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It’s always nice to wrap yourself in a warm blanket after a hectic day, sit comfortably in your bed and fall asleep sweetly to see a colorful dream that will restore your strength and give you a boost of energy for the next day. But sometimes it happens that in the morning you realize that you slept “like a log” all night and didn’t see anything at all in your dreams. It's a shame, isn't it? Let's figure out why a person sometimes doesn't have dreams.

Essence of Dream

Modern scientists put forward many theories explaining the nature of sleep, but so far none of them can be called truly true. We can only highlight a few generally accepted facts that characterize sleep:

The slow-wave sleep phase is characterized by a slower heartbeat, relaxation of all body muscles, and even a slight drop in temperature. Such changes in the body contribute to proper rest and the process of tissue regeneration. However, against the background of calmness of the whole body, the brain continues to work: during this phase, the entire amount of information that a person has received during the day is processed.

The REM sleep phase is completely opposite to slow sleep: under closed eyelids, the eyes dart, breathing becomes more frequent, and body temperature rises by a couple of degrees. This reaction of the body also affects the brain, which, due to the general activity of the body, provokes the appearance of dreams.

Possible reasons for lack of dreams

A sleeping person experiences dreams about 4 times a night during the REM sleep phase. The first dreams usually reflect events that happened the previous day, while subsequent dreams become more fantastical and illogical.

A person remembers only those dreams after which he could accidentally wake up at night (for example, to turn on the other side or stretch a stiff limb), or those that he saw in the morning.

Accordingly, there are several reasons why a person may not remember the dreams he had at night at all and think that they never happened:

How to bring back dreams

In order to start enjoying colorful action movies, adventures or romantic stories in your dreams again, try to follow a few recommendations:

• Create a bedtime ritual. This should be a list of simple actions performed at the same time every day. For example, read a book - meditate - prepare clothes for tomorrow - brush your teeth - go to bed.
• Alternate physical and mental work. Any monotonous activity leads to nervous tension and fatigue, so try to diversify your day. For example, if you work at a computer, step away from your desk for 10 minutes every hour to drink tea, walk to the toilet, call a friend, or do some other small task.
• Try not to abuse alcohol, as this leads not only to loss of dreams, but also to many other negative consequences.

Aliyana, Minsk

Psychologist's comment:

Many people feel upset if they don’t have dreams, because dreams are so similar to films that are interesting to watch and solve...

Scientists say that absolutely every person dreams every day, if, of course, he sleeps. The so-called REM phase or REM sleep phase, during which a person dreams, happens to him about 4-5 times a night, is characterized by increased brain activity. The total duration of the fast phase is 1.5 hours. One of the signs of this phase is the rapid movements of the eyeballs, thanks to which it was discovered by scientists from the University of Chicago in 1953.

Dreams occur not only to people, but also to animals - for example, dogs. Those of you who keep these pets have often observed how a sleeping animal's eyelids twitch and its paws twitch during sleep. This is the dreaming phase.

So what can we say about not having dreams? Everyone dreams; Another thing is whether a person remembers his dreams or not? If a person is physically or mentally healthy, then he always remembers his dreams. As a rule, these are the dreams that occur in the morning, before waking up, that is, the very last of the REM phase series.

In other cases, a person may wake up in the middle of the night - for example, from a nightmare that is difficult for our psyche to bear, and therefore the person wakes up, as they say, “in a cold sweat.” Also, sleep can be interrupted in the middle of the night if this is caused by an uncomfortable position, heat or cold in the room where we sleep, or the urge to perform physiological functions.

However, dreams are not an entertaining movie in the genre of science fiction, love drama, action or thriller. Our dreams have a certain function. Which ones exactly? One of them is predictive. Since ancient times, different civilizations have had a very serious attitude towards dreams and dreams, that is, there was a certain “culture” or “cult” of dreams.

For example, in Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, Japan, China, and Greece they were treated very carefully. Priests, monks or rulers tried to get predictions about future events from dreams in order to be able to prepare for them. For this purpose, there were special spiritual practices and rituals associated with spending the night in a temple and “ordering” sleep on a specific topic so that the information received was the most accurate and truthful.

