Why do I have dreams every day: reasons for the phenomenon

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Published: 02/09/2022

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“All the same dreams! Damn dreams! – with incomprehensible consistency, the monarchist Khvorobyov was tormented by “Soviet” dreams in “The Golden Calf” by Ilf and Petrov. The comical situation described in the novel actually turns into a psychological problem for some. If you have dreams every night and an obsessive bad “aftertaste” remains after them, then you should first understand the reasons for the night visions, and only then look for ways to get rid of unpleasant images.

1 How the brain forms dreams
2 The role of emotional perception
3 Factors of nightly dreams 3.1 Psychological causes of terrible dreams
3.2 Physical and esoteric causes of negative dreams

4 How to stop having bad dreams

The nature of changes in brain activity during night rest

During sleep, people see images. For a long time they tried to understand the nature of their occurrence, decipher the secret meaning, and wanted to control them. In the Middle Ages, dreams were considered either the messages of angels or the machinations of the devil.

Esotericism, the doctrine of self-knowledge, tries to interpret visions. Psychology also finds out why we constantly have dreams, where and why they come from, because the brain must rest. The nature of this phenomenon is not fully understood even now. But the veil of secrecy has been lifted; much can be explained from a scientific point of view.

It seems that the brain does not work during sleep. But this is not so, he constantly works. Only the nature of the activity changes. The central organ of the nervous system reacts less to external stimuli and begins to classify and process the information it received during the day. It is analyzed, compared with the existing one and “sent for storage.”

In the arms of Morpheus, distractions fade into the background, many events are perceived differently, and new details become visible.

Attention! There are many cases where during sleep it was possible to find a solution that was impossible even to imagine during wakefulness.

If there is no proper rest, this process is disrupted, causing information to be poorly recorded and memory to become worse.

Prophetic dreams

There are such visions that are then embodied in the events of a person’s real life. People are curious about their future, wanting to guess future events. Any events that coincide with the plot of the dream are automatically considered predicted in night dreams. Then the dream is declared prophetic.

Modern scientists have determined that dream prediction is nothing more than the result of the work of the gray matter. By processing past experiences, the brain during sleep takes into account those details that were missed during wakefulness. As you process these non-obvious moments, your subconscious mind predicts how events in your life might unfold in the future. The brain produces “predictions” in the form of images that are dreamed.

The amazing world of dreams

People experience completely different night visions. They differ in brightness, plots, and experiences. They can be divided into several types:

Empty, they are also called household. These dreams reflect the daily life, emotions, and experiences of a person.
Visions in which information is provided in encrypted form.
Symbolic, little connected with ordinary life, events, people appear in them in a strange, unusual form.
Omen-dreams are usually recurring and the connection with subsequent events can be traced.

It is believed that significant dreams can occur on certain days. The images that are important are those that you dreamed about before waking up (not necessarily in the morning), that are vivid and memorable. They are more filled with events, meaning and possible solutions to problems.

To interpret these plots, many dream books and tips on deciphering them are published. They explain that in an unfamiliar place, a night image can be prophetic; a guy in a girl’s dream is most likely her future husband.

For many women, caught fish predicts pregnancy. The presence of a nest, front door, or dolphins in dreams may indicate that love will arise and there will soon be a wedding. An unpleasant story about immersion in dirty water can foreshadow the death of loved ones. If you dream of having to travel far, this means successful changes in business. Great importance is also given to the emotions, sensations, and assessment of what is happening in a dream. This carries a huge semantic load for understanding encrypted information.

Deciphering the concept of “dream”

A dream is a visual imagery, psychological images that arise in a person during sleep. Z. Freud considered them the realization of secret desires. There are scientists who do not see any meaning in night dreams.

Dreams are very closely intertwined with real life and convey their messages to it. They reflect the inner world of a person. Black and white images emerge from the immediate subconscious, reveal your personality, and help you understand yourself better. If only such dreams arise, a person relies exclusively on himself in life, relies on his own strength.

It is important to know! Bright, color pictures reveal the emotional world, the state of the nervous system, and mental state. They are better remembered and more meaningful. They cause a storm of emotions, unforgettable impressions from such dreams, but the rest is complete and deep.

