Usually when I wake up I have no memories of what I've dreamed. Sometimes I know what is happening in a dream right before waking up, and after I wake up I completely forget the dream. My sleep is pretty deep, is it because of that?

(March 19, 2019 at 6:16 am)Der/die AtheistIn Wrote: Usually when I wake up I have no memories of what I've dreamed. Sometimes I know what is happening in a dream right before waking up, and after I wake up I completely forget the dream. My sleep is pretty deep, is it because of that?

Not sure.  REM/dreaming sleep tends to be fairly deep I think. If thats' what is happening.

 I haven't slept more than 4 hours at a stretch for over 30 years.

I dream a lot, sometimes very vividly. However, the memories fade quickly , usually within an hour or so

I have different kinds of dreams; most often the kind where it's obvious the brain is doing some house keeping; every thing is jumbled. . 'Nightmares' tend to be in the form of what I call 'wish fulfilment dreams'. Often about events decades ago, where things turn out differently, for the better.

The problem with dreams is that they are not coherent, just random thoughts that pop up as we sleep. Imagine seeing fifty random pictures in quick succession and then, hours later, having to make a story out of them that makes sense.

I pretty much never remember my dreams. But one time I did wake up with a profound feeling that I had just awoken from a recurring dream. I don't remember what the dream was about, but only that it was recurring. I had this surprised feeling because I had never experienced recurring dreams before, and I had always been skeptical of anyone having experienced them. And then I realized that I had awoken from a dream about recurring dreams. The idea that I had dreamed this before was part of the dream, and I now suspect that all 'recurring' dreams are like this.

(March 19, 2019 at 6:16 am)Der/die AtheistIn Wrote: Usually when I wake up I have no memories of what I've dreamed. Sometimes I know what is happening in a dream right before waking up, and after I wake up I completely forget the dream. My sleep is pretty deep, is it because of that?

I took benzodiazepine sleeping pills for a long time, not realizing how strong and habit-forming they are. Getting off them was difficult, but it meant that my sleep was weird and I had odd and elaborate dreams. I remembered those really well.

They were so detailed, believable, and creative it was amazing -- I made up all that stuff! It makes you wonder how much your mind makes up while you're awake!

(March 19, 2019 at 6:16 am)Der/die AtheistIn Wrote: Usually when I wake up I have no memories of what I've dreamed. Sometimes I know what is happening in a dream right before waking up, and after I wake up I completely forget the dream. My sleep is pretty deep, is it because of that?

This is normal. Most dreams are not remembered. It isn't just you.

I will add, not commenting on you personally, but a general comment to anyone reading this.

I am no fan of anyone claiming dreams have any sort of predictive powers. The main reason we remember some is due to both positive and negative reasons,

They can be remembered in anticipation to something you are looking forward to, like a date, or a trip. I've had some good dreams falling a sleep with the TV on with the infomercial "Girls Gone Wild". 

But then you can have bad dreams, do to stress from lots of things, prior trauma from abuse, or PTSD from seeing violence, or stress over fear of failing a test, or fear of your boss firing you. And even nightmares about superstitious things from false beliefs, or watching a horror movie. 

When I was a kid, and didn't know any better, and was feed superstitions growing up, I did believe in things like ghosts. I even had very vivid dreams of seeing my dead grandmother and dead adoptive father. Those felt as real as if you and I were to be talking in reality face to face. I know now looking back, that was merely my brain fooling me,

If you are having dreams that are disturbing you, ones that stress you out, the core thing one can accept is that they are just that, dreams. The more you work on accepting that, the less they stress you out and will eventually be minimized. Other things that can minimize the stress of a bad dream is a good diet, regular sleep cycle and exercise. 

But ultimately just know they are just that, dreams. They can feel very real, but that is just your brain playing hooky, be they good dreams or bad dreams.

Quote:I am no fan of anyone claiming dreams have any sort of predictive powers.

I once dreamt that I had oatmeal for breakfast.  When I woke up, I found the wife in the kitchen making oatmeal for breakfast.  Refute THAT.

Boru

You may be better off not being able to remember them. I wouldn't consider most of mine pleasant.

(March 19, 2019 at 8:17 am)Belaqua Wrote:

(March 19, 2019 at 6:16 am)Der/die AtheistIn Wrote: Usually when I wake up I have no memories of what I've dreamed. Sometimes I know what is happening in a dream right before waking up, and after I wake up I completely forget the dream. My sleep is pretty deep, is it because of that?

I took benzodiazepine sleeping pills for a long time, not realizing how strong and habit-forming they are. Getting off them was difficult, but it meant that my sleep was weird and I had odd and elaborate dreams. I remembered those really well.

They were so detailed, believable, and creative it was amazing -- I made up all that stuff! It makes you wonder how much your mind makes up while you're awake!

I think that we are constantly making it up while awake. So much research has found that our memories are mostly fiction. And it isn't simply a matter of us filling in faded memories with fiction. We make up false memories immediately, on the spot.

(March 19, 2019 at 8:31 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:

Quote:I am no fan of anyone claiming dreams have any sort of predictive powers.

I once dreamt that I had oatmeal for breakfast.  When I woke up, I found the wife in the kitchen making oatmeal for breakfast.  Refute THAT.

Boru

Selection bias and sample rate error. Since most dreams are not remembered there is also a bigger likelihood you had a dream you did not remember about desiring a food, and did not end up eating it that day.

Even outside dreams, I'v had co workers who were smokers, whom insisted that going out to smoke made the phone ring. That shit irritated the fuck out of me. What they never noticed was all the other times they got through their break without getting disturbed. 

One day at a pizza place, my shift manager took 3 phone calls in a row where they all ordered the same pizza. I couldn't explain to the moron that it was lunch time and a damned good chance they were listening to either radio or TV adds about the special. But he insisted there was something to it. He mentioned that to a customer in store about to pay.

He got angry at me when I responded, "No that's not amazing. First off we are open, secondly it is lunchtime. What would give me pause if 3 people in a row called and asked if we sold steal belted radial tires."