Today there is also such a thing as a “prophetic dream”. However, at the moment such a phenomenon is very rare. Only in case of a serious threat to a person’s life, health and well-being can he have a dream that warns him of danger (this can be a gloomy or nightmare dream).

In addition to the predictive function, our dreams have another function - the continuation of emotionally significant processes of daily life, their development and harmonious resolution for a person.

Why, if a dream is so important for a person, does he forget it? There are two explanations for this:

1) In our society there is no culture of dreaming, an attitude towards it as something important.

2) The presence of “resistance”, when information from a dream is simply erased from memory and forgotten.

The fact that we do not remember at all or only partially remember our dreams is a shortcoming of both our personal and social culture. We are not accustomed to the perception of sleep as an informational function of our subconscious, which truthfully describes the state of our life and the events occurring in it. And since the dream honestly records everything that happens, a person’s defense mechanism of forgetting turns on.

This mechanism was discovered within the framework of psychoanalytic theory by S. Freud and is manifested in the fact that a person “does not remember” his dream in order to avoid facing some problem in his life that is insoluble, unpleasant, forbidden for him.

The model of personality created by Freud appears as a combination of three elements that are in a certain subordination to each other: The Unconscious (It) is the deep layer of the psyche, the “self,” the basis of an active individual, his instincts; Consciousness (I) - memory, thinking, logic, mediator between the inner world of a person and external reality; Super-Consciousness (Super-I) is conscience, the attitudes of society (morality, censorship), which arises as an intermediary between the unconscious and consciousness due to the intractability of the conflict between them.

Thus, the power of these complexes and restrictions of the Super-Ego turns out to be stronger than the will of our Conscious Self.

How can you help yourself in this case?

1. You need to create the intention to remember your dreams, to penetrate your subconscious to study yourself. This can be facilitated by the understanding that such penetration is absolutely safe and useful, you are helping yourself.
2. Be sure to keep a pen and notepad next to your sleeping place so that you can write down your dream immediately after waking up.
3. Seek the help of psychological science to eliminate “complexes”, internal blocks and traumas, and harmonize the psyche.

Psychologist Natalya Nilova

Each of us sooner or later thinks about why we dream? This question has worried humanity for many centuries.

The question of where dreams come from does not arise now. Our ancient ancestors, including the most illustrious minds, asked them. According to Aristotle, during sleep the human body enters a state of peace and finds harmony with the world around it. The soul has the gift of foresight.

Scientists of the 20th century believed that dreams every night are associated with physiological processes occurring in the body during rest. Some have theorized about the dissipation of various chemicals that accumulate in the brain during the day. A plausible version says that a person can dream so that his brain can free itself from unnecessary information and “reboot”.

The question of why we dream does not have a 100% accurate answer. However, scientists have long proven that during REM sleep, blood pressure on the brain increases sharply. The main organ begins to work actively, and a person awakened in this state can accurately retell the entire plot. In other words, every dream well remembered by a person was dreamed in the rapid phase. If people don't remember their dreams, it means they simply don't remember them. This may be the answer to the question why dreams are rare, it’s all about forgetting them.

In the question of where dreams come from, the observations of the famous scientist Pavlov are very important. It was he who first proved that the cerebral cortex is responsible for how dreams appear. Its nerve cells control signals transmitted to all organs and are highly reactive. If a person is overtired, then the cells turn on protection - they begin to slow down, as a result of which all the information accumulated in them during the day is processed and deleted. It would seem that in this way we can explain that due to the process of inhibition of parts of the brain, we have dreams every day.

But there are many dreams to which higher nervous activity cannot be related, for example, prophetic, erotic, or not related to reality in any way. According to psychologist Sigmund Freud, a person has strange dreams because of his subconscious. The cerebral cortex receives information that was previously unknown to it.

Scientists have long come to the conclusion that everyone dreams, rarely or often. Some are simply not stored in memory. And if you suddenly start having “night visions,” don’t worry. They were there before, and always, but unmemorable.

Who dreams of bright scenes?

