What Are Dreams?
Dreams are images, thoughts, or feelings that occur during sleep. Visual
imagery is the most common , but dreams can involve all of the senses. Some
people dream in colour while others dream in black and white , and people who
are blind tend to have more dream components related to sound, taste, and smell .
When Do We Dream?
On average, most people
dream for around two hours per night. Dreaming can happen during any stage of sleep, but dreams are the most
prolific and intense during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage.
During the REM sleep
stage, brain activity ramps up considerably compared to the non-REM stages,
which helps explain the distinct types of dreaming during these stages.
Dreams during REM sleep are typically more vivid, fantastical, even though they
may involve elements of waking life. By contrast, non-REM dreams tend to
involve more coherent content that involves thoughts or memories grounded to a
specific time and place.
REM sleep is not
distributed evenly through the night. The majority of REM sleep happens during
the second half of a normal sleep period, which means that dreaming tends to be
concentrated in the hours before waking up.
What Are Nightmares?
A nightmare is a bad dream that causes a person
to wake up from sleep. While bad dreams are normal and usually benign,
frequent nightmares may interfere with a person’s sleep and cause impaired thinking and mood during the
daytime.
How we dream
1.
REM is the sweet spot
Our
most vivid dreams happen during rapid
eye movement (REM) sleep, which happens in short episodes throughout the night about 90
to 120 minutes apart.
2.
Morning is better
Longer
dreams occur in the morning hours.
3.
Weekends help you remember
You’re
more likely to remember your dreams on weekends or days when you sleep in,
because each episode of REM sleep is longer than the last.
4.
Your muscles are paralyzed
Most
of your muscles become paralyzed during REM sleep to prevent you from acting
out your dreams.
5.
Pictures are most common
We
dream mostly in pictures, with the majority of dreams being mainly visual with
little sound or movement.
6.
Recurring dreams have themes
Recurring
dreams in children are mostly about:
- confrontations
with animals or monsters
- physical
aggressions
- falling
- being chased
7.
We don’t all dream in colour
Around 12 percent of people dream in
black and white.
8.
Strange is normal
Many
of our dreams are strange because the part of the brain responsible for making
sense of things shuts down during dreaming.
9.
Our day informs our dreams
Most
of our dreams are linked to thoughts or events from the previous day or two.
10.
Faces are familiar
You
likely only dream about faces you’ve already seen in person or on TV, according
to Stanford University.
11.
Low stress means happy dreams
You’re
more likely to have pleasant dreams if you’re experiencing low stress and feel
satisfied in your real life.
Nightmares and other scary stuff
12.
Kids have more nightmares
Nightmares usually begin between the ages of 3 and 6, and decrease after the
age of 10.
13.
Women are more prone to scary dreams
Women
have more nightmares than men during their teen and adult years.
14.
Nightmares occur at a similar time at night
Nightmares
occur most frequently in the last third of the night.
15.
Sleep paralysis is a thing
Around 8 percentTrusted Source of the general
population experience sleep paralysis, which is the inability to move when you’re in a state between
sleep and wake.
16.
Your feelings come out in dreams
For
example, you’re more likely to experience negative dreams about a lost loved
one if you’re suffering from post-traumatic symptoms, guilt, or blame over
their death.
17.
The holidays can be rough
Grief
dreams, which are dreams about deceased loved ones, are more common during the
holidays.
18.
Night terrors can be frightening
Night
terrors are
episodes of intense fear, screaming, and even running around or acting
aggressive while asleep.
19.
Children have them more frequently
Almost 40 percent of children have
night terrors, though most outgrow them by their teens.
20.
Adults can still have them
Around 3 percent of adults have night
terrors.
21.
Eating late isn’t helpful
Eating
before bed makes nightmares more likely, because it increases your metabolism,
signaling your brain to be more active.
22.
Medications play a role
Certain
medications, such as antidepressants and narcotics, increase the frequency of
nightmares.
23.
Negative emotions take a toll
Confusion,
disgust, sadness, and guilt are more often the driving force behind nightmares
than fear, according to research.
