We all dream at night; in fact, as per a study, we spend one-third of our life sleeping, and dreams are a normal part of it. They can be exciting, bizarre, fascinating, or at times terrifying. Sometimes you remember them and sometimes not. We all tend to find meanings behind our vivid dreams. In fact, many people believe they get the best ideas in their dreams. So, do dreams have a meaning? If yes, then why and how do we dream?
Dreams are mysterious, and who wouldn’t want to know as much as possible about the interesting phenomenon behind our dreams? Well, we are here to unveil some interesting facts about dreams.
Fascinating Facts About Dreams
Researchers haven’t figured out why we dream and the purpose of dreams yet, but they have found some interesting facts associated with dreams. Here are 41 interesting facts about dreams, why don’t you go through these and see if you relate with them?
Who Dreams?
- Everyone dreams, including men, women, and children of all ages.
- People above ten years of age have a minimum of four to six dreams every night.
- As per a study, even mammals, birds, fishes, and reptiles have different sleep stages, so they too dream.
When do We Dream?
- Most dreams happen during REM sleep. It happens in short episodes with a gap of 90 to 120 minutes, in which your brain activity increases to a more conscious state.
- Longer dreams happen in the morning.
- During the weekend, your REM sleep is longer, so you are more likely to remember your dreams.
What do We Dream?
- Most dreams are related to events from the previous day or two.
- Dreams are mostly related to individual experiences, but a study suggests that some dream themes are common among all.
- Falling is the most common dream theme.
- Studies suggest that blind people dream of images.
- People don’t remember 95–99% of their dreams.
- Studies suggest that negative dreams are more common than positive dreams.
- When you are happy or satisfied in your life, you have happy dreams.
- When you sleep face down, you dream about swimming, hand tools, being locked up, unable to breathe, and being naked.
- Grief dreams are about deceased loved ones that mostly happen during holidays.
- Sometimes our body has a strong and sudden jolt (hypnic jerks) of muscles which cause dreams of falling.
- Studies by Stanford University have shown that you are most likely to dream about similar faces that you know in person or see on TV.
How do We Dream?
- During REM sleep, most of your muscles are paralysed, so you don’t act out when dreaming.
- Most dreams are in pictures or visuals with little movement or sound.
- All people don’t dream of colour. Studies suggest around 12% of people dream in black and white.
- Studies reveal that 25% of people above the age of 55 have black-and-white dreams.
- Most dreams are strange as when dreaming, the part of the brain that makes sense shutdowns.
- Some people believe dreams can tell us the future, though they have not been proven yet.
- Lucid dreaming techniques can help you control your dreams. In this technique, you are aware of your consciousness.
Men vs Women’s Dreams
- Studies reveal that men are more likely to dream about weapons. In contrast, women are more likely to dream about clothes.
- Another study revealed that men’s dreams have more aggression and physical activity. In contrast, women’s dreams have more conversational activities.
- Women have longer dreams with more characters than men.
- Women tend to dream about both other men and women. In contrast, men dream about other men twice as often.
Children’s Dreams
- Children mostly have recurring dreams related to animals, monsters, failing, physical aggression, or being chased.
- Around 40% of children have night terror, which usually decreases as they grow.
Nightmares or Scary Dreams
- Children start having nightmares at the age of 3 to 6 years. They decrease after the age of 10.
- Women have more nightmares and scary dreams than men, especially in their teens and adulthood.
- Nightmares mostly occur in the last phase of sleep.
- If you eat before sleeping, you are more likely to have nightmares. Eating increases the body’s metabolism, and the brain remains active.
- Medications such as antidepressants can increase the frequency of nightmares.
- Studies suggest that negative emotions such as disgust, guilt, sadness, and confusion lead to nightmares, not fear.
Conditions Associated With Dreams
- If you have frequent nightmares, it can be due to nightmare disorders. It happens often and can impact your ability to function.
- As per a study, around 8% of people experience sleep paralysis, making them unable to move when in the state between sleep and wake.
- When you suffer from post-traumatic symptoms or guilt, you will have negative dreams about the lost loved ones.
- Night terrors are about intense episodes of fear when you are screaming, running around, and acting aggressively during sleep. It affects around 2% of adults.
- If you dream about teeth falling out, it can be because of an undiagnosed dental condition like grinding of teeth at night (bruxisms).
Sweet Dreams!
We don’t know the purpose behind dreaming, but we do know that everyone dreams every time they sleep. We might not remember them, but we do dream. However, you need to have a peaceful sleep to be able to dream. And how many times have your peaceful nights been affected because of your partner’s snores? You can have happy dreams when you introduce your snorer partner to a solution such as Smart Nora. Its patented science-backed technology gently repositions the pillow of snores to help them breathe and stop snoring. See, it is this easy to have a dreamy night!