Why do people dream? This question can be answered based on who sees them most often:

• People with vivid perceptions and an active psyche constantly dream about night stories, i.e. dreamers. During complete relaxation and rest, they simply think out the events and stories they know.
• One of the reasons why a person dreams is constant mental work. If you think intensely all day, your brain will continue to be active at night. He will come up with something that was not obvious to consciousness when you were awake.
• Creative people often say: “we dream.” This happens because even during rest they subconsciously strive to create something.
• Impressionable people, melancholic people, people who keep their own or other people’s secrets - they will all sleep and see different scenes.

Scientific explanations

Every day the brain remembers and reacts in a certain way to a huge number of events. You go to bed, but only your body is completely at rest. And the brain continues to repeat and consolidate the information, making it a kind of script.

The scenario can be a repetition of the events of the past month, recent or current situations. Anxieties, thoughts and dreams form additional information that can lead to completely unrealistic stories, ridiculous visions and nightmares. What is sleep from a scientific point of view? Nothing more than a generalized picture of internal experiences and reality.

Psychologists' opinions

Psychologists say that every dream reflects a person’s psychological state. Beautiful and positive visions will come to those who are happy and carefree. Nightmares appear to those who suffer from phobias and fears. Since the brain has so many negative emotions that it simply cannot cope with them in any other way. Psychology experts are sure that black and white dreams appear precisely because of various and frequent experiences in reality.

Why do people suffer from nightmares?

Nightmares are formed and reflected by the brain for several main reasons. They are usually an emotional response to some grandiose situation. The brain processes and experiences them over and over again. Have you experienced a turning point? Then be prepared for terrible visions to come to you in your sleep.

Nightmares are vital because they allow the brain to cope with real horror and process information about it. Otherwise, mental problems are possible. If you have nightmares regularly or constantly, you simply cannot cope with all the negativity in your life. It stays in your head and torments you even while you are resting. It is best to seek help from a sleep specialist or psychologist.

List of used literature:

• Kovrov G.V. (ed.) A brief guide to clinical somnology M: “MEDpress-inform”, 2018.
• Poluektov M.G. (ed.) Somnology and sleep medicine. National leadership in memory of A.N. Vein and Ya.I. Levina M.: “Medforum”, 2016.
• A.M. Petrov, A.R. Giniatullin Neurobiology of sleep: a modern view (textbook) Kazan, State Medical University, 2012.

Sleep in humans, like in any animal, is usually caused by fatigue and overwork. This causes the need for peace and relaxation. In a state of sleep, the body, weakened after many hours of active activity, gradually returns the necessary vigor and strength to once again begin the actions that make up all of life. But why do people? When the nervous system is exhausted, this leads to slow blood circulation, which, in turn, slows down the activity of all vital functions. As a result, attention and will are lost, replaced by oblivion or sleep. When a person falls asleep, communication with the outside world is temporarily suspended; he seems to partially lose awareness of his existence; any external phenomena and objects no longer affect him. And only the brain actively continues its mental activity, thanks to which dreams and dreams come.

During sleep, the nerves no longer transmit sensations to the brain. Of all the available organs, vision is the first to get tired; It is the eyes that require rest, rest and sleep in the first place. But not all organs fall asleep at the same time: while one part of them, the most tired, falls asleep, the second, less tired, remains awake. The answer to the question “Why do you have dreams?” is quite obvious: dreams and dreams occur precisely because some organs have already fallen asleep, while others continue to be awake for some time. But gradually they calm down, resulting in a calm and deep sleep.

However, nerve diseases and other ailments can cause loss of sleep, insomnia, improper wakefulness, or, conversely, deep and fairly heavy sleep, a kind of hibernation, and in some cases even lethargy. Any dreams are the result of the activity of memory and developed imagination, which are free from the participation of other feelings and abilities. That is why they are so different in meaning, but have much in common with what may well be happening in reality. So, for example, for people who are sick or engage in excessive, backbreaking work, dreams are often scary and difficult. When one of the vital organs is irritated, overworked or sick, sleep is often restless, and light sensations at this moment become extremely strong. For example, the noise of a car passing outside the window can be interpreted as thunder or gunfire; a mosquito bite - like a huge snake bite.

