The 10 most common nightmares and what they could mean

[Still Waters]

You're running, but you're not going anywhere. You're falling, but you never hit the ground. You're watching your loved one waste away, but there's nothing you can do about it.

If you're like most people, then you might be covered in a cold sweat by now, recalling a nightmare.

Though our dreams are highly personal, and often based on what happened to us over our lifetime and during our day, there are some themes that unite us all.

"These dreams are related to issues that every person has in their waking lives," Michael Schredl, head of the sleep lab at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany, told Insider.

It's tough to make generalizations about nightmares, since science hasn't agreed on why we even dream in the first place.

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-10-most-common-nightmares-according-to-science

[+and-then]

I rarely remember my dreams and even more rarely do I have nightmares but the strangest dream I've ever had was about being on a job as a painter and coming into contact with a huge number of bats that were infesting a gazebo I was going to paint.  That one was muy asustado  

[Essan]

I have dreams which simply take the form of me posting comments on social media ..... 

I can't say I have any about the 10 things listed in that article - I've certainly never dreamed of being chased, falling, anyone dying, or taking an exam of any kind (successfully or otherwise).  And  I don't think I've ever had a scary dream..

I do have had the occasional dream about tornadoes.   But that usually takes the form of me failing to find my camera in time to get a superb picture of the one that just went right over me       

[docyabut2]

Dreams are self analyzes"( you figure out your Dreams

[docyabut2]

10 hours ago, and-then said:

I rarely remember my dreams and even more rarely do I have nightmares but the strangest dream I've ever had was about being on a job as a painter and coming into contact with a huge number of bats that were infesting a gazebo I was going to paint.  That one was muy asustado  

Were you thinking of the bats and that covid virus that infecting us all ?

[docyabut2]

1 hour ago, docyabut2 said:

Were you thinking of the bats and that covid virus that infecting us all ?

and you want to escape it ?

[Shadowsfall]

Sleep paralysis is my nightmare ….I’m aware when I’m in sleep paralysis but it still scares the **** out of me

[Guyver]

Double - my bad.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Guyver

[Guyver]

I have had the kind where you are running, but you just can’t seem to run fast enough to be free.  I think I was running from a giant spider in my dream….but I have had more than one nightmare about being attacked or bitten by a snake.  One, was a really big constrictor that was trying to choke me out and I was fighting for my life against this thing.  It was pretty weird. It’s also pretty weird that snakes and spiders didn’t make the top ten nightmares list.  WTF? Bogus list.

[Vlawde]

I haven't really had dreams like the ones mentioned in a long time. I rarely remember dreams these days, and don't believe I've had a nightmare  or scary dream in years. I do have a recurring dream with the same theme though. Usually I'm out of town, usually for a party, get together or what have you. It's always night, and I'm thinking it's time to go home, but either I can't find my car, or something important I brought with me.

I also have dreams where I'm called in to a job I haven't done in years to cover for some emergency staff shortage, and I can't remember how to do the job, or I screw it up