Lesson
Why some dreams keep coming back
Recurring dreams often return in stressful stretches and fade when life eases.
Recurring dreams tend to come back when a similar feeling is present in waking life: pressure, uncertainty, feeling unprepared. Research links them to periods of stress and finds they often fade once something in waking life is resolved. A recurring nightmare is also the ideal first dream to rewrite, because you already know where it turns.
Sources
- Zadra, Recurrent dreams: their relation to life events, Trauma and Dreams, Harvard University Press, 1996
- Brown & Donderi, Dream content and self-reported well-being among recurrent dreamers, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986
Evidence label: Good evidence. What the labels mean.
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