The phase that promotes the formation of dreams

Dreams happen all the time, at all stages of sleep, but they have their own differences. The slow phase accounts for 75% of the total duration. It is during this period that a person can talk in his sleep, get up, and walk. During it, dreams are fragmentary, dim, and often not connected with each other. They do not carry much meaning and are usually not remembered.

REM sleep is much shorter and may not occur at all during the daytime. It is easy to notice that the sleeper is in this phase by the movement of the eyeballs. The information, emotions, and impressions received during the day are processed. It is during such a period that it is possible to see colorful dreams with a dynamic plot and deep emotional experiences.

A person dreams every day: is it good or bad?

The question often arises: why do I have dreams every day? Is this a rule or a pathology? Seeing different scenes all night is normal for a person. The brain processes the information received at night, and dreams are a product of this analysis. If this did not happen, the day's impressions would not be structured, and the memory would become full. In this case, the person would not rest, the nervous system would be exhausted.

Attention! Even blind people dream during their night's rest. If they are blind from birth, then images appear in the form of smells, sounds, touches. Those who have lost their sight are helped by memories of previously seen objects.

During dreams, the realities of time are erased. The period seems to last for many hours, but in reality it does not exceed a few minutes. There are times when you feel as if you just closed your eyes and the whole night has already passed.

Causes of good and bad dreams

Every person has had a nightmare at least once in their life. Children often have dreams with scary plots and terrible monsters. Parents may be to blame for why this happens.

Childhood is a period when a child learns new things and adapts to living conditions. Adults frighten children with various dangers, or try to make them brave, demanding correct behavior. This causes fears and anxiety in children, which transform into nightmares.

In adults, bad dreams can occur for various reasons:

stress, anxiety;
spicy, fatty foods;
diseases;
alcohol;
taking certain medications.

Nightmares can aggravate a bad psychological mood and provoke depression.

Advice! Negative visions help to experience problems and get rid of them in a dream. They help find a way out of a difficult situation.

Good dreams calm a person, help to find a compromise in relationships, and solve everyday problems. They help you think about future actions and build life plans.

Prophetic scenes of night dreams

Prophetic dreams are considered to be those whose plot later occurs in life. People have always sought to know their future, at least not very distant. And any coincidences were immediately interpreted as foresight. In such cases, they say that the dream has begun to come true. Often especially suggestible individuals even try to fit life situations into a previously seen plot.

Modern research explains this phenomenon by the work of the brain. By analyzing and comparing various facts in a dream, they draw certain conclusions. Based on past life experience, identifying details not noticed during wakefulness, the subconscious mind can predict the likely course of further events. This is transformed into various bizarre images, which are visible in dreams. If subsequent life confirms them, a person regards dreams as prophetic.

I can’t remember a dream: what’s causing it?

People have dreams every night, but what is the reason why so many people don't remember them?
Some people wake up with the feeling that they saw something, but they can’t remember absolutely anything. Others claim that they never have dreams; when they go to bed, they seem to fall into emptiness. But dreams are usually much brighter and more dynamic than everyday life. Everyone knows that sleep should be comfortable, without external irritants. Restless rest can occur with severe physical or psychological fatigue. But when a person sleeps peacefully, he remembers dreams less. The brain records only what was last dreamed before waking up. And if we wake up several times during the night, it will seem that we are seeing more dreams, because the dream felt before each wakefulness is remembered.

Nightmarish and good dreams

Sometimes people may have scary dreams. Children especially suffer from nightmares. At this age, the human psyche is still adapting to life. Adults themselves can cause nightmares for children when they scare them in order to protect them from possible danger. Such methods of education frighten children, cause feelings of anxiety and restlessness, and they cause frightening night visions.

For an adult, the causes of nightmares are:

stressful situations;
overeating before going on a night's rest;
mental disorders;
alcohol abuse;
taking medications.

Regular scary dreams can trigger the development of depression.

The good news for a person who periodically encounters nightmare images is that they sometimes help find a way out of a difficult situation and help them survive unpleasant moments in real life.

Good dreams calm you down and reduce anxiety about everyday problems. They can help you realize your own dreams, inspire, and make plans.

People who don't dream

All people see dreams, usually more than one per night. But not everyone remembers their visions well; on average, this is 2-3 cases per week. There are people who believe that they do not dream. They just don't remember them.

