If your friends and family tell you about their exciting dreams but you have nothing to share, you may wonder if there’s something wrong with you. What does it mean if you don’t dream?
Maybe you’re dreaming and just forgetting it. Does that mean there’s something wrong with you? What about if you do you dream something but you can’t remember it? Could this indicate that there’s something wrong with your memory, your sleep, or the way you dream?
In this article, we’re going to dive into some of the science of sleep and dreaming in particular. What makes you dream and what does it mean if you don’t dream often.
Why Do We Dream?
While researchers don’t fully understand the role of dreams, they do know a lot about them. Dreams tend to come from recent events in your life, whether those are something that happened, conversations you had, or even the thoughts that have been going through your head.
Dreams are typically autobiographical, but that doesn’t mean they always make sense.
Researchers believe that dreams are derived from the emotional part of our brain rather than the logical part. So, dreams can often be exciting and nonsensical, and there’s not always a lot we can understand from our dreams. Sometimes it seems that dreams are just a mishmash of everything that’s been going on in our life.
What does it mean if you dream about someone you don’t know? You want to be careful about reading too much into your dreams. Just as writers can make up characters for a story, our imagination can make up characters for a dream. While many dreams are autobiographical, they can often be extrapolations of how we might feel or react in certain situations that haven’t occurred yet.
What Do Dreams about the Future Mean?
Our dreams can have meaning so far as they are based on what we’re thinking about or what is happening to us. Ascribing meaning beyond that, such as trying to figure out our future based on our dreams, has no basis in scientific fact.
What does it mean if you are told in a dream you don’t have much time? Some people will look to their dreams as a sign of future events.
To take a spiritual look at this, biblical scholars and pastors will point to proof in the scriptures that dreams no longer hold the same meaning that they used to. What they will tell you is that while dreams used to be sent from God as a way to speak to people, once the Bible was completed, that was no longer the case.
What does it mean if you dream about God but don’t remember it? Once again, spiritually minded people may ascribe meaning to their dreams in certain instances. If they dream about television shows they watched the night before, they may not put much stock into the dream.
However, if they dream about God, they may consider the dream significant. Research has typically shown that whatever you’re dreaming about is what you’re thinking about or what you have experienced recently so, people who spend time with God and think about God will often dream about God as well.
What Does It Mean When You Don’t Dream at All?
Let’s get back to the question we started with about what it means to not dream or to not remember your dreams. If you feel like you never dreamed, it could just be that you don’t remember having dreams. A lack of dreams could indicate a sleep disorder. It could mean that you’re not getting enough sleep or not experiencing deep sleep.
The most vivid dreams occur during REM sleep. This is when your body is sleeping at its deepest and getting the most rest. A lack of proper sleep can be caused by depression, anxiety or stress.
Lack of proper sleep and the subsequent dreams that come with it could be caused by side effects from medication you’re taking or from using excessive caffeine, alcohol, or tobacco.
If you feel that you’re not getting adequate sleep, it may be a good idea to talk to your doctor about it. If the problem is not serious or frequent, you can try cutting back or cutting out those things that could be contributing to your poor quality sleep (often caused by nightmares).
You could be dreaming and simply not remembering it. Maybe you remember your dream just after you wake up, but a few minutes later it disappears. If that frustrates you, you can keep a notepad or journal beside your bed and write your dreams down as soon as you wake up.
That way, you’ll be able to remember them whenever you like. You may also want to set an alarm for earlier in the morning, giving yourself more of a chance to recall the dream.
What may also help is to spend a little extra time in bed before you get up. You can think about your dreams and relive them in your mind before you get out of bed. You’re more likely to remember the dreams for longer if you don’t do any activity while you review them.
If you’re getting proper sleep, you’re more likely to remember your dreams. To ensure better sleep, try to avoid caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol for a few hours leading up to bedtime.
Try to exercise throughout the day as well so that you’ll be tired enough to sleep soundly and try to sleep and get up at the same time each day, getting on a regular sleep schedule. It also helps to relax yourself before bedtime and to turn off all screens a few hours before trying to sleep.
If you’re not dreaming, that doesn’t necessarily that mean there is an underlying health condition, but you could just be not remembering your dream. If you feel that you’re not getting adequate sleep, and you believe it is a regular, serious problem, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor. There may be underlying factors you’re not aware of that could be contributing to poor sleep and therefore lack of dreams.
What does it mean if you don’t dream or don’t remember your dreams? It may not mean anything at all or it could indicate a sleep problem or a health problem. Take an assessment how well you’re sleeping, as the dreams or lack thereof can indicate your sleep patterns.
What Does It Mean If You Don’t Dream about Your Partner?
Some people worry they dream often but never seem to dream about the people close to them, particularly their significant other. Does it mean anything that you don’t dream about your partner?
Sometimes, people will dream about things that are more in their past rather than more recent occurrences. In a lot of people’s dreams, the two will mix together, with friends and family from the past mixing together with more recent events.
It can be strange to be dreaming regularly and yet not dream about the people you are currently spending your time with or the job you’re currently at. But it’s not uncommon for these kinds of dreams to occur.
Dreaming can often be result of longing, and if you’re living with someone but not dreaming about them, that can simply mean that you’re at peace with them. There’s no longing there or apprehension.
For many people, dreams are a result of the fears they have, and if you’re not dreaming about your partner, that can simply mean you don’t have any fears associated with them.
What Does It Mean If You Dream about Someone You Don’t Like?
Some people will have dreams about people they don’t like or that they consider their rivals or enemies. They may have dreams where the two of them are romantically involved or working together, and they may find this kind of dream frightening.
Once again, it’s important not to ascribe meaning to a dream that doesn’t belong. Dreaming about someone you don’t like doesn’t mean that you have a longing for them. It can simply mean that the conflict in your relationship is affecting your thoughts, causing you some stress and anxiety. That can translate into dreams about them, as many dreams stem from the things we worry about in our underlying fears.
It can help to try to resolve the conflict there and create a positive relationship with that person. If that happens, you may notice that you dream about them less often.
Ultimately, dreams are funny things that aren’t fully understood. You shouldn’t let yours worry you too much, but it’s not a bad idea to pay attention to your dreams to better understand what your fears, worries, and conflicts may be.
My name is Ellis Francis and I have been a personal fitness trainer, sports nutritionalist and health and fitness advisor for over 25 years. I am the lead health and fitness advisor at https://awellnessbody.com.