Have you ever wondered why you have dreams that in their meaning almost always correspond to the mental development, social status, physical condition, age, and temperament of the sleeping person? After all, the rich dream mainly of luxury and pleasure; for the poor - need, labor, requests, humiliation; the artist dreams of the stage, applause, audience; to the patient - doctors, hospital, medicines, etc. Also, the dreams of a poet or artist will never be seen by a shoemaker, and a beggar is unlikely to see the dreams of an oligarch. In other words, whoever “breathes” what, dreams about it, because, for example, an astronaut does not always know for certain the intricacies of the production of chemical reagents.

Many people are interested in the question: Yes, it is likely that in some cases dreams can really show pictures from the past or predict the future. But if you do not consider them as something mystical, then any bright, good or bad dreams are caused by certain reasons. These can be strong impressions received in the waking state, thanks to some out-of-the-ordinary incident or event, as well as personal participation in one or another extraordinary incident. They can also be caused by a poor stomach condition or overeating at night, an uncomfortable bed or an uncomfortable body position during sleep. Based on this, it can be noted that very few dreams have a real, prophetic meaning.

In addition, despite the fact that a person sees dreams every night, he cannot always remember them in the morning. If he can remember something, it is only small fragments of the very last morning dream that a person sees just before waking up. Be that as it may, the human brain is still not fully understood, and why we actually dream and what lies behind them remains a curious and unsolved mystery.

Every day in a person’s life many events occur that are remembered by the brain and cause certain reactions. During sleep, only the human body is at rest. During this period, the brain repeats and consolidates all the information received, which can become a so-called scenario for a dream.

In a dream, a person can see the events of the past day, recent situations or the distant past. Under the influence of our thoughts, anxieties and dreams, additional information is formed in the brain, which can cause nightmares, ridiculous visions and completely implausible situations. A dream is a generalized picture of reality and internal experiences.

Sleep from a psychological point of view

From a psychological point of view, a dream is a reflection of a person’s psychological state. If you are happy and your life is not overshadowed by negativity, then in your sleep you see beautiful, positive dreams. If you have fears or phobias, they will definitely appear in dream scenarios. This means that the brain cannot cope with the negative emotions that you experience in real life. Dreams become black and white, and dream situations cause even more anxiety.

Why do dreams stop happening?

If you begin to notice that you have stopped having dreams, pay special attention to your psychological state. Such situations usually happen to people who are regularly exposed to stressful situations or have an unbalanced character. In rare cases, the inability to remember a dream may be a sign of a mental disorder.

There is another point of view, which is confirmed by scientific research. The fact is that sleep consists of several phases, each of which has a special meaning during awakening. Dreams are not remembered if a person is in deep sleep. This usually happens when sleep is interrupted by loud noise, attempts to wake the person, or when sleeping for too long.

Fatigue can also cause lack of dreams. People who sleep little and work very hard have their brains oversaturated with information. During sleep, they flash through our consciousness so quickly that they are practically not stored in memory.

Mystical rationales for dreams

The great scientist Aristotle was a proponent of the opinion that during sleep a person finds harmony with himself and nature. The soul at this time is able to show the future through dreams. This hypothesis became the basis for conclusions about the gift of clairvoyance. According to Plato, sleep is a source of creative energy and inspiration.

The mystical rationale behind dreams is very common. Surely, every person, having seen a terrible dream, will definitely look at its interpretation in the dream book. The explanation of certain symbols has been evolving throughout almost the entire existence of mankind.

There is no consensus on

Dreams are one of the most mysterious phenomena, which scientists from all over the world have worked and continue to work on. In ancient times, it was believed that sleep was a kind of transition to another world (the world of spirits, the astral plane, or even a parallel world). Through dreams, skilled priests and shamans could see the past, predict the future, heal and get to the hidden depths of the subconscious. Dreams can make the life of an ordinary person of our time more fulfilling, since through them clues come to us and secret desires are revealed. But some people are not so lucky because they do not dream. It is difficult to say why a person does not have dreams, but several hypotheses can be identified that are likely causes.

