Shocking Strange & Psychological Facts About Dreams & Sleep

15. Dreams Are Symbolic

In a list of psychological facts this aspect of dreams plays a vital role. Dreams don’t always tend to be easy to understand, neither are they instantly clear to remember.

They are however cleverly symbolic, during our lives our dreams relate different things to provide a message, with elements that are brain can quickly process. For example playing a game of hangman, where you show symbols and reenactment to provide a picture for the word you want the people to guess.  

14. Dreams Give a Sense of Déjà Vu

You must have said to yourself “Hey I’ve seen this somewhere” “I’ve been here before” that is called precognitive dreaming. Even though you are in the present, your dream has given you a faint impression of what might turn out to be – a piece from the future. Which, once the time comes, is very relatable.

13. You Don’t Need to be Asleep to Dream

You heard me right, you don’t have to be asleep to dream, in fact it’s quite easy to do. Not to be mistaken for daydreaming, this type of dreaming is called active dreaming. All it requires is an active imagination and persistent focus on the subject to delve into it entirely.

12. Dreams are Prone to be Negative

You might have noticed, most of the dreams that you do encounter during sleep tend to follow negative emotions. Namely, anxiety, anger, sadness and fear. You are less likely to find positive dreams.

11. Dreams Are Short Lived

You must know this better, you just can’t seem to remember the specifics of your dream most of the time. According to study about 60% percentage of all dreams are forgotten after 5 minutes post waking up.

10. Toddlers Are Bad Directors

Toddlers up till the age of four cannot include themselves in their own dreams, and don’t find themselves coming naturally either. Toddlers are not self-aware about themselves that is because of their less development of the brain since birth in order to dream more intense and deep.

9. Women Experience Orgasms

Did you think only men go through this phenomenon. Actually, No. Women are prone to feeling strong sexual simulations during their sleep, most often associated with an erotic dream, it’s common to find the genitals of women to be lubricated.

While men experience erections, it’s not entirely dependent on the nature of the erotic dream.

8. You Dream More Than Once

Yes, an average human being has multiple dreams per night of various situations and intensities, but most often only the most deeply connected are remembered that to very faintly.

7. Faces Around You Matter

You are prone to seeing the faces you have seen in your lifetime. Even though those faces can account to be in thousands, your dream is what relates something about that person with your subject of the dream.

6. Dreams Are Universal

If you thought only humans dream then that’s not entirely correct. As research has shown that from dogs, to chimpanzees and many other mammal species dream just like humans do and equally as vivid.

A random mood swing in your pet’s behavior can account for an odd dream the animal might have dreamt the night before.

5. Sensory Incorporation

This is one of the weirdest facts about dreams, but easily relatable. The human body makes sure it is not influenced by any sorts of external sensory stimuli that affects its own sensory inputs or discomfort.

Your body can wake up from a dream, if it hasn’t quenched its stimulation of thirst or wanting to make a pee in the bathroom. It’s basically not possible to be in peace without the fulfillment of that task.

4. Loud Snoring

According to recent studies, it has been revealed that people who snore, are not necessarily dreaming at that particular period of time. Though this is not scientifically proven.

3. Gender Differences

Men and women dream differently, unlike women who tend to dream more pleasant and peaceful subjects, men dream more aggressively with violence and socially complex subjects. Men tend to dream about other men 70% of the time, whereas women dream about men and women equally.

2. Six Years

Six years is the period of an average human beings life spent dreaming.

1. Can Lead to Psychosis

A lack of REM sleep and dreaming during that stage can lead to the disruption of healthy functioning. Somethings are meant to be how mother nature made it be, once disrupted you are prone to psychotic disorders such as hallucination, irritation etc.

So relax, and try to sleep with the intention of dreaming.

Facts About Sleep

20. Insomnia In Women

A common sleep disorder that is more often found in women than men. Insomnia causes difficulty in falling and staying asleep at night. The disorder worsens with age.

19. Less Than 6 Hours of Sleep Reduces Life Expectancy

In order for your body to go through all cycles of sleep of n-rem, rem, and restorative. 7 plus hours is required, any lower leads to lack of healing and restoration of brain cells. Continuously operating in such conditions leads to the degradation of brain cells and eventually a fatigued and tired brain.  