The sleep of such a person is very deep; he wakes up in the slow-wave sleep phase and forgets his dreams. If you wake him up at the end of REM sleep, he will be able to remember what he saw in his dream. There are situations when a person did not have dreams for a long time, but at some point he began to have dreams every day.

It is important to know! The statement about the absence of dreams is false. The opinion that the deeper (without visions) a person sleeps, the more fully he rests, is erroneous. The best relaxation occurs during vivid, story-driven dreams.

What is a dream?

A dream is an image that appears in the subconscious of the sleeper. Even when a person sleeps, his connection with reality remains. The famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud believed that a dream reveals a person’s unrealized and even unconscious desires. When you fall asleep, your brain switches to a different mode of activity. Neurons, nerve cells begin processing events and emotions, information received during the day. It is this physiological process that forms the pictures of night dreams.

The ancient Greek philosopher and thinker Aristotle wrote in his writings that the harmony of nature and man is manifested in a dream.

Do I need to see a doctor?

It is difficult to say unequivocally that your case requires the help of a specialist. If advice does not help you, and the nightmares continue, this is a reason to consult a doctor. If you can guess the reasons for the violation, then you can identify a specialist yourself. If you are experiencing daily stress, suspect depression, or are suffering from traumatic memories, you most likely need the help of a psychologist. But first you should contact a good therapist, who will prescribe tests and accurately refer you to the right specialist.

Dream: your partner cheated on you

Interpretation:

If there has been infidelity in your past, in this relationship or in others, the memory of it will haunt you constantly. It is important to remember that dreams are not prophecies. If you don't have trust issues and the cheating in your dream literally came out of nowhere, it doesn't mean your partner is unfaithful. The reason may be in a completely different, third wheel - work, golf, friends or a child's birthday - something on which your partner spends a lot of time to the detriment of leisure time alone with you.

Continuum of repetition

Geraldine Lewa / unsplash.com

The concept belongs to William Domhoff, an American researcher and psychologist. He believes that the upper, intense level of the continuum is traumatic dreams, nightmares, which directly reproduce a traumatic experience that has already occurred in reality: a terrible event, loss, deep grief. Experts in the human psyche believe that nightmares are one of the main symptoms inherent in post-traumatic stress disorder.

The next level is recurring dreams, in which the plot can be reproduced either partially or completely. They are distinguished from traumatic dreams by the fact that they rarely directly reproduce terrible events or conflicts. Instead, such a dream reflects the traumatic experience metaphorically, expressing it through a central emotion.

Next, the continuum identifies recurring themes that are reproduced from time to time. Such dreams show the same similar situation - for example, a person is late, he is being chased, or he loses something. However, the exact content of the dream itself does not coincide and may vary: in one dream a person is late for a train, in another for an exam, in a third for an important meeting, but the event of being late itself remains common.

And the last element of the continuum of repetition and its lower level were individual details of a dream that are repeated in different dreams of one person. These include characters, any specific actions, items or objects.

Each of these dreams reflects, at its own level, an attempt by a sleeping person to resolve certain emotional problems. When the dreamer moves from an intense level of the repetition continuum to a lower level, it is a sign that his psychological state is gradually improving. For example, the content of traumatic nightmares is considered from the point of view of their change. If positive changes are visible in nightmares, then the person, according to psychologists, is gradually overcoming his traumas and difficulties.

What dreams say: 16 transcripts that can help you figure out what the subconscious is saying

External causes of poor sleep

Noise . Extraneous sounds reduce the depth of sleep (deep sleep). In this case, the brain cannot relax, so sleep becomes superficial and restless.
Discomfort during sleep. A hard or too soft mattress, along with an uncomfortable pillow and bedding that is unpleasant to the touch, disrupts sleep.
Light . Even low lighting in the bedroom interferes with healthy sleep. Light makes it difficult to produce melatonin, a sleep hormone that is produced in the body when it gets dark.
Unventilated bedroom . Lack of fresh air impairs brain function. The result is bad dreams.
Watching movies or reading books . The plot of book and movie thrillers can make it difficult to fall asleep, especially if you watched or read them right before bed.
Weather . For people with weather sensitivity, nightmares are associated with changes in the weather, be it an increase in air temperature or jumps in atmospheric pressure.
New place to sleep . Spending the night with relatives or, for example, in a hotel can turn into nightmares.