while you’re experiencing REM. The stage of Rapid Eye Movement occurs around every hour and a half (or every 90 minutes), and each occurrence lasts longer as the night proceeds (International Association for the Study of Dreams).
During REM sleep, the brain experiences memory consolidation. Memory consolidation is where the brain relives recent experiences that have happened in real life. Although dreams are
mostly common in this state, there is lots of growing evidence that dreams don’t only happen during the Rapid Eye Movement stage. Supposedly, they can also happen during non-REM sleep (Forget Freud).
There are 3 stages before you reach REM sleep. The first stage lasts about five to ten minutes. This is where your eyes are closed but it is easy to wake up. The second stage is where your heart rate slows and your body temperature drops. This stage will also last about five to ten minutes. You are in light sleep, but your body is getting ready for a deeper sleep. The third stage is the deepest stage and it is a lot harder to wake up from this stage (WebMD).
When thinking about dreams, you might wonder what they really are and what they mean. The events that take place during them aren’t real, and the people or objects in them may not be either, so what could they possibly be?
Dreams are the activities, feelings, and images experienced by the brain while you’re asleep. It is often said that most people will average around five to six dreams every night, with each estimating about five to twenty minutes long, but sleep researchers say that’s a pretty low estimate (Medical News Today). Researchers will often describe dreams as a document or letter to yourself. Dreams are very useful in becoming knowledgeable about your own feelings, behaviors, thoughts, and even your own mental health. (Britannica). They also help you learn and develop long-term memories, as well as prepare you for possible future threats (Medical News Today).
It is possible for you to see dreams from any point of view. They are most commonly lived from the dreamer’s point of view, but sometimes they might be lived from another person, with yourself being one of the characters. Most of the time, visual imagery is the only sense available to your brain while you’re asleep. It is very unlikely that you will experience the smell of things, the feeling of objects you touch, or the taste of anything. It is possible for you to hear voices or noises in your dreams, but the sense of hearing is definitely not as common as visualization
(Frontiers in Psychology). Visual dreams are typically pretty realistic, and it may seem like the dream is actually happening. Only rarely is the setting reported to be exotic or unrealistic (Britannica).
Many people wonder what affects their dreams or why they have specific ones. Many scientists reject the idea that dreams symbolize unconscious desires or needs, but some still believe that could be true (Forget Freud). Research shows that your dreams can be influenced by the thoughts in your brain right before you fall asleep. Having thoughts about certain things may or may not cause your dreams to be about that (Medical News Today). Often times, events from your life that have previously happened can be experienced in your dreams (Frontiers in Psychology).
It is roughly estimated that two thirds of the time, people dream about people they know personally. Which would usually be close friends, co-workers, or family members. Studies have shown that 48% of the people in your dreams are completely recognizable. These may be people you see or talk to every day, and you are fairly comfortable with them. Thirty-five percent of the
people you see in your dreams are not as recognizable. They would be known as social roles. These are people you may know of, but you don’t know them on a personal level. This could be a President, an actor or actress, or any other famous individual. The last 17% are people you may have never even seen before. They are completely unrecognizable. (Medical News Today).
Most of the time, the sequence of a dream cannot be controlled by the dreamer. Although this is the most common case, there is also a type of dreaming called Lucid Dreaming. Many people
do not experience this, but the few dreamers that do, report being able control the content of their dreams to some extent. Lucid Dreaming is defined as a state of dreaming where the brain is awake while dreaming (Forget Freud).
Psychological studies show that females report much less aggression and violence than men do. This could be affected by where you live, what you experience throughout the day, and who you might hang out with (Frontiers in Psychology).
Sometimes, you will have the same exact dream more than one time. This might not necessarily mean much, but it could be telling you something. You may be lacking something from the dream, or it could be warning or preparing you for a future event. It could also be reminding you that you have something you need to get done, or it could just be revealing the presence of unresolved stress or conflicts (Psychology Today).
There are a few themes that most people will experience in some of their dreams throughout their lives. Of all the dream reports, these 10 are the most common. The most commonly reported themes are falling, being nude in public, being chased, losing teeth or breaking bones,
death, taking a test or exam, your spouse or partner cheating on you, flying, pregnancy, or being late for something. All of these have their own meanings and can tell you different things about habits you might need to break, your health, or many more things (Very Well Mind).
Dreams are like movies in your mind while you’re asleep. They are mostly affected by your wants or desires, but they can also be affected by your thoughts before falling asleep. Many people have dreams each night, and some can be remembered for a very long time, while others can be forgotten almost instantly. Overall, dreams can tell you many different things about yourself, and if you don’t pay attention to them already, you might want to start.