Types of Dreams

We know that scientists have been researching dreams for many years. But still, we are unable to understand it properly. While you are asleep, your mind remains active. During asleep, it makes stories and images. These might be vivid, fleeting, nonsensical, prophetic, terrifying, or mundane. Although you don't have the correct answer to why you dream, you can say what the types of dreams are. Our article also lets you know about the themes related to it.

What is A Standard Dream?

National Sleep Foundation said that people dream four to six times per night. In this regard, you should know that we cannot remember over 95% of them. It happens throughout the night. If you remember any dream, ensure it happens during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

It may be influenced by what we think about before going to sleep or how our entire working day has passed. Besides, it can bring to light what you should avoid thinking about. Anxiety is also one of the reasons behind it. Research says that 65% of elements have a connection with the experiences while awakening.

Suppose you have got huge job stress. Therefore, you might have dreams regarding your work or your co-workers. Besides, if you go on a date, it will be full of romance. But if you have anxiety about dating someone, it may be heartbreaking.

Remember that a standard one always depends on a person. However, these are a few features of it. In most cases, these are predominantly visual. It means the images are at the forefront instead of other senses like smell or touch.

While many people have colorful dreams, a few expect them entirely in black and white. It depends on the stress. Therefore, if you are less stressed, you will have pleasant ones. These are very strange, which is normal. Mood, events in the news, pain, violence, and religion can influence the subject.

What Causes Nightmares?

These are scary or disturbing. People experience nightmares several times, but there does not exist any significant reason. There are a few potential causes of nightmares, including:

• Watching or reading something scary 
• Sleep deprivation 
• Eating right before bed 
• Medication side effects 
• Having a fever or being ill 
• Sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, nightmare disorder, or narcolepsy

If you take massive stress or have mental health conditions like anxiety disorders, you can experience more frightening ones. Up to 71% of people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have nightmares. If we don't treat this, these might be recurring. According to a study, the three most common nightmare themes are—

• Death or dying 
• Physical violence 
• Being chased or hunted

What Causes Night Terrors?

It is a sleep disorder, more common in children than adults. If you experience a night terror, you wake up terrified but don't know what it was. Mostly, people don't remember what these were about from the night terror.

If you enjoy a night terror, you can wake up—

• Screaming 
• Kicking or moving violently, even jumping out of bed 
• Sweating 
• Breathing hard 
• With a racing heart rate 
• Disoriented and not sure where you are or what is going on

Remember that these are not dreams but sleep disorders.

What Difference Between A Nightmare And Night Terror?

• You can experience Night terrors during non-REM sleep, while nightmares occur during REM sleep. 
• Night terrors are more common in kids experiencing more non-REM sleep. On the flip side, people at any age can experience nightmares. 
• While Nightmares are vividly recalled dreams, you may forget night terrors.

Lucid Dreams:

It indicates that you are conscious of dreaming while in the dream. Like others, you can experience it during REM sleep. In most cases, people don't experience these frequently. However, according to a few research reports, 55% of people experience it at least once in life.

Whether you have practice, it is possible to control. As a result, you can control other types of dreams, especially if you are experiencing recurring dreams or nightmares.

Other Types of Dreams:

Daydreams:

People remain awake during a daydream making a major difference between a daydream and all others. These happen consciously, but you might feel like you are not entirely awake or aware of your surroundings. If you find someone daydreaming, you may think they are zoned out or lost in thoughts.

These involve other people— real or imagined. A study says that daydreaming about known people leads to positive well-being. On the other hand, people you do not know might predict more loneliness and worse well-being.

Recurring Dreams:

These repeat more than once and can have themes, including confrontations, being chased, or falling. In addition, you might have neutral recurring nightmares. If something like this happens, ensure that an underlying mental health condition, substance use, or specific medication are the reasons.

The common themes involved in it are as follows:

• Being attacked or chased 
• Falling 
• Being frozen with fear

False Awakenings:

False awakenings are when you have woken up but actually are in sleep. Whenever you dream that you woke up, but it was a part of this, ensure that you can experience a false awakening. According to research, people experience false awakenings alongside lucid dreams and sleep paralysis.

Healing Dreams:

Although not sufficient scientific information exists, you can describe them as that:

• These can help to bring balance or harmony. 
• Besides, it can offer a sense of connection, meaning, or purpose. 
• In addition, it can let you feel joyful or at peace.

Prophetic Dreams:

These have foretold a future event. Whether you dream of something happening and coincidentally it happens later, you might feel like having a prophetic dream. People consider them to impart wisdom or even predict the future. A few cultures still today consider it a way to get messages from the spirit world.

But you can not say if it is prophetic or not because it is based on your belief. According to a few people, it is only your subconscious anticipating an outcome and having it to prepare.

Vivid Dreams:

These happen while waking up during REM sleep if these are most vivid and you can remember them more easily. Although people consider any types of dreams experienced in REM sleep as "vivid," it mainly refers to intense dreams. You might remember your vivid dream more quickly than a typical one. Any person can experience them. If you are pregnant or stressed, it will contribute to having one.

Common Themes:

You may dream about falling out of your teeth, flying through the sky, or being chased. In this regard, you should know that these are some common themes that many people dream about.

The most common themes are as follows:

• Falling 
• Being chased 
• Dying 
• Teeth 
• Being naked in public 
• Pregnancy 
• Flying 
• Sex or cheating

As per a few researchers, these are nonsensical if you dream about specific things. Interpretations depend on people and how they spend their daily lives. Besides, if you dream about falling or being chased, it means you have experienced anxiety, conflict, or falling in love.

In addition, teeth falling out happen due to stress, big life changes, and dental health issues. Losing teeth, being naked in public and test-taking are under fear of embarrassment.

The Bottom Line:

Scientists still can't answer completely what are the types of dreams or why we dream. However, some clues are present. If you are experiencing vivid dreams, nightmares, or lucid dreams, or you think any other reason will be there, you should talk to a healthcare professional.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• Q. What is the rarest type of dream?

According to most experts, lucid dreams are the rarest type of dreams.

• Q. What are epic dreams?

These are part of vivid dreams that you can't forget or ignore.

• Q. What is a double dream?

It is a hybrid riding the coattails of a famous parent strain to avail balanced effects.