I'm remembering my dreams a lot more than I used to. Could this mean something?

[musicalman]

Hi everyone, sorry for the length of the post but this is hard for me to explain well.
Over the past few years, I've noticed that I remember my dreams way more than I used to. I haven't taken any stats but I have a funny feeling that I am remembering more dreams than I forget. The other night I distinctly remember having 4 dreams, and last night I remember having 2 or 3. But it seems almost every night, I remember having dreams.

Some particularly vivid dreams I remember for life, but most other dreams escape my mind after a few hours of being awake. But I could, if I had the motivation to do it, wake up and immediately write those less significant dreams down in somewhat vivid detail. I've already had instances where I have a dream, wake up, contemplate getting up for the day, but end up falling back asleep and dreaming yet again before finally getting up for real.

Up until a few years ago, this never happened. I was a normal dreamer, only remembering my dreams a few times a year maybe. This remembering my dreams almost every night has come on sometimes very suddenly, and I feel like it should mean something.

I'm not superstitious, I don't believe dreams can predict my future or my destiny, but I do believe dreams are a reflection of something. My skeptical logical mind says that dreams are only a reflection of the thoughts your brain copes with during the day. This would make sense in my case.

I do get a repeating nightmare every few months that I'm in school and can't remember where I'm going, what I'm supposed to be doing in class etc. The worst version of this nightmare has me panicking for a final exam that everyone else knows about but me, and the only reason I don't know about it is that my brain refuses to learn and retain. I am aware of this inability, but I am too scared and too overwhelmed to know what to do about it, thus I know I will fail the exam, and might not even make it to the exam as I have forgotten where the exam room is. By the end of the draem I am contemplating just leaving the building. Maybe if I leave, I'll forget that there was an exam there. I can even maybe forget I'm supposed to be at school. But no, that is the one thing I can't forget! Then luckily I am able to snap myself awake and say "It's only a dream, there's no exam I promise!" and I wake up a bit shaky but my mind comes back to me. I've had this nightmare at least three times, and possibly more, it's hard to count. Nothing in real life has ever been that bad, but I did have fears in school that I would forget crucial information no matter how hard I tried. I've always been bad at remembering things in certain classes and I felt so unable to cope with those classes, only barely managing to pass, so maybe that's where the nightmare comes from.

Maybe remembering my dreams comes from the fact that I had a huge depressive meltdown in 2014 that I had not really seen coming. I saw a therapist for a few months who unfortunately didn't seem to fit with me. While I eventually pulled myself out of it, the whole experience scarred me. But I learned a lot about myself, including how to detect another episode before it hit me like that.

The experience made me feel more mature in a way. Before 2014, I was always very happy go-lucky with some sad/lonely days which I just had to truck through as best I could. After that depressive experience, my emotions just became so much more vivid, so much bigger. I am able to experience a deeper sadness than I used to. I initially try to fight it off but eventually just dive into it in hopes of a quicker release, and eventually I wear myself out mentally and have to force myself to get busy. And every time I'm happy, I'm always reflecting on it afterward and saying, well at least I managed to keep happy today, while waiting for the inevitable fall that will come at some point down the line (since it comes in cycles roughly every few weeks). I don't think it's quite bipolar, or at least it's not super severe. My swings aren't as steep as they could be, and if I keep busy the swings diminish in intensity. Nevertheless I wonder if my remembering dreams comes from my constant self-awareness I developed to pull myself out of that first episode.

Another thing I've been able to do with my dreams sometimes is to tell myself that I'm dreaming and wake up from it. While my consciousness steps in and says "hey you're dreaming," I don't have any control over it before that. I can't realize I'm dreaming right away and control it at will, but at some point, my consciousness does take over and stop the dream, and it happens fairly often, I'd say in roughly half the dreams I remember. Maybe that's because I'm not much for fantasy. I like make believe and stuff, I always did, but I've come to realize too much of it does more harm than good when you realize it isn't real no matter how much you wish it was. I don't know if that has anything to do with me pulling myself out of a particularly good or bad dream, but hey, it's fun to speculate sometimes.

So yeah, after this 5000 character post, what do you guys think of this? Is this a fairly normal chain of events, or am I really weird? Lol

 

[tree]

Have you changed what you eat?

Increased levels of B vitamins can result in more dream activity
as well as ability to recall the dream content.

 

[Misery]

It's happened to me over the last couple of years. As a kid, I would dream rarely and remember them even less. Now, it's numerous times every single night, no exceptions.

Difference with me though is that none of my dreams even remotely reflect reality. Lots of absolute weirdness and impossible geometry and all that. I'd have trouble even describing most of them. So because of that, they tend to be quite entertaining. I've had numerous times when I'll wake up, and go "awww.... but I wasnt done with that one yet". Recently though (like, last few months) the complexity of the dreams went up alot. The imagery seems a bit too complex for me to be processing it, while at the same time some of the dreams have an actual story to them. So that's a little odd. But they remain as bizarre and nonsensical as ever, so they're a nice break from the boredom of the waking day around here (really dull area I'm in).

