Why do we dream that we fall into the void or lose our teeth? The mystery of recurring dreams

When I was a child I had, for years, a dream that recurred frequently. It wasn’t pleasant, really, and I still remember the feeling of trying to control how it ended. What he feared never happened, but he seemed to forget it each time sleep returned. Probably many readers relate to this experience. We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, and the dreams we experience in that state arouse great interest. They involve experiences on a sensory, emotional and mental level. Although they can occur at any stage, they are more frequent during REM sleep. Although not all people remember the stories experienced during their night’s rest, some have recurrent dreams, those that are repeated with the same content. In fact, approximately 75% of adults report having experienced them at some point in their lives. Some of the most typical consist of feeling that we are being persecuted, that our teeth fall out, that we collapse into the void or that we appear in public without clothes or with strange clothes. Therefore, most of them have a negative aspect, and they often appear during periods of stress and psychological discomfort. Why do they occur? Can we do something to remove them? To answer these questions, first of all we would have to find out why we dream, in general. Consolidation of memories and training Although there is no scientific consensus about their origin and usefulness, we know that, in general, dreams are linked to experiences stored in the memory. It is probable that they are involved in the integration of our experiences. According to some models, they could be the result of a memory consolidation process that would be produced by the reactivation of brain areas related to memory. Thus, there would be a kind of script stored in our mind, and its activation would produce the appearance of sleep. On the other hand, it has been conjectured that dreaming plays a relevant role from the evolutionary point of view: it would serve to train behaviors of escape or avoidance of threatening situations. Types of recurrent dreams First of all, it is important to differentiate between recurrent dreams that are part of a pathology and those whose cause is unknown and are not associated with a health problem. Thus, the latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) includes two disorders that have this type of repeated dream experiences as one of their main symptoms: nightmare disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. Both constitute psychopathologies, that is, they cause clinical deterioration and clearly interfere with the life of the affected person. In the case of post-traumatic stress disorder, it is very common for people to experience the exact repetition of the traumatic event they experienced. In contrast, idiopathic recurring dreams (without known cause) are related to more general themes, such as the loss of a loved one or the breakup of a relationship. Universal and, at the same time, very personalWhen it comes to understanding these dreams, it is necessary to several factors must be taken into account. Other dreams, such as falling, are often accompanied by muscle twitching, and sometimes occur just as we are falling asleep. This experience, which receives the name of hypnagogic jerk or myoclonic spasm, could respond to an attempt by the brain to continue controlling the body in that transition between wakefulness and sleep. On the other hand, despite the existence of common issues, the The fact that a dream is repeated frequently in the same person has related its meaning to psychological factors. Thus, the content can change over time, and has a different meaning for each individual. Recurring dreams frequently occur during periods of stress, although there are people who experience them for years or even for a lifetime. In some cases, they go away when the mood improves, but come back if it gets worse again. Lack of sleep, for example, has been associated with repeated nightmares. Therefore, although there is some hypothesis about the specific contents that are repeated, or about the relationship of these with the person’s concerns, we are currently not in a position to explain why there are issues that are repeatedly manifested more than others. A reflection of our concerns The continuity hypothesis states that dreams reflect states and concerns present during wakefulness. Thus, there is a greater probability that they will be negative if people present psychological distress. Recurring nightmares are more frequent in people who are anxious or have a tendency to experience negative emotions of great intensity. In addition, those who experience them and stop having them, go on to dream more positive things, even compared to people who have never had that type of nightmare. dream experiences. This would support the theory that there is a relationship between dreams and psychological adaptation. Recurring dreams could reflect some kind of unresolved concern or conflict that the person needs to process and deal with, playing an important role in emotional regulation. Dreaming would serve as a kind of training. Can we do something to eliminate them? Generally, recurring dreams do not cause major problems and, therefore, there is no need to resort to treatment. However, some people choose to try to reduce them through a psychological intervention. These interventions have managed to improve even cases of post-traumatic dreams. In short, if we experience recurrent dreams, in principle we should not worry. Only if we feel that it generates a great disturbance in our lives or that it may respond to an underlying problem, can we consult a specialist.* Laura Río Martínez. Doctor in Psychology, researcher and university professor, International University of ValenciaThis article has been published in “The Conversation”. You can read the original here.