Why do I feel unrested when I dream?

Dear Vivid Dreamer, 

It sounds like your dreams are keeping you awake! Why people dream is still being researched in sleep science, but it does suggest why these dreams might leave you feeling tired. The most likely explanation is that the dreams themselves aren’t making you tired. Rather the brief awakenings you experience because of them leave you feeling sleepy. These are short and often unconscious moments where you surface from sleep just enough to register the dream before drifting back to sleep. You probably don't remember waking up, but those small interruptions add up over the course of a night and affect how rested you feel in the morning. 

Does dreaming more at night mean your sleep is less restful? 

Sleep isn't one continuous state. Your body cycles through stages of lighter and deeper sleep throughout the night, roughly every 90 to 120 minutes. The stage most associated with vivid dreams is called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. During REM sleep, your brain is highly active, making dreams feel realistic and emotionally intense. Dreams can also happen in non-REM sleep, but they tend to be shorter and less vivid, more like a fleeting thought than a full scene. REM periods lengthen with each sleep cycle, sometimes lasting nearly an hour before the dream fades by morning. 

When you remember five to six dreams in one night, it may be a sign that you experienced more brief awakenings than usual. Each time you briefly wake up during a REM period, your brain has a window to store that dream in your memory. These brief awakenings are what allow you to remember your dreams and leave you tired. Scientists think that dreams themselves may be a part of what makes sleep restorative! Not recalling dreams often means you stayed asleep through your dream cycles. Sometimes when you have vivid dreams, your brain stays disconnected from the outside world, which leads to deep, uninterrupted sleep.  

Why might you be having vivid dreams in phases? 

Vivid dreaming isn’t a sign that something is wrong. The goal is just to figure out what's waking you up during REM sleep. Several common triggers that you might notice include: 

• Stress & schedule changes. Going through stressful life events, such as finals week at school, relationship difficulties, or work pressure can increase your cortisol, which is your body's stress hormone. Dreams during stressful periods can be more emotionally charged and even staying up much later than usual on weekends can cause some REM-ifications to your body's internal clock. 
• Sleep deprivation. Disrupted sleep leads to your body building up sleep debt. Once you finally get a full night of rest, your brain tries to make up for lost time by spending more time in REM. This catching-up effect can produce more vivid dreams and last several nights before settling back down. 
• Alcohol & caffeine. Drinking alcohol or caffeine close to bedtime can suppress REM sleep early in the night and trigger the catching-up effect in the hours or nights that follow. 
• Medications & sleep aids. The mechanism behind dreams isn't fully understood, but some medications can make dreams more vivid. Theoretically, melatonin could promote dreaming by increasing the amount of time spent in REM, but there is limited evidence showing that melatonin itself causes vivid dreams.   
• Sleeping environment.  Some environments, such as noisy or brightly lit spaces, can make it harder to get restful sleep. Try to keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet. Blackout curtains, earplugs, or a white noise machine can help if light or sound are waking you. 

How can you  make sure you’re getting better sleep? 

The most useful thing you can do is try to identify what may be causing you to wake. Finding the pattern is the first step you can take towards feeling more rested. 

Keeping a consistent sleep schedule, managing stress, avoiding alcohol before bedtime can help increase your changes of restful ZZZ's. You might also consider keeping a dream journal to track your dreams and when they occur. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, practice five to ten minutes of deep breathing, and drink water to avoid dehydration before bedtime.  

If vivid dreams are disrupting your sleep or daily life, consider talking with a health care provider. If they’re causing significant distress, a mental health professional may also help. Additionally, many universities often offer sleep and wellness programs through their health promotion offices. 

Sleep tight,