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The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

dreambank.net

31–40 of 171 posts

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#31
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

I dreamed myself a sci-fi miniseries and it was extremely weird so it's not just you. I work in games/entertainment so I assume it's just how my brain organizes stuff.

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#32
post #12

I would like to know what small children (1-2 years) dream, but we can of course never really know for sure. My daughter (2 years) definitely seems to have nightmares. She also seems to have conversations in her dreams, as she often speaks answers to questions while sleeping. Personally I very strongly remember some wild dreams when I was very young, probably around the age I started remembering things at all, so aro…

I would really like to know what my dog dreams. Whatever it is, it sounds like he has a far more active life when asleep than when awake.

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#33
post #12

I would like to know what small children (1-2 years) dream, but we can of course never really know for sure. My daughter (2 years) definitely seems to have nightmares. She also seems to have conversations in her dreams, as she often speaks answers to questions while sleeping. Personally I very strongly remember some wild dreams when I was very young, probably around the age I started remembering things at all, so aro…

This website is actually part of a bigger one called DreamResearch.net where you can find interesting info such as some investigations into what children dream.

It seems that there are some "cognitive prerequisites for dreaming", which are mostly developed around the age of 5-7, which might explain your dreams being so crazy and full of colors, as in those ages you are still developing "the ability to produce mental imagery" and "narrative skills".

https://dreams.ucsc.edu/Library/domhoff_2020b.pdf - Chapter "Dreaming Is a Gradual Cognitive Achievement"

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#34
post #25
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

A theme that comes a lot for me is getting bitten by a spider in the dream. The catalyst I've noticed is heart burn/acid reflux. I think recurring themes in dreams are linked to recurring/similar events during the day. The same neuronal pathways are followed so you get similar dreams that link up with those events. Or maybe not! Who really knows?

I believe the actual nature of dreams are not as we remember them. When we recall a dream and makes it a conscious thing we interpret it as we interpret other recollections by making a coherent story of the basic memory. So I dont’t think we can know what the brain process actually were when dreaming. Different things may coalesce into a dream process. And when it is recalled and interpreted it is formed into a meaningful but relatively arbitrary direction.

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#35
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

There's a city I have been visiting in my dreams for years now. It's a very different experience each time, but the streetcars are always the same[0], as well as the general impression of the place.

At this point I can identify a few areas like "old town" or "business district" or "very large square with an enormous roundabout".

[0] Mostly various types of Ganz UVs https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganz_UV which is interesting, because I've only been to Budapest once in my life.

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#36
post #28
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

Don’t so quickly discount mystical descriptions of dreams, even if you aren’t a religious person yourself. The thing that is special about dreams is that unlike our conscious waking experience you have no control over how they manifest themselves. They aren’t scientific or rational at all; they are human. Dogs have dreams, and we wouldn’t expect them to have a rational, non-mystical explanation for them. In a sense y…

"Mystical" and "unconscious" aren't interchangeable.

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#37
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

Oh yes, and specifically about anxieties like you describe. It makes intuitive sense to me that your brain would simulate anxiety-inducing situations in order to exercise those high-stakes decision-making pathways (or similar). Escape sequences are very common for me. Example: “waking” up on the last day of a semester, only to discover that I am enrolled in a required class that I never actually attended...woops.

[deleted]

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#38
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

As a kid, age 6-8 probably I had many dreams about owls. I never figured out why or what would have triggered it. Between my 20s and 30s I did a lot of selfdefense training. I would dream a lot about conflict situations where I would have to fight (or run). In real life I might have had 3 conflics in those 10 years. Anyhow, fighting in a dream was like being submerged in molasse: every movement had resistence and was…

I think that's your body's way of making sure you don't hurt yourself - kinda like why I can never run in dreams - body has a sleep paralysis

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#39
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

I don't know if I'd call it recurring, since it's pretty rare, but: Sometimes I lose my mind in my dreams. I can feel myself losing my grip on my faculties, as if something were ripping my mind apart. It's hard to describe, visuals become distorted, things split apart into colours, my grip on reality feels slippery. I imagine having a stroke might feel that way, although I hope it's less dramatic. This is just sheer terror.

Also rare, but in a similar vein, sometimes I wake up into a dream, over and over again. I'll be in bed, relieved I'm finally awake, until I soon realize I'm still asleep and wake up again. When this repeats enough times, it becomes pretty desperate.

Otherwise, I rarely have anxiety-inducing dreams.

Re: The DreamBank, a collection of over 20k dream reports

#40
post #19

Just curious, does anyone here have dreams with some recurring themes? I've tried googling for this but sadly most of the content seems to be related to spiritual/mystical "explanations" of it. And I don't bring it up with anyone in real life so as to not appear like a kook. I don't usually remember my dreams, but when I do there's a great probability that it falls into these 2 categories - 1. I suddenly find myself…

My dreams are always of the sense that I'll get physically lost and die for it -- as in, I'm driving up a winding road, and I take a wrong turn, and that turn causes me to skid off past a guardrail and plummet to the ground, infinitely below. Or walking back from buying groceries, and all the signs are blank, then turning out into the woods and falling down in a pit in the sidewalk.
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