Everybody dreams. Some people have pleasant dreams. Other people are frequently assaulted by nightmares. Some people sleep so deeply that they are never aware of their dreams and are convinced that they don’t dream. Dreams are fascinating, regardless of how you experience them.
And yet science doesn’t completely understand dreaming quite; medical experts have made a number of discoveries about dreams over the decades. For instance, take these 17 fun facts about dreams:
1. It’s unlikely you’ll remember most of your dreams.
The average person forgets roughly 90% of their dreams. This happens within the first ten minutes.
2. Here’s a weird fact about dreams and colours…
12% of all the people in the world dream in black and white. These are people who are old enough to have seen television shows and movies in black and white.
3. You actually dream more than you think.
Most people do not realise that they have between 4 and 7 dreams per night. They think that their subconscious is visited by one serialized dream each night. But that is rarely the case.
4. They have an average runtime.
Dreams play out over the course of one to two hours.
5. Men tend to dream of one gender.
Women’s dreams are diverse. They feature as many men as women. 70% of the people in the average man’s dreams are men.
6. You dream – whether you know about it or not.
Everyone dreams. People who think they don’t dream are simply forgetful.
7. It’s always deja vu.
You can’t create new people in your dreams. You can only see faces that you have seen before in real life. If you think you saw a foreign face in your dreams, you probably just forgot the person in question. You see hundreds of faces in any given day. And you recall far more of them than you realise.
8. There are ways to check yourself in dreams.
If the question has ever occurred to you, there is a way to know for certain that you are dreaming. Try reading. Better yet, check the time. In dreams, reading or telling the time are all but impossible. If you find yourself incapable of reading, you are probably dreaming.
9. Dreams never make sense.
If your dreams never make sense to you, that is actually normal. Your brain has a section that is responsible for making sense of things. It effectively shuts down while you dream. As such, most people’s dreams always look like random gibberish.
10. Nightmares are surprisingly common.
Anxiety is the most common emotion that people feel when they dream. Generally speaking, negative emotions are more prevalent in dreams than positive ones.
11. There’s a gender divide.
Men have more aggressive dreams. Women have more conversational dreams.
12. Sexual dreams are a known phenomenon.
Sexual dreams are real. Men can get multiple erections each night as a result of their dreams. However, so-called morning wood has nothing to do with sexual dreams.
Women are not immune to sexual dreams. A woman can have an orgasm as a result of a dream.
13. However, they’re not regular.
Even though they are mentioned frequently in conversations, sexual dreams are rare. They are not the common occurrence that some people presume.
14. Do blind people dream?
Blind people also experience dreams. However, those that were born blind do not have visual dreams. Instead, their dreams constitute the senses with which they are familiar such as smell and sound.
15. We’re not alone.
There is evidence suggesting that animals dream.
16. Some dreams cross boundaries.
While people’s dreams are usually distinct, all human beings from all tribes, cultures, and walks of life dream about falling, being naked in public, and being chased, to mention but a few. These are universal dreams.
17. Here’s a final fact that’s a bit scary…
No one knows why people dream or what purpose dreams serve.
FAQs about Dreams
If you dream, are you getting good sleep?
Studies suggest that dreaming means you are processing things healthily - it can be linked to good sleep!
Do dreams always indicate deep sleep?
Dreams normally take place during the REM stage of sleep, which is extremely deep - so generally, you’ll dream at the deepest point of sleep.
Why do we forget our dreams?
It’s all to do with changing levels of chemicals in our brains. Norepinephrine, for example, is a key dream memory chemical - which goes up and down.
Do you have any fun facts about dreams? Share them in the comments below!