18. Ahh! I am Paralyzed

Sometimes when people wake up in the morning their unable to move, also known as sleep paralysis. It’s not something serious but very awkward being stuck in a limbo of sleep and awareness, to which your muscles haven’t caught up yet.  

17. Sleeping Posture Shows Personality

Irrespective of the position you slept in, a little while later you change into a natural position that your body feels most comfortable in. Some curl into the fetal position showing signs of longing comfort, while some sleep on one side with their arms on the side of their hips-showing a sign of discipline and a headstrong mentality.

16. Timely Exercise Helps Sleeping

Having an active lifestyle with scheduled exercises increases metabolism and heart rate, thus requiring adequate rests period. Once during the night a moderately tired body will sleep quicker and deeper.

15. 17 Hours

This is the maximum hours you can be awake before you start experiencing the symptoms of sleep deprivation. That include impaired vision and motor functions as that of a person with a blood alcohol level of 0.5%

14. Temperature Does Matter

It’s quite difficult for the body to sleep the first time when the temperature is too high. In order for you to sleep, the temperature does decrease within the body, in order to initiate the process of sleep.

13. You Can’t Argue With Your Body Clock

Sunday morning, the perfect day to sleep in from your hectic 48 hour week and guess what? You wake up at 7 in the morning just like any other day. Bodies behave differently, as each has its own circadian rhythm or body clock.

A region of the brain hypothalamus regulates the waking up and alertness in accordance to the 24 hour clock of the body.

12. Your Sleep Has Cycles

Your sleep is divided into five distinct portions that span 90 minutes all combined. Starting with stage 1-from consciousness to light sleep. Stage 2, the body relaxes further and core body temperature drops before your breathing becomes regular.

Going into stage 3 and 4, entering into long and deep restorative parts of the sleep. Than finally into the exciting stage of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.  Cycles are repeated several times before morning.

11. So Quick to Fall Asleep?

If you fall asleep in less than 5 minutes, it’s highly probable that you’re sleep deprived. The usual time to fall asleep is 10 minutes or above.

10. Counting Sheep’s, Think Again!

You must have heard the ‘count sheep’s and fall asleep’ story, we all lived by it through our childhood. Scientist however have concluded that counting sheep does not help you fall asleep, rather the sheer boredom causes you to deviate and fall sleep.

9. Less Hours More Food Stimulation

Studies have showed that people who suffer from sleep deprivation, tend to incline on eating more with increased hunger urges.

8. Be a Guru in Cramming

It’s shown that sleeping directly after a period of learning something new, enhances memory and effectiveness.

7. Parenthood Sleeplessness

Newbie parents loose roughly 6 months of sleep during the first two years of raising a child.

6. Sleeping Like a Disney Princess

It might come as a laugh, but there is something called sleeping beauty disorder characterized by persistent episodic hypersomnia. A rare condition where a person sleeps for prolonged periods of time.

5. A Cat’s Nap Goes Along Way

People who work continuously for long periods of time have showed decreased functioning and performance. A short nap of 10-20 minutes is more than enough to give a break and sense of freshness to the working brain to kick start again.

4. You Are In Control

I am not saying you should do this, but human beings are the only mammals that have the ability to delay their sleep or process of letting it take over, from their own will.

3. Like Getting a Sloth of a Bed

You most often find that getting out of bed early in the morning is the hardest thing to do. You feel like a 1000 boulders holding you down to bed with all the lethargy in the world. This condition is commonly known as Dystonia.

2. Altitude Disrupts Your Sleeping

Unlike being present on sea-level, where oxygen pressure is normal. As altitude increases, the decrease in oxygen percentage accounts for a disruption in sleep due to the difficulty in breathing.

1. Watch Those Night Time Karate

Some people tend to move a lot during sleep, well that is in position. On the other hand, there are who actually use their hands and feet as well. They might even kick you off the bed, it’s called Parasomnia.

Unconsciously, the condition has led people in sleep driving and even murder among extreme cases.