Everyone dreams (even if we don’t always remember them after the fact) and researchers have found that the majority of us have dreams with similar themes. For years people have tried to interpret the fleeting images that we see when we go to sleep – some interpretations are outright bizarre, while others are pretty understandable. This is a list of the interpretations that the Association for the Study of Dreams has given to the most recurring and common types of dream. Be sure to tell us whether you think it is accurate from your own experiences.
In these types of dreams you are usually in or near a car or some other type of vehicle which is out of control or has other problems that seem insurmountable. For example, the brakes may have failed, you may have lost control of the steering, or be heading over a cliff or crashing. You can either be the driver or the passenger. This is a very common type of nightmare and it occurs in all people – not just those who can drive. This dream usually means that you are feeling powerless over something in your life – or that you are heading for a crash (metaphorically speaking).
In the faulty machinery dream you are trying to operate mechanical equipment which either fails to work, or fails to work in the way that you expect it to. The vast majority of these dreams involve a telephone – either trouble dialing, losing a connection, or dialing a wrong number. It can involve a lost Internet connection, or something manual like a jammed or broken machine. This dream often means that you feel you are losing touch with reality, or that a part of your body or mind is not functioning as it should. It can also occur when you are feeling anxious about making a connection with another person in real life.
Dreaming about being lost is very common and will usually occur when you are having conflict in deciding how to react in a situation in real life. In the dream you are trying to find your way out of an area – such as a forest, city streets, a large building, or other maze-like structure. Another way this dream plays out involves you being trapped, buried alive, caught in a web, or unable to move for some other reason. This is often accompanied by a feeling of terror. This dream usually means that you are trapped in real life – unable to make the right choice.
In this type of dream you are rushing to catch a bus, train, plane, or other type of public transport – but you miss it – usually by a fraction of a second. Rather than feeling fear in this dream, you usually feel frustration. This dream can also occur in a different form, in which you arrive late for an important performance or sporting event that you are supposed to participate in, only to find that the event has already begun. This dream usually means that you feel that you have missed out on an important opportunity in your real life. It will often occur when you are struggling over an important decision.
This dream usually manifests itself in people who have been out of school for a long time. In the dream you are prevented from passing a test in a variety of different possible scenarios. In one scenario you find that you are unable to make it to the test on time, often through being unable to find the test room. In other versions you are unprepared (either through lack of study) or you are missing equipment. This dream usually means that you are feeling tested in some way in your real life. You may feel that you are unprepared for something or playing the wrong part in life.
In this dream, you (or a loved one) are ill, injured, or dying. It is a moderately common dream and, not surprisingly, occurs often at the onset of an illness. Aside from becoming ill, this dream can mean that you are emotionally hurt or are afraid of becoming hurt. The dream may also be warning you of an upcoming physical risk to yourself or a loved one. When it is someone else in the dream that dies, it can mean that you feel that part of yourself (that you see represented by that person) is dead. It may also mean that you wish the person would go away, or that you fear losing them.
Dreaming of being chased can be a truly horrifying experience. Most often the chaser is a monster or some person that is frightening, and occasionally it may be an animal. You may be surprised to know that this is the most commonly experienced nightmare theme. The meaning of these dreams is that someone, something (possibly something as obscure as an emotion) is making you feel threatened. One way to determine the root of the threat is to ask yourself who or what in your real life most closely resembles the “creature” or circumstance in your dream. It is also worth noting that sometimes this dream is a replay of an actual event in your life.
Teeth dreams are fairly common and they usually involve the discovery of extremely decayed or missing teeth in your own mouth. Sometimes you will dream that you open your mouth and your teeth begin to fall out. The fact that the majority of people today have reasonable teeth (perhaps with the exception of the British), it is not surprising that we feel so emotionally disturbed by these dreams. So, what does it mean when we dream about missing teeth? At the most basic level it means that we are afraid of being found unattractive. At a deeper level, it can signify a fear of embarrassment or a loss of power in real life. Oh – I was just kidding about the “British” thing!
