What's it like to have a dream?

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Sounds like you probably aren't getting enough sleep to get into REM very often. 4-5 an hour isn't the healthiest.

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What’s it like for you?

There's a lot of different degrees of dreaming, and it's still kind of a mystery to science why exactly we dream like we do.

At the most basic, it's usually just something your memory gets rid of immediately, just leaving you with a vague memory of a memory of a sensation, I think you experience those as well.

And on the other end of the spectrum are dreams, which basically are like being in actual situations, acting and experiencing something as if you are actually there, feeling "real" for the lack of a better word. Those then can range from realistic and mundane to surreal and extraordinary. Most interesting here is, that the surrealness is usually not perceived as such. A remarkable feature of most dreams is, that their internal logic, even where it would make no sense in real life at all, is in-the-moment perceived as just what is natural. (e.g. people appearing and vanishing, places morphing into different places, etc.)

Then there are lucid dreams, where you "wake up" to the fact, that you are in a dream, and sometimes even get a certain amount of control over the world and situation you are in. I have had those at times in the past with some medication. Including really interesting ones, like with ones where I ended up confronting my grandfather and parents, my brain clearly working through some memories in some way.

Then there are dreams that feel like movies or video games, with different degrees of being "in" what is happening, feeling more like an observer.

In general - dreams feel like actual situations, with varying degrees of vividity and control and varying degrees of sensuality (with some, you can hear, see, touch and smell, others just have sight or sound). And they can range from mundane things to fantastical stories. And can range from insightful, to joyful, to genuine horror that doesn't leave you after waking up for a while.

Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?

Personally, I enjoy dreams, even when they are full of negative emotions, there is usually something interesting to reflect on. I remember reading a German study recently, that came to the conclusion, that how vivid dreams are and how much you remember is at least partially also influenced by preconceptions about dreaming and "training". The most obvious, for example, is a dream journal helping with more clearly remembering dreams, as memory usually fades quickly after waking up, so catching the memory and putting it to paper as quickly as possible can help.

For others, dreams can become more of a nuisance where they keep reliving traumata, without any closure beyond re-traumatisation and exhaustion. For those, too, there is at least some hope in that things under our control seem to be at least a part of the equation of how vivid and well-remembered dreams can be.

Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

I'd say so, but I'd caution to not pay too much heed to "objective" theories of dream interpretation. What is pretty well proven, as far as I know, is that dreaming plays some part in memory, and that it is fed by memories. But how exactly that can be a reflection of the unconscious mind is, in my opinion, so heavily subjective, that answers like "seeing this in a dream means that" at least feel like nonsense to me.

E.g., when I dream of seeing myself in the mirror with scars and pustules all over my body, that has a meaning that will be related to me, that could completely differ in meaning from the same dream for another person. And not every dream has to be profound there, too. E.g. simple dreams of good food or of sex can be as surface level as they seem. Another example here is a common phenomenon of having dreams of needing to go the the bathroom (which I occasionally have before waking up) - where that is as simple as it seems - very simply reflecting what is happening in the not-yet-awake psyche.

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Actually not at all!

However, I recently listened an audio book about the Continuation War between Finland and Russia (part of WW2), which might have had an impact.

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Recently I've dreamt of having a lucid dream, so dream me thought he had control of the dream, but I don't think I did. I remember trying to master flying, but it was difficult, and I was afraid of heights.

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You sound a lot like me but maybe you are younger. I can't remember the last dream I could remember but I do recall that I have had neat dreams scary nightmares in my life. Definately had variations on flying and crawling ones and had a reoccuring house break in one as a kid but on average it was like maybe one a year.

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I'm similar to you, but probably not as bad. I don't often remember my dreams, or I might wake up with a fragment of a memory in my head: "Oh no! I need to let someone know the cats are playing cards in the oven!" But any of the context is lost. Also, if I don't immediately focus on that fragment and try to remember more about it, it will disappear from my mind completely.

Sometimes, I'll get a big chunk of the story, or multiple fragments that I can chain together to figure out the overall plot of the dream, but that's only a few times a year, if that.

I wish I remembered more of them more frequently. I find them very entertaining.

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This is my experience exactly! I have never heard of someone else having a similar experience. If you end up going to a sleep specialist or finding any sort of explanation, please DM me about it.

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It wasn't until ubiquitous social media that I realized lucid dreams weren't the norm for everyone else. My default dreams are both lucid and recurring: I have the same fifty-odd dreams over and over and have the freedom to change the ending, rewind, or otherwise alter events. Oh, there's one-offs too and not every dream is lucid but that's what I considered a "normal" dream growing up in the previous century.

