Why do we get the same dream many times? Department of Psychology

Have you ever noticed that the same dream returns during your sleep even after several days or months? Dreams about falling into a pit, being late for school or work, or watching someone close to you leave can repeatedly trouble some people. Dreaming is a natural part of human sleep. However, some dreams attract particular attention because they recur. Some dreams may not be frightening, yet they can suddenly wake a person from deep sleep, while certain negative dreams can continue to affect the mind long after waking up.

According to Deirdre Barrett, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and a researcher specializing in dreams, recurring dreams are often connected to deep life experiences or problems that a person repeatedly faces in real life. She says that dreams generally do not recur in exactly the same form, which is why experiencing the same dream two or more times can be noteworthy. Such dreams may occur intermittently over a period of months or even years. Not every recurring dream necessarily has a complicated meaning. For example, if someone repeatedly dreams of arriving late at school or work, it may indicate that they are worried in real life about their preparation or performance regarding a particular responsibility. However, a dream may also be related to a person’s emotional attachment to a particular issue or their mental state.

According to research, people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety may be more likely to experience recurring dreams. Some people with PTSD have extremely vivid and intense dreams that wake them from sleep, and over time, this problem can also affect their sleep. Sleep routines can also influence dreams. Working late into the night, not getting enough sleep, and consuming caffeine at night can affect sleep quality, causing dreams to feel more vivid or memorable. According to Deirdre Barrett, when the mind remains constantly occupied, the mental processing of a person’s experiences and thoughts continues in one form or another. Sometimes, this process continues in the background, and its effects can appear in dreams.