“I dreamed that I lost my passport, and a day later it was stolen on the subway,” shares a user with the nickname DreamCatcher on the Psychology Today blog.
His case is not unique. A University of Cardiff study (2023) found that 18% of people who had anxiety dreams experienced similar events in reality within a month.
For example, Anna, a teacher from Moscow, had a dream a week before her dismissal in which she was thrown out of the school building.
“I decided to prepare my resume in advance and managed to find a new job before the layoffs,” she writes.
But how does it work?
Neuropsychiatrist John Allan Hobson , author of Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction, explains: “The dream brain analyses subconscious fears, creating ‘predictions’ based on the accumulated data. This is not clairvoyance, but hypersensitivity to risks that we ignore in waking life.”
Moscow-based financier Artem confirms: "A month before the market crash, I dreamed of falling charts. I chalked it up to stress, but later lost 30% of my portfolio."
In 2023, MIT scientists discovered that during REM sleep, the brain processes emotional memories 7 times more actively.
This explains why disturbing dreams are often associated with real problems.
For example, Elena, a project manager from Berlin, dreamed of her team sabotaging a deadline. “The next day, I checked the chats and discovered a conflict between colleagues. I managed to resolve it before the deadline was missed,” she says.
How to turn dreams into a tool?
Psychologist Kelly Bulkley , author of the “Anti-Crisis Dream Book” method, advises writing down dreams immediately after waking up.
"Capture not only the plots, but also the emotions. For example, if you feel like you're falling in a dream, ask yourself: What in life feels out of control?" she says.
In 2022, the Journal of Dream Research conducted an experiment: participants who analyzed dreams through the lens of current tasks were 40% more likely to find non-obvious solutions.
For example, developer Igor from Minsk saw in a dream a code with an error that he had not noticed for weeks. "I woke up, checked - and really found a bug," he writes.
But there are nuances. Dreams do not predict the future, but reveal fears.
"If you dream of a disaster, it may be a fear of failure rather than a prophecy," warns Bulkley .
For example, student Maria from Prague had nightmares about failure before defending her diploma. "I realized that I was afraid not of the exam, but of my parents' judgment. I discussed it with them - and the anxiety went away," she says.
Author: Elena Shimanovskaya