If You’ve Been Having Vivid Dreams Lately, This Could Be The Reason

Are you having incredibly vivid dreams this month? If so, you're not alone. A lot of my dreams involve celebrities, although not so much lately. Maybe it has something to do with actors' strike. But I digress. Apparently, October is a prime time for dreaming and a sleep expert says this could be due to two things.

Martin Seeley, the CEO and sleep expert at UK-based retailer MattressNextDay, suggests one reason for vivid dreaming in the fall is the change of seasons. He says, "As the days become shorter and darkness descends earlier, our melatonin production, the hormone responsible for sleep, increases."

The other reason for you more active dream life this month is the impending time change. When the clocks go back (10/29/23 in UK; 11/5/23 in U.S.), our internal body clocks have to adapt. Seeley adds, "This adjustment can influence the frequency and vividness of our dreams.”

So what kinds of dreams are people having this month? MattressNextDay looked into it by analyzing over 279,750 dream-related Google searches. They used two variations for each of the most common dreams, such as "dream about losing teeth" and "teeth falling out dream." MattressNextDay then analyzed the Google search volume to reveal the most common dreams in each U.S. state and UK county.

MattressNextDay's Martin Seeley even offers some interpretation behind our different dreams. He also consulted with celebrity psychic and dreams analyst Inbaal Honigman to decode what many of these dreams really mean.

1. Teeth Falling Out (82,100 searches) - This is the most commonly-searched dream in both the U.S. and the UK at any time of year. Dreams about losing teeth symbolize a different kind of loss, like leaving a relationship behind or even relocating.

2. Pregnancy (32,900 searches) - Many pregnancy dreams are simply predictive dreams. Beyond fertility, pregnancy in a dream can represent the wanting of a new job or creative project, like a "new lease of life."

3. Spiders (28,000 searches) - Dreaming of spiders often represents a need to confront fears, insecurities. It's a time to face challenges with resilience and determination.

4. Ghosts (11,000 searches) - Martin Seeley says, “Ghostly apparitions are often the effect of a sleep disorder called sleep paralysis. It can be terrifying, but it does explain why you could 'see' a person or figure near your bed or in your room and also feel unable to move."

5. Falling (10,200 searches) - This is more of a physiological reaction to your body going to sleep. As your nervous systems begin to calm, and your heart rate and blood pressure drop, this can trigger a sleep disruption known as a "hypnic jerk." These sudden movements can be minor but are sometimes violent enough to wake you up. They typically last only a second or two, but can be quite startling.

6. Fire (9,500 searches) - Dreams about fire can symbolize passion, light, destruction, anger, and more. If you were unafraid of the fire, then it could be a reference to your own internal fire. Your views and opinions could be changing, bringing forth a renewal of self. If you are burned by fire, it indicates that your temper is raging, and you are "burning up inside."

7. Hair Falling Out (8,300 searches) - Losing hair in a dream can symbolize concerns about ageing, stress, or feeling out of control. It's a reflection of your inner thoughts and anxieties about physical appearance and self-image.

8. Getting lost (6,300 searches) - To dream of being lost can invoke feelings of frustration, not fitting in, and confusion. If you're feeling somehow lost in your life, these dreams can help you find direction. It can also be a dream for those grieving, a way to process the loss of a person, or an aspect of yourself that has gone missing.

9. Being Cheated On (4,400 searches) - If you dream of an ex-partner cheating, you might be trying to make sense of the split. You could be worried that their loyalty was never for you, and you may be suspicious that they were also cheating in real life. If you dream of your current partner cheating on you, this shows your own insecurities rather than any unfaithful thoughts about your partner.

10. Drowning (4,400 searches) - This is often represents a fear of losing yourself in some way. Whether it's from being overwhelmed by work, a relationship issue, or stress, there’s the fear of "drowning" under the weight of emotions and being unable to handle or process them. Even if you’re not in turmoil, simply dealing with life’s daily struggles and trying to survive as a well-functioning human being in today’s society is enough to induce these dreams.

Plenty of people take melatonin supplements to help them sleep, but you don't necessarily have to spend money on a bottle of supplements. CNBC report that some of the foods in your kitchen right now may have all the melatonin you need.

According to the Mayo Clinic, melatonin is a hormone your body makes that helps to regulate the sleep-wake cycle and can be beneficial for stabilizing your sleep pattern. If you want better sleep and don’t want to take yet another supplement, try these five foods that are naturally high in melatonin.

Eggs are one of the best sources of melatonin among animal products. They're also loaded with iron and protein, as well as other essential nutrients.

Fatty fish like salmon and tuna are rich in melatonin as well as vitamin B6, omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium and vitamin D - all of which promote healthy sleep. One study found that participants who ate salmon three times a week slept better and showed improved daytime functioning than those who didn’t.

It turns out that the old school sleep remedy really works, thanks to the melatonin. Milk is one of the best dietary sources of it and it also contains the amino acid tryptophan, which increases concentrations of melatonin and helps you drift off to sleep easier.

According to a 2022 study published in the Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, walnuts were found to have high amounts of melatonin. It’s also found in almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds and pistachios. Just go for the raw kind because the roasting process has been shown to negatively impact melatonin content.

This is new to me. Apparently, tart cherry juice is an effective sleep aid thanks to all the melatonin in the fruit. You can also just eat the tart cherries to get your melatonin without all the added sugar in the juice.