What if the content of our dreams, even the most surprising ones, were linked to our level of fear? This is according to a recent study by German researchers.
Do you often dream that you are riding a motorcycle at full speed (without having it under control all the time), that you are being chased, or even by your ex-partner? Before feeling guilty about your current partner, ask yourself if you are prone to anxiety. Because if you recognize yourself in one of these three dream descriptions, it could mean that you are anxious.
At least that’s what a recent German study by researchers from the University of Düsseldorf suggests and published in to dream. The latter tracked the content of the dreams of 76 people divided into two groups (half with anxiety disorders), based on interviews, as well as dream diaries that the participants agreed to keep for 21 days.
At the end of their observations, the researchers noted that certain types of dreams were much more common in people with anxiety disorders. In general, the study mentions dreams that are richer in negative emotions.
“The dreams of anxiety patients contain more characters, a higher number of different activities, a lower number of friendly interactions, and a higher frequency of failures.”
Despite the small sample size, this research remains interesting insofar as it opens the way for larger-scale research aimed at a better understanding of how the unconscious manages anxiety disorders.
Because one of the functions of dreams is precisely to evacuate through our subconscious the stress or anxiety that we have experienced during a day. This probably explains why a large number of dreams correspond to universal patterns, even if their content differs significantly from person to person.
If we are to believe a recent study, anxiety disorders would not be the only criterion that explains why the content of dreams differs according to the subconscious mind that creates them. For example, she makes the astonishing observation that it can also depend on the country where you live.
According to this research conducted by the company Secret Linen, many dreams have animals. But while many Brazilians see mice in their sleep, Indians dream of elephants. The Austrians and the Germans, for their part, tend to imagine spiders when they are in Morpheus’ arms!
(ETX Daily Up)