The recurring dreams would be related to difficulties or unresolved conflicts in the dreamer's life, according to our partner The Conversation.
Some of the most prevalent scenarios for this type of dream are being chased, fallen, unprepared for an assessment, arriving late, or trying to do something repeatedly.
The analysis of this phenomenon was carried out by Claudia Picard-Deland, doctoral student in neurosciences and Tore Nielsen, professor of psychiatry (both at the University of Montreal - Canada).
Dreaming in the same scenario over and over again is a known phenomenon - almost two-thirds of the population report having experienced an episode of recurring dreams.
Being chased, finding yourself naked in a public place, facing a natural disaster, losing your teeth or forgetting to go to a class for a whole semester are typical themes of these recurring dreams.
Where does this phenomenon come from, the themes of which come back from one person to another?
The science of dreams indicates that recurring dreams might echo unresolved conflicts in the dreamer's life.
I work in the Dreams and Nightmares Laboratory of the Center for Advanced Studies in Sleep Medicine at the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur in Montreal.
As a doctoral student in neuroscience, I am interested in how our memory is reactivated, transformed and incorporated into our dreams.
Recurring dreams are dreams that an individual can have repeatedly.
We notice that they often occur in times of stress or over long periods of time, sometimes even over several years or even a lifetime.
These dreams stage not only the same theme, but also a particular story that can be repeated from one night to the next.
Although the exact content of recurring dreams is unique to each person, there are common themes among individuals, and even between cultures and different eras.
For example, being chased, knocked down, unprepared for an assessment, arriving late, or trying to do something repeatedly are some of the most prevalent scenarios.
Not all recurring dreams have a negative connotation. Some, like having the ability to fly, can even be euphoric © Shutterstock (via The Conversation)
The majority of recurring dreams have a rather negative content, involving emotions such as fear, sadness, anger and guilt;
and more than half represent a situation where the dreamer is in danger.
But certain recurring themes can also be positive, even euphoric, such as dreams where we discover new rooms in our house, erotic dreams or those where we have the ability to fly.
In some cases, recurring dreams that emerge in childhood may persist into adulthood.
These dreams may disappear for a few years, resurface in the presence of a new source of stress, and dissipate again when the situation is over.
Unresolved conflicts
Why does our brain play these same dreams over and over?
Studies suggest that dreams, in general, help us regulate our emotions and adapt to stressful events - incorporating emotional content into dreams would allow the dreamer to assimilate a painful or difficult event.
In the case of recurring dreams, repetitive content might represent an unsuccessful attempt to integrate these difficult experiences.
Several theories agree to say that recurring dreams are related to difficulties or unresolved conflicts in the dreamer's life.
The presence of recurring dreams has also been associated with a lower level of psychological well-being and the presence of symptoms of anxiety and depression.
These dreams tend to reappear during stressful situations and cease when the person has resolved their personal conflict, indicating improved well-being.
Recurring dreams often metaphorically reflect the emotional concerns of dreamers.
For example, dreaming of a tsunami is common as a result of trauma or abuse.
This is a typical example of a metaphor that can represent feelings of helplessness, panic or fear experienced upon awakening.
Some people, in a stressful situation or facing a new challenge, may dream again that they are late or unprepared for a math exam, even years after setting foot in a school © Shutterstock (via The Conversation)
Similarly, being dressed inappropriately in a dream, being naked, or not being able to find a private bathroom all have in common to represent scenarios of embarrassment or modesty.
These themes can be thought of as 'ready-to-dream' scripts or scenarios that provide space to digest our conflicting emotions.
The same scenario can thus be reused in different situations where we experience similar emotions.
This is why some people, in a stressful situation or facing a new challenge, may dream again that they arrive unprepared for a math exam, even years after setting foot in a school. .
Although the circumstances are different, a similar feeling of stress or a desire to challenge yourself can trigger this dream scenario again.
A continuum of repetitions
William Domhoff, American researcher and psychologist, suggests the existence of a continuum of repetition in dreams.
At the extreme, there are traumatic nightmares which directly reproduce an experienced trauma, like a “flashback”, the presence of which is one of the main symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Then there are the recurring dreams, where the same content of the dream is replayed in part or in its entirety.
Unlike traumatic dreams, recurring dreams rarely reproduce an event or conflict directly, but instead reflect them metaphorically through a central emotion.
Further down the continuum are recurring themes in dreams.
These dreams tend to replay a similar situation, such as being late, being chased, or being lost, but the exact content of the dream differs from time to time (being late for the train rather than one exam).
Finally, at the other end of the continuum, we find the repetition in the same person of certain elements of dreams, such as characters, actions or objects.
All of these dreams are said to reflect, on different levels, an attempt to resolve certain emotional concerns.
Going from an intense level to a lower level in the repetition continuum is often a sign of an improvement in a person's psychological state.
For example, gradual and positive changes in the content of traumatic nightmares are often seen as people who have experienced trauma recover from their difficulties.
Physiological phenomena
Why are the themes often common from one person to another?
One possible explanation is that some of these "scripts" would have been preserved in humans because of their evolutionary advantage.
By making it possible to simulate a threatening situation, the dream of being chased, for example, offers a space to practice perceiving and evading predators while sleeping.
Some recurring dreams, like losing your teeth, may be related to teeth clenching during sleep or dental discomfort upon waking up © Shutterstock (via The Conversation)
Some typical themes could also be explained in part by physiological phenomena that take place when we sleep.
A study conducted in 2018 by a research team in Israel found that the famous dream of losing teeth is not particularly related to symptoms of anxiety in the dreamer, but rather to teeth clenching during sleep or dental discomfort upon awakening.
When we sleep, our brains are not completely cut off from the outside world.
He may continue to perceive external stimuli, such as sounds or smells, or internal bodily sensations.
Thus, other themes, such as being unable to find a toilet or being naked in a public space, could be linked to needing to urinate during the night or to wear loose pajamas in bed.
Certain physical phenomena specific to REM sleep, the stage of sleep where we dream the most, could also come into play. In REM sleep, our muscles are paralyzed, which could cause dreams of having heavy legs or being paralyzed. in his bed.
Likewise, some authors have proposed that dreams of falling or flying are caused by our vestibular system, which contributes to our balance and which reactivates spontaneously during REM sleep.
Of course, these bodily sensations are not sufficient to explain the recurrence of these dreams in some people and their sudden occurrence during times of stress, but they probably have a significant influence in the construction of our most typical dreams.
Get out of the loop
People who experience a recurring nightmare are somehow stuck in a way of responding to and anticipating the dream scenario.
Certain therapies have been developed to try to resolve this recurrence and break the vicious circle of nightmares.
One of the techniques is to visualize the nightmare on awakening and rewrite it, that is, to modify the scenario of it by changing an aspect, for example the end of the dream, for something more positive.
Practicing becoming lucid in dreams might also be a solution.
Our "SLEEP" file
Lucid dreams are dreams where we become aware that we are dreaming and where we can sometimes even influence the content of the dream.
Becoming lucid in a recurring dream could make it possible to think or react differently to the dream and thus alter the repetitive nature of these dreams.
However, not all recurring dreams are in themselves bad and can even be helpful as they tell us about our personal conflicts.
Paying attention to the repetitive elements of our dreams could thus be a way to better understand and resolve our greatest desires and torments.
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This analysis was written by Claudia Picard-Deland, doctoral student in neuroscience and Tore Nielsen, professor of psychiatry (both at the University of Montreal - Canada).
The original article was published on The Conversation website.
Declaration of interests
Claudia Picard-Deland and Tore Nielsen received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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