In this type of dream you are in a state of undress, partial undress, or inappropriate dress (for example wearing pajamas to work). Occasionally you are the witness of another person who is naked while you are clothed. This is often accompanied by feelings of embarrassment and shame, but occasionally with the feeling of pride or freedom. The meaning of this dream is that you are feeling exposed, awkward, or vulnerable, or you are afraid that you have revealed too much of yourself (such as a secret or a very personal feeling) in a real life situation. An interesting fact about this type of dream is that it occurs much more frequently in people who are involved in a wedding ceremony in their real life.
We have all had falling dreams – it is such a common dream, in fact, that myths have arisen over them; the most common myth is, of course, that you will die if you hit the ground in the dream. I can assure you, having hit the ground in more than one falling dream, that this is not true at all. In the falling dream we are usually falling through the air and frightened. Occasionally we may be sinking in water (and in danger of drowning). Typically a person having this dream is feeling insecure or lacking in support in their waking life. These dreams often occur when you are overwhelmed in life and feel ready to give up. If you have this dream you should evaluate your current situation and try to locate the problem that is overwhelming you. Deal with it and this dream should go away.
I read somewhere in order to try to "understand" dreams you should not focus on the dream itself or things that happen in the dream but more in the feelings you experience in them.
Im always dreaming #3 but i dont think its because im afraid of not being attractive but more like losing power in real life
loved the list!
ive once dreamed that i was running in a dark forest and i heard a bang and my best friend had been shot, i then got surrounded by enemies of mine , i sumhow whipped out a pistol and went into slow mo and i began shooting but i killed like 5 of them then they shot me repeatedly and eveything was red, i then was sumhow carrying my friend on my back whilst holding a wound near my heart, everything was going fuzzy and red, like flashing in and then i got him home, and it started raining, i fell in a puddle woke up in hospital , and the nurse sed, you passed the test smiled and then bang, eveything went red agen
I dreamt I was early on the list
always dreamt #1 3,4 & 5
There has only ever been one dream that I have had more than once, it involves me being in the middle of a large body of water (most likely the sea) and its night, all around me there are patches of grass floating on the surface and when I attempt to climb upon one of these grassy floaty things, the sink and its as if they cannot support my weight. So I start to panic because in real life I hate swimming in open water. The fear of drowning is a big part, the feeling of stepping into seaweed or some other sea foliage creeps the sh*t out of me!
The weirdest dream I have ever had involved a number of playing cards lined up showing what they were (can’t remember number/suit of each) and they were flying fast towards my face then going back to their original position before a different card would do the same. Pretty strange huh ? Oh there was something about Kurt Cobain wrapped around that whole card flying towards me dream, it reminded me of him/made me think of him.
Boaby: that card dream sounds really weird – I can’t even begin to imagine what it might have meant. I was told by an eminent psychotherapist once that the true interpretation of a dream comes from the feelings you had while dreaming, rather than the images in the dream itself. That may offer a clue.
Oh – and I have had all of these dreams except 6 (failing a test), and 10 (car troubles). In the nudity dream I was wearing my pajamas at school – I had that dream when I was about 10 – I am surprised I still remember it.
This list is complete crap. There is no
One on earth who can tell you the exact meaning of dreams in the way that is done on this list. I think there is a very good possibility that dreams are completely meaningless besides to assizes in learning new behaviors these pseudoscientific pop psychology list drive me crazy. However reading the comments and seeing that people will actually read a list like this and think they have learned something(which by the way they have learned nothing except the opionions of a single douche bag) is infinitely more irritating. Also this list makes me think of how pseudo scientific 90% of the field of the psychology is.
I don’t dream much, but there’s one dream I’ve had that I can’t really put any meaning to. Starts off in a house, and there’s a giant (big orgre or troll type thin only, made out of dogs) in it. For whatever reason, I go up to him and keep spraying him with fly spray. He chases me out of the house, until I go back in and keep spraying him. This happens over and over a few times, then I wake up.
Perhaps you're trying to deal with a problem, but not going about it the right way. Conflict within your family? It would go some way to explaining something ugly in your house. The fact that it's bigger than you might be to do with the problem being something that can't easily be solved, which is where the help of the fly spray comes in, although that's not much use either.
If the house is not your family home, it could be to do with you feeling uncomfortable or out of your depth (you are on someone else's territory). The monstor thing would again be a problem to overcome.
I can't remember what the dogs are supposed to signify… Depends whether or not you like dogs I guess. I'd love to know if this is at all correct, or if I'm completely barking up the wrong tree.