The mechanism of dreams

First of all, we need to please those who think that they do not have dreams and have problems, since everyone should have dreams. At the same time, every person sees 5-6 dreams every day (or when you sleep there), but your brain simply does not remember them, which is why it seems that dreams have passed you by.

Every time you go to sleep, your brain doesn't go to rest with you. He begins to process the entire amount of information that he managed to obtain in a day. Therefore, usually our first dreams are closely related to the daylight realities that we have experienced. The closer to morning, the weaker the connection with reality becomes, so that we have the most unusual and fantastic dreams in the morning (which makes it even more offensive, since this fantasy is interrupted at the most interesting thing).

We usually see unusual and fantastic dreams in the morning

Why do people feel like they don’t dream? The answer has already been given - they do not remember plots. To give a more detailed explanation, our brain works in such a way that we remember mainly those “pictures” that we saw in a dream at the exact moment when we woke up. If you've slept soundly and peacefully all night, you're likely less likely to remember many dreams because you barely woke up.

Another important condition for remembering dreams is the sleep phase. You've probably heard that there are only two phases of sleep, which replace each other several times a night (or a day, it all depends on the time of rest). The REM sleep phase replaces the NREM sleep phase and vice versa. The most interesting thing is that when we fall asleep, we first plunge into the slow-wave sleep phase, during which the “data” received by the brain while awake is processed. The body begins to relax, the pulse and breathing slow down. During this phase, we have the most realistic dreams, closely related to the events of daylight hours. If you suddenly wake up during a slow phase, then the likelihood that you will remember the dreams you had is very low.

One of the most wonderful dreams is to fly in a dream.

But the REM sleep phase is much more “energetic.” During it, we see the most vivid and memorable dreams, which are highly likely to be remembered in all details if you wake up at this time. During this phase, our heart beats faster, breathing becomes more frequent and heavy, the eyes under the eyelids begin to move actively, while the muscles remain at rest.

What does the dream scenario depend on?

The plot of our dreams can be influenced by various factors. The mental and physical state of a person is very important. If, for example, you live in constant stress and experience nervous tension, then your brain will signal its dissatisfaction through dreams. And if you have problems with your physical condition, for example, high body temperature or just the room is very hot, then you may dream that you are in the center of a fire or in the desert, from where you can’t get out, although coolness is somewhere very close.

You may dream of a fire when you have a high temperature or the room is simply hot

Likewise, the plot of a dream is influenced by extraneous sounds, noise, and light. At this moment, your subconscious begins to signal that it would be nice to wake up, because something is happening in the outside world.

However, the main factor influencing the scenario of our dreams remains the eventful part of the past daylight hours. Perhaps you saw some old acquaintance on the street with whom you were unable to talk, and at night your brain transfers this event to the matter of a dream. Or you have been struggling with solving a problem for a long time or just can’t dare to take some action, in this case, be sure that soon in one of your dreams you will see this situation from a different angle, which will allow you to make a decision in real.

Why don't I have dreams?

There can be many reasons why we may not remember dreams (and think that we are not dreaming them). Often in such situations, several reasons play a role at once, so you can only get to the bottom of the truth on your own and solely based on your personal experiences. For convenience, all reasons are combined into three large groups: psychological, biological and esoteric.

Psychological factors

One of the most common reasons for lack of dreams is brain overload during the day.

Psychologists believe that the most common cause is brain overload during the day. If you have experienced a lot during your entire waking life, then be sure that your brain will want to spare you and will not generate dreams so as not to overload you.

Fatigue can also affect the quality of your sleep. If you are tired during the day, then most likely you will sleep soundly and peacefully at night, which means you will not remember the dreams you had. It is also very important that you do not experience stress. Nervous tension can lead to insomnia, which, as the name suggests, is not conducive to pleasant dreams.