 

[Schism]

I do get a repeating nightmare every few months that I'm in school and can't remember where I'm going, what I'm supposed to be doing in class etc.

That to me suggests classic anxiety dreams, these can be reoccurring although the situation causing anxiety can differ. Accept these for just what they are. Maybe address something in your life you are avoiding?

As for lengthy, full motion film type dreams, I get these a few times a year & I rather enjoy them. It's like renting a free movie. I just have no control over content! Sadly, they fade as quickly as I try and recall them.

Many a musician, author, artist has attributed their ideas coming from a dream too. Keith Richards once said his riffs come to him from out of the ether..or something like that, usually in the early hours. Pretty sure a few authors have attributed their ideas to dreams too.

I would embrace those rather than worry about them. It's our weird subconscious sorting things out & who knows, maybe a brilliant idea may come from them ☺

 

[Major Tom]

Have you changed any medications or stopped smoking cannabis since this started to happen? Both instances for me caused very vivid dreams or nightmares. Sometimes as tree said, your diet can cause your dreams to become more vivid too.

 

[Schism]

Major Tom! Good to see you're still posting. I was upset about your post earlier as I always enjoy your comments ☺

Vitamin B tree? Evidence? This is interesting. I was given Vit B supplements but this coincided with other medication so I don't recall any major differences in my dreams as they knocked me out. However, I don't take these anymore but I have this odd suspicion my brain is slightly addicted to Vit B now.

Sounds nuts I know, but at first, it was "ugh, smells funny & pee stinks" but now, a year on them, I almost crave it. I can smell them in my room (not smelling my pee by the way, but I do notice it) & now I can taste it in cigarettes, making me crave them more & some foods. It's a very distinctive smell/taste & I can't help but think it has changed my brain chemistry somehow. This is not normal.

 

[GadAbout]

I was going to suggest a med change might underlie this, but Major Tom beat me to it.

I seldom remember my dreams, good or bad. Maybe it's the meds I take. However, when I was pregnant, twice, I had the most vivid and memorable dreams. I don't think that's the OP's issue, being male. But hormones might have some affect, and everybody has hormones.

 

[oregano]

@GadAbout, a lot of new moms seem to have vivid nightmares about their babies. One interesting theory is that it's a relic of the brain trying to "train" the mother to protect her newborn from any threat, back when humans lived in caves and few babies survived infancy. My mom once said that after I was born she'd have dreams about me that were so terrifying that she'd leap out of bed and rush into my room to make sure I was ok.

In some cultures dreams are omens, there was an (internal) Al-Qaeda video where several leaders worried that their plan to destroy America would be revealed to Americans in their dreams by Allah and the plot would be foiled. Even in the West many believe that dreams are prophecies or ways for our brain to process life's events or plan for major life changes. Scientists can't agree on why we have dreams, or what dreams mean. A popular theory is that dreams keep us from going insane by giving the mind a "time out" from life. As to what they mean, lots of myths but few concrete ideas.

 

[SDRSpark]

It goes in cycles for me. Sometimes I remember lots of dreams/am aware of lots of dreams, and sometimes I don't remember any of it.

I can't seem to find any pattern in remembering, or not remembering, dreams, but I'd prefer not to remember it, as my dreams are often unpleasant and I want to avoid them...it makes me anxious about going to sleep, sometimes, because I know I'm likely to dream about things that upset me (things related to real life events that I'm struggling to process).

As an aside, REM sleep (when you do most of your dreaming) is necessary and regenerative for the mind...if your dreams upset you, try to remember that you're getting lots of REM sleep which is good, makes you mentally sharper and helps stave off nasties such as Alzheimer's.

 

[musicalman]

Interesting responses guys.
I can't recall changing my diet though I have switched meds around a bit to treat Chrohns disease. Nothing involving vitamin changes though as far as I'm aware. I do like to snack at night and I've been told that affects dreams, but I've been doing that for a while now. I couldn't even begin to give you a time frame. Maybe I should stop and see if anything changes.

The anxiety theory might have some truth. I do have more anxiety than some people I know, but 95 percent of the time it isn't that bad. It probably can still manifest in dreams though.

In the end, I guess I won't worry unless I start sleepwalking or having dreams so intense I don't want to sleep. Lately though, I've actually started getting a little excited to answer the bed's call. The obligation to sleep through a third of every 24-hour period becomes less boring this way hehehe

 

[tree]

Vitamin B @tree? Evidence? This is interesting.

"Compared with subjects who took the placebo or the vitamin B complex, participants who took the vitamin B-6-only supplements were better able to recall the content of their dreams."

SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals
Vitamin B-6 could help us to recall dreams
Vitamin B6 found to aid dream recall, and potentially enable lucid dreaming