I often dream I am floating or have the ability to levitate, sometimes with a great sense of power, other times with powerlessness.
That is one of lucky dream in my superstitious
I always dream # 1, 4 and 6.
That Falling part is very weird, because I always wake up when falling and like if I’m still falling (of my bed) but still lay still. Very strange feeling.
And being chased. Then in my dreams, my leggs get heavier, like if I can’t run anymore, because my leggs are slowing me down. Very stressful dream.
i get the very same dream where i try to run, but im actually moving slower than i should be able to walk. sort of helpless in a way. and I agree. very frustrating dream.
I also dream about me flying . The strange thing about this is, that I fly close above the ground, never high. But still, it is a wonderful feeling. I love those dreams.
Perhaps its just me, but my dreams always seem to revolve around ***** and or me saving someone from impending doom. Had none of the above.
When I was younger I wrote all dreams I had about a girl I was in love (she was not interested in me). I wrote down I think over 2000 dreams!
I stopped writing them down the day we settled down and went living together in our house (she has been my girlfriend for 13 years now)
[obsessive, isn’t it? :-p
wow
really neat list
i don’t know how much i believe in dreams meaning the same for everyone but i have that dream about phones quite a bit. I can never dial the right number or get ahold of the person i am trying to reach so it seems quite obvious that is what i would mean.
and my being chased is more like being hunted with people who have weapons.
thanks
since i just woke up i was dreaming about school and i was kicked out for having a spoon? i guess my teacher was against metal items and i was trying to hide it for a reason like it was drugs or something. i haven’t been in school for a long while.
Also i dreamt of going to a water spot a seeing crocodiles. I often dream of water, almost every night…..
yawn
it is early
strangely I had the falling dream when I fell out of the top bunk of a bunk-bed. I hit the ground the same time as in my dream.
I’ve never had the nudity, test taking,or being sick/dying dreams before. I’ve had the teeth ones, but I think it’s because I’ve recently had some dental work done.
I’v always dreamed about having problems with cars, even when I was very young, like 5 years old. Those are awful!
I remember one in particular, I must have been under 10. My mom went into a mcdonalds, which then blew up, and I had to drive her car, but I couldn’t control it so I was driving through the woods in a car that couldn’t be stopped.
I had a really similar dream. It was that for some reason I went to the mall with my parents, and in stead of parking, we literally drove through the mall, and everyone seemed like it was normal, though we were the only ones doing it.
Then a shop blew up, and I had to get away in my parents’ car, but I couldn’t drive properly, and I went crashing into bushes and.. yeah. (: haha
When I broke up with my girlfriend I had several dreams that I was driving her car and every time I went over even the smallest of hill the car would launch itself into the air dukes of hazard style.
I’ve never had the teeth dream, but I’ve had all the others. Also, I have been killed in my own dreams many times, and I’ve always been told that’s impossible.
I once dreamed I was driving towards a wall really fast and I couldn’t stop and just when I was about to crash I woke up.
It was scary and I think I was about 10 or 11 when I dreamed it.
Cool List.
I have had all these dreams except 3 and 8. 1 and 7 have become so regular for me that I actually miss them if they don’t occur in a week.
Also, one common dream is where I am standing in a garden full of red roses but still I am sad. Don’t know what does it mean.
By the way, I am seeing some ‘Fatal Error Occured’ type of weird dreams since I have started my job.
@Boaby [4]: Your water body dream is really spooky.
am i the only one who often dream that i’m flying?
@Suskis [12]: That’s sweet…wish you both luck
Sometimes I dream I’m in a car with no brakes and sliding out of control into traffic. I’m usually going to school to take a test that I’m late for. I get out to walk and start flying while I’m being chased in the nude and I’m lost in the city. I’ve also been having a lot of dreams about dead relatives, especially my mother. Gotta go now…time for my therapy session.
i had the weirdest combination of #1,2,3,4,and 5 once, all in one dream.
I dream of going on a wild shooting spree………maybe I need a new job.
The majority of the themes on this list have been in my dreams. I often dream that I’m looking for something and weirdly enough , of toilets. A lot of my dreams have filmic tones to them also.
I regularly dream about my teeth falling out. Had a few of the others too.
Good list!
