In addition to stress and anxiety, other mental health conditions, such as depression and schizophrenia, are associated with vivid dreams. Physical illnesses, like heart disease and cancer, have also been associated with vivid dreams.

The length of a dream can vary; they may last for a few seconds, or approximately 20–30 minutes. People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. During a full eight-hour night sleep, most dreams occur in the typical two hours of REM.

“Death in dreams is really about some kind of change or ending you’re dealing with in your real life,” says Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, professional dream analyst. “The subconscious will show us this change in the form of a death so we can better understand the finality of it.

Precognition (from the Latin prae-, “before” and cognitio, “acquiring knowledge”), also called prescience, future vision, or future sight, is a claimed psychic ability to see events in the future.

Dreams usually occur during sound sleep which relaxes body, mind and spirit. Dreams that occur early morning relate to the present and so it is generally felt to come true,” Sandish adds. Dreams are thus said to be the parts that best define who you are and what you will be.

“Activation-synthesis hypothesis suggests dreams are caused by brainstem activation during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and stimulation of the limbic system (emotional motor system),” she says.

Most people dream for around 2 hours every night. At one time, sleep researchers thought people dreamed only during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, a period of deep sleep during which the body carries out important restorative processes.

What Are Lucid Dreams? Lucid dreams are when you know that you’re dreaming while you’re asleep. You’re aware that the events flashing through your brain aren’t really happening. But the dream feels vivid and real.