Yes, both dreams that are fueled by desire or fear can continue if your mind is able to hold on to the same conditions that were the cause of the dream itself. It can be forced at times, but that is also difficult to do.
Dreams occur during REM sleep. Unfortunately for those of us who would like to remember our dreams, the frontal lobes, where most memories are formed and stored, are inactive during REM sleep. If you really want to resume and remember a good dream, just lie still when you wake up.
If you're dreaming about the same place:
It's not about the literal location, she explains, but rather a part of yourself or a part of your personality. To dream of a house you've never been to, for example, can actually give you clues into how you're feeling.
Shared dreaming is the idea that two or more people can share the same dream environment. The degree to which the dream is shared can vary, from simply having common elements or events that happen in each person's dream, to the entire dream being identical.
At this time there is little scientific evidence suggesting that dreams can predict the future. Some research suggests that certain types of dreams may help predict the onset of illness or mental decline in the dream, however.
Many of us have turned off the alarm clock, prepared a coffee, made the bed, and brushed our teeth — only to wake up and realize it was all a dream. These experiences are called false awakenings, and they are one of several strange phenomena that can happen during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
Sometimes the dreams we have seem so real. Most of the emotions, sensations, and images we feel and visualize are those that we can say we have seen or experienced in real life. This is because the same parts of the brain that are active when we are awake are also active when we are in certain stages of our sleep.
Or maybe you've had the same dream over the entire course of your life. These repetitive dreams are called recurring dreams. Believe it or not it is extremely common. Recurrent dreams occur between 60 percent and 75 percent of adults and more often in women than men.
You can have several—even a dozen—dreams in one night. It's not just one dream per night, but rather dozens of them, say experts—you just may not remember them all.
Experiencing recurring dreams may point at underlying issues regardless of the dream's content. Adults who experience frequent recurring dreams tend to have worse psychological health than those who do not, and many experts theorize that these dreams may be a way to work through unmet needs or process trauma.
It is possible to get the sensation that you are stuck in a lucid dream, if you have many dreams back-to-back, or try to go back to your body and keep waking up into a new dream. However, you will always wake up, so you are never actually stuck.
A false awakening loop is when a subject dreams about waking up over and over again, sometimes even up to 10 times or more without knowing which time they are actually awake. At times the individual can perform actions unknowingly. The movie A Nightmare on Elm Street popularized this phenomenon.
Looping dreams can be quite indicative of PTSD, according to Kogan. "This often involves replaying the trauma in various ways, or different situations in which the person is distressed with similar emotions they experienced during the trauma, but in a different storyline," she explains.
Sharing your dream with someone, when it was previously kept a secret, allows your brain to re-wire the idea that what you are doing was already scary. New research shows that fear, once felt, can be removed from your mind.
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.
“Since dreams are thought to primarily occur during REM sleep, the sleep stage when the MCH cells turn on, activation of these cells may prevent the content of a dream from being stored in the hippocampus – consequently, the dream is quickly forgotten.”
Scientists and psychologists, old and new, tell us that dreams reveal critical aspects about ourselves. Dreams are a reflection of your recent state of mind, future possibilities, and changes that you have experienced. Related Blog: Do I Really Need 8 Hours of Sleep a Night?
Your dream may be a way of dealing with loss and grief, especially if someone close has passed away. If you have nightmares about someone, it may signify that you are trying to keep them safe (such as a child) Dreaming of someone from your past may be a sign that you want them back in your life.