I keep dreaming about getting shot at. I hope it isn’t some bad omen or ominous foreboding.
If you are a politician it isn't unusual.
Nice list Jamie!
Most of the dreams I can remember are nothing like the ones described here though. The only ones on the list that have happened to me (that I know of) are the dreams about death and falling. The second one used to happen quite frequently and the explanation of being overwhelmed in life is probably correct, in hindsight.
Also, I love that there’s an image from Little Miss Sunshine for item 7!
This is one really f*cking stupid list that has been done over and over and over. Get some original and interesting ideas for once in your damn life.
Awesome list.
I’m constantly dreaming about my teeth falling out. And not just falling: they actually crumble into much smaller pieces, and I end up spitting the pieces out all throughout my dream. I was having that dream so regularly that I actually went and talked to someone about it, and they told me it could mean I wasn’t feeling nurtured or loved by those around me, such as my family and friends. An odd interpretation I thought at the time, but looking back now, it makes a lot of sense!
Good list!
Let’s see…I recall #10 once, but my car had only run out of gas. At that time I was considering taking on a new project when I was already overloaded. I took it as a warning that “I” would run out of gas if I took on that project, so I turned it down. Turned out to be the right decision.
#9, I’ve been trapped in a wonky elevator a few times…the floor tilting from side to side, the doors opening and closing rapidly, lights flashing…does that count?
#4, I’ve dreamt of being in a crowd of people running, though we weren’t chasing anyone. But in those running dreams I have unlimited energy and could run forever. I usually wind up flying by the end of the dream.
#2, I’m usually inappropriately dressed for whatever the situation, most often I’ve forgotten my pants.
#1, I’ve had this numerous times. I usually wake up before I hit the ground or drown, my lungs burning because I’ve been holding my breath.
When I was little I used to have nightmares about being chased A LOT. Usually there’d be two thugs, and I’d be running away from them towards my house, but I could never reach the door no matter how hard I’d try, and they would just be slowly closing the distance between us.
The dream which left the most impact on me is the one where I got shot to the back of my head. In the dream it was really unexpected, I remember I was really confident that nothing bad will happen. When I woke up I checked if there’s no hole in my head cause it felt like there actually was one, I even could feel blood flowing down my forehead! (my head was fine, thankfully :p)
And I find it a bit disappointing that I never had a dream about falling, with it being the most common dream people have and all…
The only dream on the list I’ve ever had was #1. I usually don’t remember any of my dreams. The only ones that I remember out were violent ones and some vivid ones when pregnant. I am glad I don’t remember dreams or I’d be forever *****yzing them.
Well I’m not as angry as Julie!! But this is a very pop psychology type list. I am sure it will get a lot of comments as the last list did – ‘Top 10 Amazing Facts About Dreams’.
Unfortunately it does contain the same populus errors and third age type thinking.
There is not a lot wrong with wanting to make sense of one’s life. It is a huge industry and travels the gambit from legitimate study to outright cons. Dreams and their *****ysis have a long history in most (all?) cultures, and particularly in the 60′s, in ours. But there was a lot of shonky ‘research’ done and not many of those movements survive today. Some of you will remember Ann Faraday, the Senoi Dream workshops, Castenada, Cayce, et al. The work of Freud and Jung is not particularly in vogue now either. Current thinking includes those who believe dreams are psychotic and meaningless (Hobson and Solm). Even the Wikipeadia entrys for dream interpretation are bereft of quality and citations.
So I am extremely sceptical of potted dream *****ysis done in a manner not dissimilar to horoscopes.
A couple of errors carried over from the previous list:
- not every one dreams. Infants do not, some brain damaged, and medicated do not, and some otherwise normal individuals do not. None of them go mad from not dreaming.
- most dreams are of common daily events and seem to have no adaptive purpose.
For a reasoned summary of how come we have it all wrong and current thinking on dreams and their possible meaning to waking life today – see G. William Domhoff, University of California, Santa Cruz:
http://psych.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/domhoff_2006a.html
i live in Africa so i often dream about witchcraft as this is a common issue in a Africa but i think that i dream about this kind of stuff because iam a very afraid person can someone please explain this better for me
In 95% of all the dreams I can remember, someone is trying to kill me. It’s been that way for as long as I can remember. I’m 21 now and you would think that I would grow out of the horrible, reality shaking nightmares. Not so.
