Many times, we wake up thinking, “Why did that particular person appear in our dreams?” Although we didn’t even meet them recently, some familiar faces appear and play an unexpected central role in our dreams. If this has happened to you, you’re not alone. Research indicates these dreams reflect emotional memory, stress, and unresolved thoughts rather than predictions.
Let’s break down what does it means when you dream about someone and what psychology suggests behind it.
Why Do We Dream About Certain People?
To understand why do we dream about certain people, let’s look at how the subconscious mind processes emotions, memories, and unresolved thoughts during sleep.
For example, you may have feelings or emotions for a person at a specific time, which you later ignore. But, somewhere, your cognitive-emotional processing keeps those emotions and makes them appear in your dreams.
Besides emotions, certain other events can cause people to appear in your dreams. Many readers ask, Why do I keep dreaming about someone I no longer talk to? This often happens because the brain reactivates stored memories during sleep, even when those memories are no longer part of daily life.
These events include:
- Recent interactions and thoughts about the person
- Unexpected events that make you recall that person
- Unresolved and disturbing conflicts with the people
- Desire to build a deep connection with that individual
If none of these explanations seem to fit for dreaming about the person, we need to discuss the two more scientific reasons behind it.
- Our brains store new memories with existing ones during sleep. It leads to the reactivation of a certain neural pattern that relates the particular person to new memories, thus making them appear in your dreams.
- The person in your dream can be the symbolic representation of the aspects of your personality and the situations of your life. For example, if you dream about a disciplined personality, it may depict that you need to organize your life properly.
What Does Dreaming About Certain People Mean?
The meaning of dreams about particular people can vary widely. Mainly, it depends on your emotions while dreaming and your relationship with that person. To better understand what it means when you dream about someone, let’s look at some common dream scenarios.
1. What does it mean when you dream about someone dying who is still alive?
You don’t need to worry after seeing a living person dying in your dreams because dreams are generally interpreted as symbolic rather than literal. There can be different meanings of such dreams depending on the value of that person in your life.
- The death in dreams is depicted as the change or the end of your relationship with that particular individual.
- It can also be the interpretation of your worries about the health and the emotional or physical distance from your loved one.
- Research shows that your unspoken emotions or conflicts with the person can also be a reason for their death in your dreams.
2. What does it mean when you dream about your ex?
If you are thinking of getting back to your ex after seeing them in your dream, let me give you a reality check. When you dream about your ex, it does not mean you need them back or that they were the best partners for you. Many people experience this during stressful or emotionally charged periods.
Such dreams show that:
- There are some emotions (either positive or negative) and conflicts about your ex in your mind.
- In your subconscious mind, you are comparing your current relationship with the relationship you had with your ex.
- You are missing the experiences, feelings, and moments you used to enjoy with your ex.
3. When you dream about someone are they thinking of you?
No, there is currently no scientific evidence supporting the idea that dreaming about someone means the person is thinking of you. In fact, you may be thinking about the person the entire day, which results in his appearance in your dreams.
The fact that dreams are more about ourselves, not about others, has clearly denied such myths. So, no matter how much we romanticize such dreams, the reality is far from our self-made imaginations.
4. What does it mean when you dream about your crush?
When you see your crush in your dreams, you may feel pleased or start expecting to meet them in reality. But unfortunately, truth has nothing to do with your desires and expectations. The only reason for such dreams is your desire to connect with your crush. Otherwise, your fear of losing them can also make them appear in your dreams.
5. What does it mean when you dream about someone sexually?
Sexual dreams are more about the psychological needs than about the physical desires. Dreaming about such scenarios with a person does not mean that you actually want to build a physical relationship with them. In contrast, it is the interpretation of your need for deep emotional connection or love.
6. What does it mean when you dream about someone dead?
This is the most common dream that most of us have. Such dreams are mainly a way of reducing the intense grief of a person’s loss. Our brain uses these dreams to process and accept the loss, and helps us feel connected with our loved ones after their death. Some people believe that our loved ones appear in our dreams to guide us on particular issues existing in our lives.
7. What does it mean when you dream about your teeth falling out?
We have all dreamed about our teeth falling out in recent days. However, the meaning of such dreams is not that simple. The decoding of falling teeth depends on the ongoing situations of your life. Most of the time, tooth loss is a sign of your anxiety, mainly about your insecurities. More often, such dreams appear when you go through the transformational phases in your life. Therefore, psychology has also interpreted this dream as an indication of forgetting your old life patterns.
8. What does it mean when you dream about snakes?
Snakes always make us feel frightened whenever we dream about them. However, the meaning of these kinds of dreams is not necessarily worrisome. The interpretation of such dreams changes depending on the scenarios in which snakes are present in your dreams. For example, if you dream about snakes with shedding skin, it means you should get yourself ready for new chapters of life. On the other hand, if the snake was hiding in the grass, then your dream is a warning against a toxic person in your surroundings.
Final Thoughts
While dreams can feel very real, they are commonly interpreted as symbolic reflections of the mind’s internal processes. In conclusion, what does it mean when you dream about someone depends largely on your own emotions, experiences, and subconscious mind. Dreams are symbolic messages, not literal predictions. Further, our condition while dreaming, whether relaxed or stressed, is another indicator of the exact description of our dreams. So it’s important to understand the meaning of your dreams and act accordingly instead of living with misconceptions and wrong interpretations.
About the Author: Shanzaib Haider
