When it comes to dream facts, and the things that we dream about, it can be a bit daunting to realize that so many strange things comprise what we think of whilst we’re sleeping. Here are a few facts about dreams that will not only kind of explain why our dreams pan out the way that they do—but also how to make yourself a little healthier as far as the dream world goes.
- REM Sleep is good for you.
If you only got a few hours of sleep for several nights, and you didn’t quickly correct it, you would start to lose your mind through hallucinations (both visual and auditory), paranoia, and an inability to concentrate. (Calling bull? The writer has been through this! It’s not by any means fun—it just shows you how important sleep truly is.) Of the many facts about dreams, this one is particularly important. If you don’t keep these types of dream facts in mind, well, it could negatively affect your health! However, your body does compensate. Once you go back to having normal sleep, your brain will lengthen the REM stage to make up for what you missed.
- You can’t move during a dream
Some of us might beg to differ, but we’re not supposed to move during a dream, due to a hormone that helps to relax/paralyze you so that you don’t thrash around in your sleep. Some people may make less of this than others or might not make any at all, and end up moving and waking themselves up (or perhaps that’s the end of the dream!). But, this is one of the dream facts that needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Don’t worry though—there are more facts about dreams!
- Precognitive dreams are fairly common
One of the stranger dream facts is that about 30% of people experience at least one precognitive dream in their lifetime. Some might dream about a place that they have been to or have a dream about something they’ve already been through—whether they remember it or not. Déjà vu and other dreams of this nature occur in at least 70% of the population. Just one of the weirder facts about dreams!
- Your gender can influence who you’re dreaming of
In fact, as weird as this might sound to the guys, but males dream about males more than females, while females dream equally of both genders. Of the many dream facts, this certainly gives us something to think about! But, these next facts about dreams will really get your goat…
- Every “stranger” in a dream is someone that you’ve seen at least once
Every time that you have a dream where there are a lot of weird strangers, you aren’t making that up. That’s right—you’ve seen each of those people, somewhere, at some point in time, while you were younger. While this is one of the weirder dreams facts, it is certainly one of the facts about dreams that makes the most sense!
- You don’t remember a lot of your dreams
That’s right 90% of your dreams are essentially down the toilet once you wake up, go pee, and lay back down in the bed. After that, you lose the next little bit. However, if you’re woken up midway through the dream, you’ll find that you remember more of it. This includes when you end up waking yourself up! Weird dream facts, but true. Not to mention that this isn’t the weirdest addition to the facts about dreams!
- External things influence your dreams
Have you ever fallen asleep during class (on accident, hopefully), and found yourself dreaming about the lesson or whatever else your teacher was talking about? If so, then you now know why—what’s going on outside while you’re dream affects your dreams! The same is true when you have to pee. Remember the toilet dreams when you were little? Yep. And, we all know what comes next. One of the weirder dream facts. Of the many facts about dreams, this one definitely takes the cake!
- A toddler doesn’t dream about itself until about age three
Of the many dream facts we now know, this one is fairly interesting. After all, you would think that they would dream about themselves by then, but apparently it’s really, really uncommon. This is something to keep in mind about your little ones! They could be having a dream about food, you, or maybe that Donald Duck orange juice commercial that you played for them on Youtube. Of the many dream facts that we learn about, this one is definitely interesting enough!
- Toddlers dream more about animals than adults
Lions and bears and pterodactyls, oh my! That’s right—of the many dream facts, this is another one to think about. When you have dreams about falling or winning the lottery, your child is probably having a dream about animals or something of that nature. It might seem a bit odd, but you have to understand the fascination with animals at that age and also how often they are depicted in cartoons, toys, and pretty much anything else around them. It’s not surprising that little kids have dreams about animals so dogone often!
- Even the blind dream while they sleep
This is probably the most interesting of the facts about dreams. First and foremost, every blind person can dream, but their dream-type depends on when they were blinded. For example, if you were born blind, you will have a sensory or auditory dream as opposed to a visual one. If you had your sight while you were a young child, then you will be able to see SOME images, but not as many as if you were blinded later. Those that were born able to see, surpassed age 7, and then were blinded, are able to see many of the same things that other people are during their dreams. However, eventually, the images kind of fade away in the dream. It depends on how old they are, for the most part.