If you met my psyche you’d understand, we don’t get along well…
I aaalways have dreams where I’m being chased, but my legs refuse to work properly, so I end up moving at a ridiculously slow pace and just as I’m about to get caught, the dream either changes, or I wake up. Except one time I got to see myself eaten by a crocodile, so that was interesting at least
And Julie ^^^^ thanks so much for your valued contribution to our lives.
i’ve all but three of these dreams (9, 6 & 7) but the dreams i had that were like the ones on the list were different from the explaintions given.
i.e.
2. I’ve dreamed this in relation to school, but only in my middle school years (the worst 3 years of my life) as soon as i moved on i stopped having them.
3. i’ve heard this has a lot to do with smoking as well (or trying to quit smoking) & while i was trying to quit i’d have a great number of these dreams, so it makes sense to me.
4. one of the only two reoccuring dreams in my life. no matter how old i am when i have it, i am around 6 years old in the dream & being chased by a man (usually who wants to abduct me).
10. The car trouble dreams i had a lot as well when i was younger. usually it would be me taking my parents car (i was not of age to drive in the dream or at the time) & my little brother would always be in the passenger seat & we’d be so happy until we got a few feet out of the driveway & then i’d lose control somehow & fear getting in trouble with my parents. coincidentally, i stopped having that dream when i started driving (around 15 or so).
5. this dream is probably the most horrific to me & the most common recurring dream. it involves men breaking into my house & my father getting up to see what is happening when he is shot (almost exclusively in the stomach or chest) & he begins to die, albeit, slowly so he has time to smile & joke & pretend he’s going to live. I’m the only one that witnesses this in the dream & i’m the only one that sees my father die. i’m always the same age in the dream (12-13) & my did is always young, about in his 30s. it never fails to shake me up.
I remember most of my dreams… the trick of writing them down while they’re still fresh in your mind really works in helping you remember them.
Lately I’ve been successful at controlling my dreams in an extremely limited capacity. At some point I slow down and say to myself (in the dream), stare at ONE object for awhile to help remember. So far its been working.
Too bloody right you were kidding about the British thing. I hate stereotype. I’m British, and i’ve only ever had one cavity in 18 years!
I’ve had the falling and teeth dreams, but ususally my dreams are messed up. Once I dreamt a puppet Jesus came into my bedroom and starting talking to me. He kinda looked like the puppet outta Saw…
And last night I dreamt I was being chased by spirits and poltergeist in a cinema.
i had one dream where i was involved with a shootout against the mafia and ended up dying, but then my ghost/soul/whatever rose from my body, and i could see my dead body, but i was still somehow alive. also, last night, i had a dream that i was on my computer, then i went to get a cup of water, and when i was coming back i saw myself on the computer, even though i was standing in the doorway. i could somewhat control my “other self”. i dunno, i thought those were the two weirdest dreams in my life.
Don’t you hate it when you wake up just as the best part of the dream starts (I know what that involves with guys…), or can’t remember something cool?
I once dreamt I knew all the secrets of the universe, why we’re here, everything. It felt that way. Then I couldn’t remember a thing when I woke. Sad face.
i had this dream the other night where i was chatting with this girl who i really like.. that was really weird. i felt really happy and i felt that my vision was actually the pc monitor. i cant see my hands or the keyboard. it was very weird.. really. the funny thing about it was the previous night i waited for a few hours for her to go online then 5 minutes after we started chatting, she had to go. i really got disappointed and i decided to go to sleep early. then i researched about dreams and ended up here.. haha! one thing really does lead to another..
Tell me, what does it mean if I’ve never ever had a dream before, I’m serieus, It’s just a black image, I just don’t dream…
Am I a Psycho?
,
no it does not mean you are a psycho. Everyone actually has dreams or REM sleep,it is just simply some people do not remember what they dream at all.
