Dream facts

Whether you remember it or not, you dream every night. Sometimes they’re happy, other times sad, often bizarre, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get a sexy dream once in a while.

They’re a normal part of sleep — something we spend one-thirdTrusted Source of our life doing. While experts are still divided on what our dreams mean, research has given us some very eye-opening information about dreams.

Here are 45 surprising facts about dreams, ranging from interesting to the stuff of nightmares.

How we dream

REM is the sweet spot

Our most vivid dreams happen during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which happens in short episodes throughout the night about 90 to 120 minutes apart.

Morning is better

Longer dreams occur in the morning hours.

Weekends help you remember

You’re more likely to remember your dreams on weekends or days when you sleep in, because each episode of REM sleep is longer than the last.

Your muscles are paralyzed

Most of your muscles become paralyzed during REM sleep to prevent you from acting out your dreams.

Pictures are most common

We dream mostly in pictures, with the majority of dreams being mainly visual with little sound or movement.

Recurring dreams have themes

Recurring dreams in children are mostly about:

confrontations with animals or monsters

physical aggressions

falling

being chased

We don’t all dream in color

Around 12 percent of people dream in black and white.

What we dream

Strange is normal

Many of our dreams are strange because the part of the brain responsible for making sense of things shuts down during dreaming.

Our day informs our dreams

Most of our dreams are linked to thoughts or events from the previous day or two.

Faces are familiar

You likely only dream about faces you’ve already seen in person or on TV, according to Stanford University.

Low stress means happy dreams

You’re more likely to have pleasant dreams if you’re experiencing low stress and feel satisfied in your real life.

walking, except instead of walking, a person engages in sexual behavior like masturbation or intercourse while asleep.

Nightmares and other scary stuff

Kids have more nightmares

Nightmares usually begin between the ages of 3 and 6, and decrease after the age of 10.

Women are more prone to scary dreams

Women have more nightmares than men during their teen and adult years.

Nightmares occur at a similar time at night

Nightmares occur most frequently in the last third of the night.

You could have a condition

If you have recurring nightmares that happen often enough and are distressing enough to impact your ability to function, you may have a condition called nightmare disorder.

Sleep paralysis is a thing

Around 8 percentTrusted Source of the general population experience sleep paralysis, which is the inability to move when you’re in a state between sleep and wake.

Your feelings come out in dreams

For example, you’re more likely to experience negative dreams about a lost loved one if you’re suffering from post-traumatic symptoms, guilt, or blame over their death.

The holidays can be rough

Grief dreams, which are dreams about deceased loved ones, are more common during the holidays.

Night terrors can be frightening

Night terrors are episodes of intense fear, screaming, and even running around or acting aggressive while asleep.

Children have them more frequently

Almost 40 percent of children have night terrors, though most outgrow them by their teens.

Adults can still have them

Around 3 percent of adults have night terrors.

Eating late isn’t helpful

Eating before bed makes nightmares more likely, because it increases your metabolism, signaling your brain to be more active.

Medications play a role

Certain medications, such as antidepressants and narcotics, increase the frequency of nightmares.