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To answer out of order, I don't analyze them. I don't think there's really any reason to.
Sometimes it can be a window to the subconscious, but it's mostly just random things.

It's really hard to answer what it's like. I dream very frequently and quite often vividly. What it's like varies so much night by night. Lately, for maybe the past three weeks, I've been having one nightmare after the next after the next. For me, I tend to enjoy the scarier dreams that deal with "monster movie" plots. Zombies, clowns, ghosts, etc. Those are fun for me because they're not real irl, so it's easier to enjoy.

The problem I'm having right now is that these nightmares are too real and too targeted. "Nobody likes you" or bleeding out or being alone or getting cancer. Just all the horrible things my brain can do to make me wake up miserable, I guess.

When I'm stressed, I have a set of reoccurring themes that makes it easier to identify as a stress dream and therefore not be as effected by the events or emotions in the dream. Themes are: tsunamis, bears, brakes failing, or physical abuse.

One of the greatest problems I have after dreaming so vividly my whole life, is that I'm terrified that my brain will flip a switch when certain situations arise. For example, I've often dreamed about drowning. As in I'm in a pool or lake or ocean and for some reason am unable to get air. So I start panicking and doing anything I can. As I finally can't take it anymore, I gasp for the air that isn't there and... Huh. I can breathe water? It takes a bit, but inevitably the dream says look at you, you've always been able to breathe water, you just never tried.. So when it comes to the real world, I'm terrified that if there's a situation where I need to hold my breath for a while underwater, my brain is going to just lean into the many lessons learned and tell me to just breathe and it'll be fine, because I've always been able to breathe water, duh.

So. None of that probably answers your question. But it's such an esoteric and personal and varied thing from person to person. Or from week to week within a single person.

If you do want to dream more, try to keep a little notebook on your nightstand and when you wake up with these dreams you rarely have, write them down. It clues your brain in to start remembering them more and then you will start to truly dream.

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Yeah, I lose a day being on low energy every time it happens. But the subconscious dreams what it wants, regardless of an attempt to influence.
We can give a scenario through our activities before going to sleep, but they tend to stretch out on their own even so.

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Brakes failing is the worst! Also, half the time I can’t reach the pedals, and/or see clearly over the steering wheel.

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I'm not sure if I have them and don't remember them or just don't have them. Like you, I may get a little something during short naps but next to nothing during longer sleep.

Related to this, are you able to picture images in your head while awake? There's a phenomenon called aphantasia that I've participated in a couple studies on. I'm somewhere around a 4 or 5 on the picture in the wiki. I recall at least one of the studies exploring the correlation between aphantasia and dreaming.

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For those who don't dream much, I'm curious of your surrounding sleep habits and how much you've looked into changing your habits. This could be a big indicator you're not getting into REM sleep, which is not good.

Do any of you drink alcohol, take other prescribed substances (or not prescribed)?

Have you tried eating foods rich in magnesium or taking magnesium supplements?

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I don't know how I'd feel about reoccurring dreams, but I'm definitely envious of the constant lucid dreams! Lol

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Yeah I get fragments too.

Usually wake up to some pieces of life in a zombie apocalypse... And I was a blacksmith? Making bullets? Farming tools? WTH

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Sometimes I'm glad I don't dream considering nightmares and overthinking the meaning of things.

What I'll say about not dreaming is life feels more mundane.

Wake, self care (brush teeth, shower, eat), work, chores, brainrot, sleep.

I feel like even bad dreams would shake things up more.

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Valid. I'm trying to fix it.

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For me personally it's a bit like... the creation of memories. And the synthesis of what I like to call "ambient feelings" – like vibes or atmospheres people, places or situations give off. A lot of layered emotions, a lot superpositions, where something or someone is multiple things at the same time. "Chimeras", which are blends of people I know for example.

Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

That's normal. I swear that my dreams are really detailed sometimes, but the memories become muddy the more I think about them.

Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

Yes. I take my dreams very serious. They are weird and hard to describe, sometimes they are cruel in a way. I consider myself a pretty reflected person, but from time to time my dreams show me stuff I don't want to admit to myself.

That said, I love dreaming. Reality is rigid and boring. I like to imagine we live and absorb impressions only so our brains can dream. Which is bullshit but I enjoy the thought.

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Holy shit yeah. I'm at a 5. Zero ability to picture things in my mind.

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I have woken up aware that I dreamt perhaps a half dozen times in my adult life.

Alcohol: no

Medicine: no

Drugs: no

Never tried loading magnesium.

Terrible sleep hygiene.

Comfy bed, dark room.

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What's it like to have a dream?