I’ve only had two weird dreams like these. In one of them, I’m really young, back when my parents were still together, and this gigantic T-Rex, large even for a freaking dinosaur, tears off the roof of my house. I go and hide under an endtable, while my mom tells the dinosaur I’m not there. Oh, and the dinosaur can talk. @.@
The second one is where me and a bunch of other people are riding on this ferry-type-thing in a gymnasium about half full with water. We keep trying to get away from these odd looking people-shark things. Then I randomly take it into my head to jump in the water and start chasing the ferry. Maybe I’m finally starting to conform? XD
OHMYGOSH! I’ve had that exact first dream before, and I only just remembered it when I was reading. Wowwww, thats weird!! (:
Dreams actually don’t “mean” anything. Psychology/Psychiatry has shown repeatedly that dreams are simply the unconscious mind’s way of dealing with external stimuli; sounds, smells, touches that occur while we are asleep. Almost everyone has a recurring dream. Recurring dreams occur due to the mind attempting to interpret sensory input while asleep. The problem is most people don’t remember their dreams at all. Since everyone’s mind is different from everyone else’s then it’s reasonable to determine everyone dreams differently even when presented with the same stimuli.
It’s fascinating to see how people dream and how amazingly vivid they are, but there’s no real meaning in them.
I don’t have any of these dreams. My weirdest one though was when I was little after my sister was born I dreamt that I was using the bathroom and she accidently crawled in and I flushed her down the toilet. I think I was going through some jealousy issues
does anyone have dream soundtracks? I constantly incorporate songs into my dreams and I won’t remember them until I hear the song again and then I’m like..oh this is from the dream where such and such happened.
jfrater: wow the man himself ! Greetings ^_^
The feeling I had during/after the dream was sheer terror. It was like my brain was fooled into thinking I was perhaps going to the dentist (major butterflies in my stomach) or going on holiday (major butterflies caused by the fear of death by plane crash,excitement etc).
And quite a messed up/effing strange one, when I was a kid I would have dreams where I would be holding a girl (about to kiss her) like they used to do in those old b&w movies and when I close my eyes in my dream (weird lol) she changes into an ironing board! I don’t mean an ironing board that is ready to use, collapse the legs on an ironing board and presto you got yourself a love-of-boaby’s-life-transforming ironing-board-girl!
Keep up the good work Mr. Frater (^_^)
being that the majority of posters on this site only believe what hard science can proove, see the creationism list, i find it hard to believe that so many would accept the pseudo-science of dream *****ysis and to some degree, psychology as a whole.
Holy crap… those are the dreams that ***** me off the most.
The one where you either have: a)the idea for a product that would change the world or b)you figure out some universe changing theorem. I never can remember them when I wake up. I just wake up with an amazing sense of loss.
i have dreams I’m naked in public all the time.
i love those dreams.
I constantly dream about loosing my teeth and constantly dream of tornadoes.
Why can’t it be anything good?
I’m with DiscHuker, dreams are the brain’s way of collating, organizing and filing the reams of information we all absorb or are exposed to every day. I’ve had almost all of these dreams at one time or another, and they all mean the exact same thing. Diddly squat! And just because you don’t remember them doesn’t mean you don’t dream. Everyone but the brain damaged, has REM sleep. REM sleep is dreaming sleep. You can’t avoid it.
The dream I most remember as a kid was one where I was babysitting. I put the kid in the roast pan and put the roast pan in the Lazy Susan cupboard. I spun the cupboard around and opened up the roast pan. The kid had turned into a big roast pan full of cornflakes that percolated. You know blup, blup?. Yeah there is some deeper meaning to this dream than a brain hi-colonic. I think not.
I find that fascinating that the ‘failed test’ is linked to not being able to find the test room. I get that periodically – It’s usually college and I’ve blown a class off for almost the entire semester – and once finals come I have to find a map and locate the room like it’s my first day there
I one had a realy scary dream: I was beining chased by a women who wanted to kill me, just when she almost had me I woke up. Still scared as hell I turned on the light (light makes me feel beter) but the women from my dream was standing next to my bed with a huge knife ready to kill me and then I realy woke up.
It is so strange to dream that you woke up but you actually did not woke up.. if still somebody get what I’m saying.
Anybody else who had this as well??
I often dream most of the above dreams… I don’t know why!!!
Great list. I’ve had most of these dreams. I often dream about seeing fish or fishing. What do you think that means?
Mom424: Way to pick the most random dream!
Just because you have meaningless dreams doesn’t mean everyone does.
Never assume everyone is the same. Its rude and wrong and funny.
Charo Camu
(2008-2093)