Through a bit of personal research, I’ve learned that most of us have recurring dreams. Some people can fly, some people are naked, and some are lost or falling. Some people I have questioned have dreams similar to the ones I experience. I ‘ve had a couple of recurring dreams for years. In the past, the one I had most frequently was about school. I show up and it’s the last day of the semester and I haven’t been there the entire term. I have a test I am not prepared for, my books are locked in a locker that I can’t remember how to find or the combination, and I can’t figure out where my classes are. Basically I’m doomed to fail. One I’ve begun to have in more recent years involves not being showered or dressed properly for work or some event, I’m late and I can’t pull myself together in time for whatever it is. Often that’s combined with having parked my car and can no longer find it or being left in charge of one or more of my grandchildren and realizing that I’ve lost them. Sometimes I dream that I can’t get my phone to work when I desperately need to call someone. These may have to do with my fear of losing my mental capacity later in life. I did recently just have another birthday.
I did a bit of reading to learn more about why we have recurring dreams. Different sources describe varying possible reasons. Most experts feel that the dreams we have repeatedly reveal the presence of unresolved conflict or stress. Recurrent dreams are seldom positive; most have negative content that may indicate being in a low state psychologically. One sleep study site suggested that these types of dreams could signal the inability to integrate difficult situations or experiences. Between 60-75% of us have recurring dreams and they are more common to women than men. One interesting statistic is that people suffering from epilepsy have more recurring dreams than those of us who don’t have the disorder.
I find that I tend to have my recurring dreams when I have been awakened in the night and go back to sleep. I also have them more often when I’m stressed about something. They are a function of the brain so it makes sense that when we are thinking a lot about something happening in our lives, it affects our dream state. I’d prefer not to have them as I often wake up feeling anxious and I consider them an indicator that I may need to focus on being more relaxed and letting go of the stress.
Medical experts have some suggestions for coping with and reducing the frequency of recurring dreams. Their “remedies” are things that are just good for our general well-being which may help with the triggers that cause us to have the dreams. In fact, this list is suggested to cure a lot of things: healthy eating, regular exercise, meditation, breathing techniques, relaxation exercises, listening to music, and talking about the dreams as well as stress points. It seems that doing what we should be doing for ourselves for a variety of reasons is what is most helpful to make our dreams happier experiences.
What’s your recurring dream? Are there times that tend to bring them on? If you don’t have them, I’ll have to assume that you have it more together mentally than the rest of us and I don’t need to hear about that. (That’s a joke.) If you do have them, leave a comment so I know I’m not alone and mentally unstable. Sweet dreams, friends!
A couple of people have mentioned to me that the word is "reoccuring" rather than "recurring". Just FYI - both words are acceptable. However, recurring usually refers to something repeated many times, where reoccuring generally refers to one or a few repetitions of something. I just chose to use the first rather than the latter, because my dreams are definitely recurring!
I had to come back to this. I do have a recurring nightmare not dream. It’s that one where I’ve made a plan and all that I’ve waited for doesn’t happen.