Biological reasons

If a person wakes up during the slow phase of sleep, then he does not remember his dreams

As already mentioned, our sleep is based on two phases: fast and slow sleep. We see dreams in each of the phases, but memorization occurs only if the person managed to wake up during the REM sleep phase. This phase lasts about 20 - 30 minutes, it occurs every one and a half to two hours. If a person constantly wakes up during the slow-wave sleep phase, then most often he does not remember dream plots, so sometimes it seems to such people that they do not dream at all.

Biological reasons also include your physical condition. During times of illness, fever or stress, you may experience delirium-like dreams or none at all. It depends on the specific organism and the individual clinical picture.

Esoteric reasons

This is how esotericists see dreams

This category of factors may combine some features of the other two groups, but also has a number of its own features. Esotericists look at dreams somewhat differently than scientists and doctors. According to their ideas, sleep is a kind of gateway between the real and astral worlds. If a person does not see dreams, then this may mean that he either himself refuses his astral travels, or some “higher powers” ​​do not allow him there.

Lack of dreams can also mean a discord between the soul and consciousness, causing the mind to be unable to remember its astral travels. Of course, when it comes to esotericism, it is difficult to name specific reasons for the lack of dreams, so this requires a good understanding of your inner self and your own psychology.

How important is it to dream?

Dreams do not have a significant impact on our health

Not having dreams is neither good nor bad. In essence, dreams are more of a pleasant (and sometimes not so pleasant) bonus from our brain. They do not have a particularly serious effect on the body or its functioning. A much more significant problem is insomnia or constant nightmares. In these situations, you should be concerned, since physical and emotional exhaustion can lead to impairment.

Ordinary dreams are not something obligatory, so there is no need to worry about their absence. If you have just recently begun to notice that you do not remember your dreams, then try to find out the probable cause of this violation. Perhaps, after its elimination, you will again be able to immerse yourself in the magical world of dreams.

Good meditation is the key to mental health, and therefore good sleep.

You need to understand that if you have been seeing and remembering dreams for a long time, and recently suddenly stopped doing this, then the problem has appeared recently and it is quite possible to solve it. But if you don’t even remember the last time you had a dream, then the problem may lie much deeper and it will be much more difficult to solve (you may need to consult a specialist).

There are several tips that will help you not only bring dreams back into your life, but also allow you to remember some of them:

1. Learn to relax. Yes, you also need to be able to rest, and you need to do it well. You need to sleep at least 8 hours a day, go to bed before midnight. An hour before going to bed, dim the lights in the room, put away all gadgets, turn off the TV and laptop, it is advisable to ventilate well. If you feel stressed, take a relaxing bath or warm shower before bed.
2. Try to dose your loads. There are very few people these days who don't work their butts off. Physical, emotional, and moral exhaustion did no good to anyone. If you don’t have the opportunity to give yourself a proper rest after another emergency at work, then try to at least plan your regime so that the load is dosed.
3. Don't eat at night. Eaten less than two hours before going to bed, another rich bun will lie on your stomach like a brick and will only cause nightmares or insomnia (this also applies to alcohol).
4. Meditate. Good mediation is the key to a healthy psyche, and where there is a healthy psyche, the physical condition of the body is excellent. Try to choose meditations for yourself that will help clear your mind of all garbage.
5. Don't jump out of bed immediately after waking up. Of course, this recommendation is difficult to implement, since everyone has such an instrument of torture as an alarm clock. But if you are serious about bringing back your dreams, you will have to come up with something. By lounging in bed for a while immediately after waking up, you increase your chances of the dream being remembered by your brain.
6. Record your dreams. This practice is also used to teach lucid dreaming. You just need to write down every dream you have, and try to describe everything down to the smallest detail. You will not even notice how soon you will not only constantly see dreams, but will also be able to change them at your own discretion.
7. Get creative. Creative practices help improve the functioning of the part of the brain that is responsible for mental images.
8. Take care of chronic illnesses. This applies to everything, including anxiety and neurotic conditions, pathologies of the respiratory system, and digestive organs.

Until now, many scientists are studying human dreams. These mysterious stories created by our brain are one of the most mysterious and beautiful phenomena in our lives. If you suddenly stop seeing dreams, then you shouldn’t fall into despair. There are plenty of tips to help you get your dreams back.