Nightmares More Common For Women

February 2, 2009

Whether you remember your dreams or not, research shows that women suffer from having more nightmares than men, and they're more emotionally intense too. Those dreams can be divided into three categories: fearful dreams (like being chased), losing a loved one, or confused dreams (where you're lost, or things don't make sense). The scientists discovered that there was a strong correlation between actual events and anxieties the women experienced in their lives, and things they dreamt about.

Another interesting finding is that women dream more often about family members, negative emotions, and indoor settings, while male dreams contain more physical aggression (like fighting or attacks). Both genders dream about sex, but men dream about actual intercourse when women dream about kissing and fantasizing about other people.

Since men and woman are so different, it would make sense that we dream differently too, but I'm curious, how often do you have vivid, intense nightmares?

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32 Comments

amelioratelj 4 years 14 weeks

I have nightmares almost every night. It's been an issue for a few years now. Mainly I dream of being trapped in my own home with a murderer trying to get to me, my family members dying of disease, my husband cheating on me or telling me he doesn't love me...so on. It's terrible. I often have 2-3 nightmares per night.

smartiez 4 years 14 weeks

I have nightmares probably like once a month...My worst nightmare was when Mt. Everest exploded... very weird and it felt like real life... everyone in the world was in a panic...I don't even know where it came from but when I woke up I was shaking :(

smartiez 4 years 14 weeks

I have nightmares probably like once a month... My worst nightmare was when Mt. Everest exploded... very weird and it felt like real life... everyone in the world was in a panic...I don't even know where it came from but when I woke up I was shaking :(

sparklestar 4 years 14 weeks

I have the weirdest dreams. They usually only happen if I have woken up, gotten out of bed for something and then gone back to sleep... They verge on vivid.

sparklestar 4 years 14 weeks

I have the weirdest dreams. They usually only happen if I have woken up, gotten out of bed for something and then gone back to sleep...They verge on vivid.

thelorax 4 years 14 weeks

almost every night, and about once a week I'll have an actual "night terror" where I'll leap out of bed and try to run away, or sit up and scream, or flail my arms trying to protect my face...my poor husband.

Cinderella69 4 years 14 weeks

ive always suffered from nightmares...i even remember horrific ones i had when i was 5 or 6 years old...im now in my 20's!! mostly i dream that someone is watching me or there is just someone creepy or scary near me and i try to scream but just a weird sound comes out my mouth and i hear high pitched ringing in my ears that gets louder and louder... i usually get woken up by me actually trying to scream in my sleep. i always dream about being chased but my legs won't move fast enough... or i have to drive a car as i'm being chased and ive forgotton how to drive... sometimes i can feel myself going into a nightmare and the ear ringing starts so i can make myself wake up....but i have that really creepy feeling when i wake up that i have in my dreams that i can't get rid of.. . . i found i have less nightmares if someone is sleeping in my bed as i feel safe. i love dreams but i hate nightmares!!

lolliriots 4 years 14 weeks

I had a nightmare last night. Someone was actively trying to murder my kitty. Then sometimes, I will be so torn up in a dream, I wake up and I'm crying my eyes out. It scares my boyfriend.

lolliriots 4 years 14 weeks

I had a nightmare last night. Someone was actively trying to murder my kitty.Then sometimes, I will be so torn up in a dream, I wake up and I'm crying my eyes out. It scares my boyfriend.

cherrypop 4 years 15 weeks

I remembered crying in one of my dreams and then waking up to find tears streaming down the side of my face. I can't exactly remember the details of the dream except that it felt very real. There was also another period of time when I dreamt about people chasing after me, trying to kill me. There's this particular one where I was being chased by strangers who were trying to kill me, and I was searching for my parents, but it seemed as if they can't see me and just continued talking to other people. I remembered getting shot by those people chasing after me but somehow or rather, I didn't die. Kinda weird and scary. I don't usually dream a lot when I was living in Singapore. But after relocating to America with my parents, I started having nightmares pretty often. I guess it's probably due to stress in real life that got translated into dreams.

cherrypop 4 years 15 weeks

I remembered crying in one of my dreams and then waking up to find tears streaming down the side of my face. I can't exactly remember the details of the dream except that it felt very real. There was also another period of time when I dreamt about people chasing after me, trying to kill me. There's this particular one where I was being chased by strangers who were trying to kill me, and I was searching for my parents, but it seemed as if they can't see me and just continued talking to other people. I remembered getting shot by those people chasing after me but somehow or rather, I didn't die. Kinda weird and scary.I don't usually dream a lot when I was living in Singapore. But after relocating to America with my parents, I started having nightmares pretty often. I guess it's probably due to stress in real life that got translated into dreams.

babysoftpink 4 years 15 weeks

One dream that I sincerely hope would never occurred is I was standing at the altar in a church and this short guy was supposed to be the groom and run up to the stage... What a night mare, I am telling everyone since all the dreams that I share with others never become da ju vu I will never ever marry a short guy and I don't care if I am never marry please no short short guy, uh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!PLEASE

babysoftpink 4 years 15 weeks

The craziest thing I dream I still remember to this date is while I am pregnant (I've never been pregnant in real time) and being stabbed a thousand times on my hand and legs. I don't feel the pain but I keep holding my stomach and protecting my baby (since my stomach is so large), I run with all my might to get away. The person chasing me seems to be my father.Also I have my parents cussing at me repeatedly throughout the night and I would shut back and curse them throughout the night so loud that I woke myself up and I remain very very angry at them for couple of hours after awakening. These two dreams are most vivid and memorable throughout my life thus far.

