Revealed: Common dreams and what they REALLY mean
by Jonathan Chadwick For Mailonline · Mail OnlineWhether it's having sex or losing our teeth and flying to another planet, dreams offer our brains a range of emotional experiences from the comfort of our own bed.
While some dreams are blissful and others are terrifying, the question of why exactly we dream has perplexed scientists for centuries.
But dream analysts commonly believe scenarios in our dreams can reflect our mind's secret fears and desires.
And learning from them could even help us lead a better waking life.
MailOnline spoke to experts to untangle some of the most common dreams, from cheating on your partner to flying and being naked in public.
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FALLING
A recent study identified more than 50 of the most common dreams, from flying to finding money, having sex and meeting god.
But at the very top of the list was falling, a frequently terrifying scenario that can cause the dreamer to wake up suddenly in distress.
Dr Deborah Lee, health specialist and sleep expert from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy, said dreaming of falling has been linked with helplessness and fears of failure.
'You may dream of falling if there is any fear of failure such as worries of failing at work, losing money, the falling stock market, or worries of a failing business,' she told MailOnline.
The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud linked falling dreams to fears of falling out of sexual favour, potentially reflecting worries about a relationship, but modern-day theories tend to be more general.
Why do we dream?
Scientists have split the atom and photographed a black hole, yet they still don't know exactly why we dream.
The prevailing theory is dreaming helps us consolidate and analyse memories (like skills and habits) and likely serves as a 'rehearsal' for various situations we face during the day.
We can dream at any time in the sleep cycle, but vivid dreams are more common in REM sleep when the brain is at the height of activity.
Source: Dr Deborah Lee/Cleveland Clinic
Falling from the sky may mean you have a long way to fall and may represent the fact you have a big decision to make.
'If you wake before you hit the ground this may be a good sign as it symbolises you took action in the nick of time and avoided a catastrophe,' Dr Lee added.
FLYING
A much more pleasurable dream that's nearly as common is flying – often through inspiring otherworldly landscapes.
A flying dream can evoke feelings of happiness and awe when we sleep, but anything ranging from sadness to frustration when we wake up.
Sleep specialists commonly believe dreams of flying can 'represent an inner need to be free', Dr Lee said.
'It may mean you feel bogged down in your mundane existence and yearn to be able to make different choices about your life,' she told MailOnline.
'Dreams of flying often occur along with those of falling, or fear of falling, which go hand in hand with family problems, relationship issues and any big decisions you need to make.'
However, if you are flying with a partner, it might indicate that 'you are ready to take this person with you on a journey' she added.
The 10 most common dream scenarios
- Falling
- Being at school
- Being chased but not injured
- Eating food
- Repeatedly trying to do something
- On the edge of falling
- Too scared to move
- Failing an exam
- Finding money
- Flying
TEETH FALLING OUT
Jane Teresa Anderson, a dream interpreter, analyst and therapist based in Tasmania, Australia, says that with all common dream themes there’s no 'one-size fits all interpretation'.
But one of the most distressing common dreams involves teeth falling out – usually all at once and for no obvious reason.
'Generally people feel a sense of irremediable loss of their teeth in these dreams,' she told MailOnline.
The dreamer might be feeling or navigating a sense of loss in life, or have concerns about their image – because what’s a smile with missing teeth?'
According to Mrs Anderson, a common variation of this dream is 'opening your mouth to say something only to spit out teeth'.
She added: 'The dreamer might feel worried about communication, or feel that "every time I open my mouth I say words that I can’t take back".'
Dr Lee said losing teeth in dreams has been linked with feelings of worry, insecurity and emotional pain.
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NAKED IN A PUBLIC PLACE
It's one of the most classic (and comedic) dream scenarios – suddenly realising that we're not wearing anything, normally in front of a crowd of people.
For many of us this would be the ultimate humiliation and so may be associated with shame and embarrassment.
'We can only surmise that dreams of being naked are related to feeling conscious of one’s own body,' Dr Lee said.
Alternatively, dreamers may become naked if they've spent their waking hours worrying about some kind of change due to occur in the future.
'Maybe you are keeping a secret and finding this very stressful,' Dr Lee added.
'Nakedness may be about the need to bring the truth out into the open.'
BEING CHASED
According to Tore Nielsen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, being chased is a common dream scenario, but it may prime us for certain situations ever happening in real life.
