Many in this world dream the same dreams, and have the same nightmares over and over again, some dream that their teeth break or fall out for no reason, others dream that they are late for school or work, others dream of being involved in a traffic accident when driving a car, and another type always dreams that it flies to the heart of the sun to burn or fall to an endless bottom or is constantly chased by some animals.
What are the reasons for the repetition of these dreams? What are the psychological motives behind it? Is there a message that our subconscious mind tries to convey to us by repeating the dream itself? And what does this phenomenon indicate in relation to our personalities? What can we do to avoid them?
Many in the world always dream the same dreams and have the same nightmares over and over again (Shutterstock)
Understanding dreams
Dreams are imaginary sequences, some with a clear narrative, some cloudy, and they occur in people's minds while they sleep. Most dreams consist of a series of images, sensations and emotions, ranging from pleasant and exciting to frightening or even terrifying.
Early in recorded human history they were thought to be messages from the world of the unseen or a way to predict the future, and in recent years they have captured the attention of psychologists, neuroscientists, philosophers and biologists, all of whom continue to study dreams, what they mean and why they are necessary for humans, as recently reported by Psychology Today.
As for recurring dreams that always return in the same form over many years, they usually "revolve around very deep life experiences that are buried in the subconscious, or have to do with very personal issues that can occur during wakefulness, because they are part of you and your personality, and therefore they are always repeated instead of happening only once," said Dr. Deirdre Barrett, dream researcher and professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, in statements quoted by CNN ( CNN) in a report on the subject published a few days ago.
Dreams are imaginary sequences, some with a clear narrative and some cloudy (Shutterstock)
"Because our dreams are usually not repeated, it just takes us to dream twice or more for it to be repeated, which is more common in childhood, but can continue into adulthood," Barrett said.
"This type of dream doesn't happen every night, but it can happen several times a month or years apart," Barrett said, and it almost always happens in the same way.
Experts said that recurring dreams may be the same every time, or they may come up with different scenarios, but they remain within the same circle. Regardless, anything that is repeated over and over deserves scrutiny, said sleep medicine specialist Dr. Alex Demetriou, founder of Silicon Psych, a psychiatric and sleep medicine company in Menlo Park, California.
If you repeatedly dream of being late for school or work, it may be due to your failure and unpreparedness (Shutterstock)
Why are dreams repeated?
In some recurring dreams, the message is straightforward: "If you repeatedly dream of being late for school or work, it may be because you failed to do your homework or perform your job tasks."
"Some people have dreams about worrying about testing, and this may reflect a general fear of failure, or a fear of being judged by authority figures," Barrett said. Dreams of losing or damaging teeth may be related to losing something else in your life, feeling hopeless, unable to defend oneself, or health concerns about serious illness."
"When you encounter a recurring dream, ask yourself what message it could be. What do you have to do with objects or people in the dream? What are your fears and beliefs about these things? What are the top 5 things in your life that you might be the cause of or associated with?"
Demetriou added that people with post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety are more likely to repeat dreams, especially those who suffer from anxiety and have a natural trait inherent in them.
"The brain tries to solve things and problems and put them in context, but people with PTSD have their dreams alive enough to wake them up from sleep, because the underlying problem has never been addressed, and that's why the dream is repeated," he explained.
Other times recurring dreams also point to biological sources, and Demetrio explained that "people with sleep apnea will report dreams such as drowning, suffocation, giant waves, and gasping for air, when they already suffer from interruptions in breathing due to their health condition."
Those who suffer from recurring dreams and nightmares may be helpful to listen to a calming sound while they sleep (Shutterstock)
How to deal with these dreams?
There are steps or techniques you can take to get rid of these recurring dreams, perhaps the most important of which are:
- Write down your recurring dream: One technique is to rewrite the dream after waking up, and modify the narrative line by changing one side of the dream or its ending, so that the end of the dream becomes more positive. For example, in the case of dreaming of failing the exam, put your success in it as an end, and in this way you address your mind or subconscious and give it a solution to the outstanding problem, and this will change the nature of the recurring dream, according to the "Science Alert" platform.
Analyze the dream: The next step is to analyze the dream. You can meet a counselor or psychologist to guide you, and you yourself can try to find out what the dream tells you, is the repetition of this dream due to some traumatic events that happened in your life recently or perhaps in your childhood? Is the reason the end of an important relationship for you? Or setbacks in your career? Or the inability to take advantage of the opportunity? Or exploitation by someone? Or the death of a family member? Or the inability to cope with stress at work? All this can cause stress and lead to the recurrence of bad dreams, so it is very important to understand your dreams and the reasons for their recurrence.
The way you respond in minimizing the results of any frustration will improve your mood (Shutterstock)
- Learn useful methods to deal with anxiety and stress: Anxiety and stress are part of our lives in a complex world full of problems and challenges, however, you can reduce the volume of anxiety and stress by understanding the causes of this stress and trying to solve or understand them, as the way you respond helps reduce the results of any frustration, which will improve your mood, the way you deal with challenges, as well as improve the quality of your dreams, according to the "Healthline" platform recently.
- Sound therapy: According to the "Science Focus" platform recently, sleep scientists at the University of Geneva have invented a new way to deal with recurring dreams using sound therapy, as scientists at the university subjected a number of people who suffer from repeated disturbing dreams and nightmares to a calming sound during their sleep, and noticed a rapid decrease in the frequency of disturbing dreams or nightmares, in addition to that the dreams they have during their sleep have become more positive emotionally. Researchers and doctors see these findings as very promising for studying the impact of sleep emotional therapy and for developing new treatments.