babysoftpink 4 years 15 weeks

The craziest thing I dream I still remember to this date is while I am pregnant (I've never been pregnant in real time) and being stabbed a thousand times on my hand and legs. I don't feel the pain but I keep holding my stomach and protecting my baby (since my stomach is so large), I run with all my might to get away. The person chasing me seems to be my father. Also I have my parents cussing at me repeatedly throughout the night and I would shut back and curse them throughout the night so loud that I woke myself up and I remain very very angry at them for couple of hours after awakening. These two dreams are most vivid and memorable throughout my life thus far.

babysoftpink 4 years 15 weeks

I really every night and I remember the dreams the morning immediately upon awakening. Sometimes, I crave sweet romantic dreams because that is the only time I feel so loved, so light and so protected in the arms of a handsome strong guy, something I don't get in life, ever. Other times, I experienced intense dreams that are embarrassing, humiliating, demeaning, violence, ghost that attacks you and you chase them everywhere but you could not trace them, in a empty dim lighted house trapped and you could not speak, when you shout, no one can hear me talk etc... I have more scary dream than happy dreams and I truly crave and pray that I will have more sweet dreams.... also sexual dreams are actual intercourse too but many times I am a bystander watching other couples or a few other couples... I have not been a participant yet and I don't know why I dream that.. They are usually strangers that I have no ideas where they come from and they also don't seem to know me or looking at me.

GScott86 4 years 15 weeks

*Here's a tip...when you dream, do your best to control it, it can be done...I know when I'm in a dream (when I am privy to those dreams) of course we aren't always aware of them (since supposedly we have like 7 dreams per night...as per the different stages of R.E.M. sleep) but it's fun! Helps in nightmares too...eventually you can enter and exit at will...Woke up once, talked on the phone and reentered the same dream 5 minutes later...

GScott86 4 years 15 weeks

LoL, wow nice lie. Women dream about actual intercourse too, gimme a break. And as a guy, I've dreamt of just kissing or fantasying in itself without the sex part. Hahah, and I'm pretty sure dreams/nightmares in part come out of anxieties. Kinda like being stressed out of your mind and dreaming about peeing blood (happens to me when I have major emotional stress to deal with concerning someone).

Muirnea 4 years 15 weeks

I hardly ever remember my dreams...maybe like a couple times a year. But just last week I remembered two dreams! One was about my cat that died a while back showing up randomly again (and of course he was fine in the dream) and the other was about being chased by this giant really scary monster. One time I had this horrible really scary dream about people I knew laying around dead and then turning into monsters that attacked me whenever I walked by...it was horrible, I was trying to scream in the dream but nothing would come out. But in real life, my bf at the time told me I was kind of screaming out loud. It was after we watched a scary movie...which is why I hate scary movies. Sometimes mine are pretty vivid too, and with the fairly normal ones, like the cat dream, I will not remember it at first when I wake up. Something will remind me later and it will pop into my head, and then I don't know if it really happened or not.

cupcake_ 4 years 15 weeks

I have nighmares quite often. Actually last night I had a dream I was running away from someone - one that I have often.

Antioxidant 4 years 15 weeks

The only dreams I remember having are nightmares. Not horrible, screaming and crying nightmares, just unpleasant situations. But it's always good to wake up and realize none of it was real!

DarlingDA 4 years 15 weeks

I have pretty terrible nightmares, usually where I can't scream and my arms begins really weak so I can't defend myself. Sometimes I practice screaming into a pillow just to make sure I can scream really well if I ever need to. After I started taking an antidepressant and a blood pressure medication, my nightmares have been more vivid, although my dreams have become more realistic too. Sometimes I have problems figuring out in the morning if it really happened. I hate when have a bad nightmare about my boyfriend cheating or my parents telling me they don't love me, because I'm always a little angry at that person, and can't seem to shake it off for a day or two. By now I can just tell my boyfriend though, and we can laugh about it, even if I still feel a little pissed at him for hooking up with someone in my dream.

emalove 4 years 15 weeks

I used to suffer from REALLY bad nightmares...probably from ages 23-26, I'd say. I'd have them almost every night and wake up screaming and crying. My doctor wanted to put me on sleeping pills and a few other different types of medications to try to help because it got to the point where I was afraid to go to sleep at night. They finally stopped when things in my life became a little more stable and happier. I really feel like the nightmares coincided with all the stressful things going on in my life. I'm so happy now, and I can't even remember the last time I had one.

Chrstne 4 years 15 weeks

When you think about dreams from a psychological standpoint, dreams are meant to relieve stress, not to predict futures or figure out your deepest fears and wishes. It is possible that if you have a dream about say, your boyfriend breaking up with you, that thought is a point of stress for you. However, if you have the occasional dream about being chased, or have dreams about monsters -- it's not like that's a deep set fear or something, though the possibility is there. It also doesn't mean that you will be chased by people or monsters. When we dream, as I said, we relieve stress. We dream each and every night, no exceptions. If you cannot remember your dreams, you just did not wake up during REM sleep. If we didn't dream, we'd all likely go crazy -- no joke. Sometimes I do have nightmares about being killed violently -- but I don't take it seriously. I usually do not dream about anything but myself or someone close to me dying - and they happen infrequently.

syako 4 years 15 weeks

I have nightmares almost every night, and sometimes multiple ones in one night. Not fun. I wake up tired. :( Interesting research though, I'll definitely look more into their study.

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