'By simulating a threatening situation, the dream of being chased provides a space for a person to practice perceiving and escaping predators in their sleep,' Professor Nielsen said.
Other sources suggest being chased in a dream is related to anxiety in life, or avoiding acknowledging the cause of that anxiety.
But instead of fleeing, legendary Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung suggested people 'should by no means resist when this element faces them'.
Those who are capable of lucid dreaming – being aware of the dream and able to control what happens – could turn around and confront the chaser.
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TRAVELLING TO ANOTHER PLANET
Travelling to another planet in a dream can be an especially vivid, satisfying and emotional experience.
But similar to flying, it may reflect a common frustration towards the confines of human existence and existing in today's world.
Dr Lee thinks space travelling dreamers may yearn – either subconsciously or consciously – to discover 'a new lease of adventure'.
'This may be physical, such as wanting to move to a new place, or emotional in terms of your personal goals and self-development,' she told MailOnline.
Space dreams can also be a sign of curiosity and an inquiring mind, or a reflection of 'anxious and insecure in your current existence'.
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NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND A TOILET
Another strange dream – ranked 16th most common by the study – is not being able to find a suitable place to go to the loo.
Often the dreamer is in a building without a toilet, or the toilet door is locked, or even overflowing or too dirty to use.
According to Mrs Anderson, in this case the dreamer may be feeling too exposed in public, or unable to get private time in their waking life.
'Usually the dreamer needs to let go of ‘all that crap’ and is having difficulty being able to do that,' she said.
SUFFOCATING
Another unpleasant dream is being suffocated, which often results in real signs of discomfort as we sleep, like screaming and tossing about.
According to Dr Lee, dreaming of suffocation may mean you are struggling in life, or can signify 'impending money worries and financial loss'.
'Perhaps you are overwhelmed with responsibilities, maybe you feel you’ve lost your identity, or you need to find freedom to make the right choices,' she said.
If there's someone you know in the dream who is suffocating you, this person may be overpowering you in real life and making you feel helpless, she added.
Feelings of suffocating in a dream may also be linked to real-life breathing difficulties when we're asleep, including sleep apnoea.
CHEATING ON YOUR PARTNER
Dreaming about cheating on your partner may be more common than you think – and can reflect sexual frustration or boredom in a relationship.
However, it is not necessarily a sign that your relationship is in trouble, that things need spicing up in the bedroom, or indeed anything to do with sex.
In fact, cheating dreams can also signal that you are missing something else in your life more broadly, perhaps related to your professional life.
Ultimately, we can't take a 'dictionary approach' to interpreting dreams, according to Mrs Anderson, because every dream and dreamer is different.
Like all dream therapists, I help my clients explore the dream details and how they felt in the dream to tease out the meaningful value,' Mrs Anderson told MailOnline.
'These are common dream themes but each dream is unique when you look at the dream details.'
Dr Lee said 'we can only speculate on the meaning of dreams' – which may in many cases actually have no meaning at all.
'Trying to understand our dreams may be one way we can look critically at how we are living our lives and the stresses and strains we are under, she told MailOnline.
The most common dreams - ranked
- Falling
- Being at school
- Being chased but not injured
- Enjoying food
- Repeatedly trying to do something
- On the edge of falling
- Too scared to move
- Failed the exam
- Found money
- Flying
- Being late
- Snakes
- Dead people are still alive
- Have unusual knowledge/ intelligence
- Have magical powers
- Not being able to find the toilet
- Being attacked
- Those living in reality have died
- Suffocation
- To feel yourself in a room vividly, but not by watching or listening
- Having sex
- Half-awake and paralyzed in bed
- Back to being a child
- Improper clothing
- Fire
- Being killed
- Insects or spiders
- Being locked up
- Fierce blast
- In a movie
- Tied up and unable to move
- See a face very close to you
- Earthquake
- Swimming
- A flood or a tsunami occurs
- See yourself die
- Tooth loss
- Naked
- Found a new room in your own house
- Car suddenly goes out of control while driving
- Kill someone
- Meet a God or be a god
- Travel to another planet or visit different parts of the universe
- A tornado or a hurricane
- Mental people or 'crazy people'
- Biology, half human and half beast
- See a flying object fall (e.g., a plane crash)
- 'Bump the opposite sex'
- Se angels
- See aliens
- Bump into an object (such as a tree or rock)
- See a UFO
- Become an animal
- A miscarriage
Source: Yuhang Li et al, Sleep Med X (2024)