How accurate are dream interpretations?

Dream interpreters often suggest that dreams about pregnancy represent everything from creativity to fear. Pregnancy dreams might sometimes represent a woman's fears of being an inadequate mother.

Another take is that pregnancy dreams may indicate that the dreamer is developing some area of...

Some researchers theorize that regular, recurring dreams represent being frustrated about psychological needs that are unmet. Recurring dreams are also common after experiencing a lot of mental distress, such as with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dream Analysis and Interpretation Are Imperfect Sciences

Understanding the deeper meaning of dreams can bring about realizations about how you feel and think, which can be beneficial for providing personal insight.

Dreaming about losing teeth can have multiple meanings.

It might mean that you are worried about your attractiveness or appearance. It may also indicate that you are concerned about your ability to communicate, or that you are concerned that you might have said something embarrassing.

Dreams about dying may reflect anxiety about change or a fear of the unknown.

Like death, change can be scary because—also like death—we do not know what is 'on the other side' of the change, which is why the dreaming mind may equate change with death.

Dreaming about the death of a l...

Dreams about being chased may suggest that you are trying to avoid something in your daily life. It might indicate a desire to escape from your own fears or desires.

The key to understanding what such a dream might mean depends partly on the identity of your pursuer. If it is:

• ...

The self-organization theory of dreaming implies that dreams are a reflection of one's physiological and psychological activities, thus providing important information about the person's thoughts and emotional state. Psychoanalysts can then use the person's dreams to better understand what is goi...

In some cases, having vivid or highly intense dreams is a result of major trauma.

Dreams that are vivid generally occur during REM sleep and could also be due to fragmented sleep, sleep deprivation, a sleep disorder, stress, pregnancy, or a medication you are taking.

“To understand the intricacies of life, study the antics of your dreams.”

-Michael Bassey Johnson , The Oneironaut’s Diary

“I am accustomed to sleep and in my dreams to imagine the same things that lunatics imagine when awake.”

-Rene Descartes

Have you ever had one of those awkward dreams where you show up at school or the office in your birthday suit? Don't worry. Dreaming about being naked is hardly unusual.

Dreaming of public nudity might indicate that you feel like a phony or that you are afraid of revealing your imperfection...

While there is a popular myth that if you hit the ground in your dream you will die in real life, it simply is not true. So what exactly could dreams about falling really mean?

Falling dreams may be a sign that something in your life isn't going well. It might suggest that you need to rethi...

There are other dream themes that tend to be fairly common. They include:

• Discovering new rooms or passages
• Being dressed inappropriately
• Being unable to find a toilet
• Arriving someplace late
• Having a massive wave approaching you
• Finding money

Analyzing dream symbols and ascribing meaning to them has become a source of both entertainment and self-reflection in popular culture.

What your dreams tell you and whether they reveal your true feelings depends on various factors. While some modern theories of dreams suggest that the answ...

How do you analyze a dream? The first step is to write down everything you can remember as soon as you wake. Dreams are often quickly forgotten, so jotting down the details can help aid in recall. Next, look at the dream's contents and think about what it might mean in your life. What association...

Flying dreams can be exciting and even liberating, but they can also sometimes be quite frightening (especially for those afraid of heights).

Dreams about flying often have two very different sides. They can represent feelings of freedom and independence. On the other hand, they can also in...

Psychoanalyst Carl Jung believed that if you dream about someone close to you or someone who is important to you, that might represent how you feel about that person in real life; whereas if you dream about a person you are not close with (such as someone in your past) or an unknown person, that ...

While these dreams might be the reflection of fears of infidelity, such dreams probably don't mean that your spouse is cheating or will cheat.

Dreams about infidelity may indicate issues with trust, loyalty, and communication in a relationship. If you or your partner cheated in your dream, ...

Taking an exam in your dream might reveal an underlying fear of failure.

Examinations are stressful experiences in which you are made to face up to your shortcomings. To dream of failing an exam, being late for one, or being unprepared  may show that you feel unprepared for the challenges o...