I never dream

[HordOfTheFlies]

Every morning I wake up in an abyss of thought.  There's just nothing there until I realize that I'm awake and then I quickly jump into my daily checklist of responsibilities.  I've been told that everyone dreams but that I just don't remember them.  I'm sure that's true but I find it odd that I don't even remember them when my sleep is interrupted.  Perhaps my brain just transitions from the dream state quickly as some protective measure.

 

This has been the case most of my life.  My feeling is that I can remember having about a few dozen dreams although I never have kept count.  Most of what I remember are reoccurring dreams.  I can distinctly remember four different ones.

 

I spoke with my therapist about this during my last session but didn't get very far.  Her only comment was that dreams originate from the limbic system so my brain must be suppressing the signals.  I'm curious if that's permanent.  I've never met anyone else that has experienced this same sort of thing.  If anyone has any insight I'd be glad to hear it because I haven't found a lot of information about this in particular.

[villagewisdom]

I'm no therapist but have learned lots about dream interpretation and taught many, many people how to work with them. I never remembered my dreams either until I started giving it attention. Which brings up the question of why you are interested in dreams. 

 

There are medications that suppress dreaming. If that is the case with you, it is my experience that there is nothing you can do to override that medication. 

 

Mostly people do not remember their dreams because they are not important enough, no one talks about them, etc. They serve no purpose to most people.

 

Kids dream a lot. However, they also emulate their parents. So if the parents never give attention to dreams, then many children won't either. They simply learn to ignore them. There are so many other things they are learning. Dreams can easily take a back seat. After years and years of this it can take some time to get the message to your subconscious that you are now interested in what is there. Also when kids have nightmares, mostly parent say stuff like "it was only a dream. It is not real." This is true, but it also reiterates what I was saying about not giving dreams any attention. Kids are taught to just "forget about it" and not to give them attention. 

 

I have worked with hundreds of people's dreams -- perhaps thousands, I never kept track. The advice that I gave anyone who did not remember their dreams was to put a notebook by the bed with a pen handy. Then write in the notebook every morning. Or when they woke up in the middle of the night, same thing. Write down whatever you remember. At first it might just be an impression or emotion or feeling. Write that down also. Next you might get a few images. Even if the entry says "I did not remember my dream", the simple exercise sends a signal to the subconscious that you desire to remember your dreams and you will begin to remember. 

 

Hope this helps. 

[Pepin]

It isn't exactly normal, but since you likely aren't experiencing any negative health effects from it, it isn't something to worry about. I don't believe there is anything to indicate that not dreaming is a result of any of your life choices or anything that happened to you in your past, you may just be an outlier.

 

I am going to guess that a few people here may say it is good or bad for x or y reasons, but I don't think there are any scientific ground which these claims can be made as the studies done on these people find nothing. So long as you are not experiencing any negative health issues from it, it is likely more neutral than anything, omitting the inability to analyze dreams for self knowledge.

 

I do know there are a few conditions which cause a lack of dreaming, something to do with the hippocampus, but you'd be aware if you had that as those sorts of conditions are quite serious.

 

Personally I am envious as I don't like dreaming. Sometimes they can be alright, but for the most part I wish I didn't dream... Or sleep for that matter.

[Devon Gibbons]

I have trouble remembering my dreams when I am stressed. I keep a journal by my bed; I remember not remembering any for quite a long time until I started writing them out the past 9 months. Now I write so much and remember too much to put in words. I'm out of the swing of remembering my dreams because I haven't kept them for a week and I have journaled less in general.

[Bouncelot]

I am the same. I can count the dreams i have had/remembered on 1 hand. The ones I have had have also all been lucid dreams.

I have also never gotten complaints about tossing & turning in my sleep, or talking/walking either (not in my adult life). I just assumed it meant really peaceful sleep.

 

In high stress times though, I will wake-up thinking I may have had a dream, but never remembering any details, just that there was a sense that i should be remembering something.

[Alan C.]

Try eliminating caffeine. I remember very little about my dreams if I've had caffeine the day before.

 

I've almost completely eliminated caffeine altogether for health reasons. My body can't handle it like it used to when I was younger. As I've aged, caffeine began having unpleasant effets including poor quality sleep.

[AustinJames]

It may be worthwhile to monitor your sleep cycle.  There is a lot of technology you can apply in this regard, from bracelets and rings, to a slim, thumb-sized device you slip under your sheets.  If you aren't getting proper REM sleep, this may be indicative of a more serious underlying problem.  If you are getting REM sleep, but still don't remember your dreams, I would echo the previous responses of keeping a dream journal, even if your first few entries are "I don't remember anything."

 

I've also found that various substances (caffeine, sleeping aids, alcohol, marijuana, etc.) sometimes have an inhibitory effect on recalling my dreams.

 

Overall, I think it is important that you go to sleep with the mindset of seeking self-knowledge.  For instance, I try to go to sleep with an important question in my head.  Often times, I wake up with an answer, or response, to the question I asked.  Give your brain a reason to dream.

 

Good luck!  Let us know how it goes.

[Ken Cotton]

People who smoke a lot of marijuana sometimes report not remembering dreams/not dreaming as noted above. I'm not sure if that applies, but it seems to be a common thing.

[Bouncelot]

Try eliminating caffeine. I remember very little about my dreams if I've had caffeine the day before.

 

I've almost completely eliminated caffeine altogether for health reasons. My body can't handle it like it used to when I was younger. As I've aged, caffeine began having unpleasant effets including poor quality sleep.

 

Very interesting... I do consume large amounts of coffee....

[HordOfTheFlies]

Thank-you all very much for the great input.  It's interesting to note the common theme of journaling and wanting to dream.  Part of the reason I started this thread was because I have wanted to dream for a long time.  I've heard several dream interpretation podcasts and it just made me think that I should put more effort into finding out what's going on when I sleep.  It sounds like I'm headed in the right direction if I'm asking questions so that's good.  I'm very resistant to journaling because I've never done it, but this might be a good place to start.