Dreams are a common experience throughout the world, with human beings, animals and even birds being able to dream in their sleep.
 According to a cluster of studies over the ages, a few theories about dreams:
<ul>
<li>Dreams reveal hidden truths and desires.</li>
<li>They help us process intense emotions.</li>
<li>They help in sorting through and consolidating memories.</li>
<li>Dreams help make sense of random neuron activity.</li>
<li>Dreams help in rehearsing a response to a challenging situation.</li>
<li>Dreams assist us to dramatize our personal concerns.</li>
</ul>
Many cultures and traditions interpret dreams in different ways, and bad dreams, it turns out, may not be that bad. 
Negative dreams can forewarn us and make us handle things in a better way, if and when the situation arises in real life.

Bad Dreams May Be Good

<div>
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/dreams-world-atlas/393182/">Read: What people around the world dream about</a> For all the commonalities dreams exhibit, they vary across time-people who grew up watching black-and-white TV are more likely to dream in black and white -and culture. A 1958 study determined that compared with Japanese people, Americans dreamed more about being locked up, losing a loved one, finding money, being inappropriately dressed or nude, or encountering an insane person. Japanese people were more likely to dream about school, trying repeatedly to do something, being paralyzed with fear, or "wild, violent beasts." (For their part, beasts almost certainly have nightmares too: Just about all mammals are thought to dream, as are birds, some lizards, and-unique among invertebrates-cuttlefish. The dreamiest member of the animal kingdom is the platypus, which logs up to eight hours of REM sleep a day. )
If human dreams sound bleak, bear in mind that even negative ones can have positive effects. In a study of students taking a French medical-school entrance exam, 60 percent of the dreams they had beforehand involved a problem with the exam, such as being late or leaving an answer blank. But those who reported dreams about the exam, even bad ones, did better on it than those who didn't. [<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/dreams-what-do-they-mean/583216/#14-14">14</a>]
So the next time you dream about an education-related sexual experience in which you are both falling and being chased, don't worry: It's probably totally meaningless. Then again, your brain might be practicing so you'll be ready if such an event ever comes to pass.
<h4>The Studies</h4>
This article appears in the April 2019 print edition with the headline "Study of Studies: Bad Dreams Are Good." <section>We want to hear what you think about this article. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/contact/letters/">Submit a letter</a> to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.
</section> <address> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/author/ben-healy/">Ben Healy</a> is a writer and former Atlantic deputy managing editor. 
</address> </div>

Read: What people around the world dream about For all the commonalities dreams exhibit, they vary across time-people who grew up watching black-and-white TV are more likely to dream in black and white -and culture.

Bad Dreams Are Good

Bad Dreams May Be Good

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