--- title: Dreams: Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean description: People who feel frustrated and incompetent during the day are more likely to have recurrent bad dreams and nightmares at night canonical: https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/ copyright: © 2026 TIME USA, LLC. All Rights Reserved. terms: https://legal.time.com/terms-of-service/ license_contact: syndication@time.com author: Amanda MacMillan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-15T16:22:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:42:23.795Z article:section: Health og:title: Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean og:description: They may be the result of unmet psychological needs, one study suggests og:url: https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a4364986bd2743/6988c123fb4eacc2a98915e8/time-health-stock-sleep-nap-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5120 og:image:height: 2880 og:image:alt: time-health-stock og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean twitter:description: They may be the result of unmet psychological needs, one study suggests twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a4364986bd2743/6988c123fb4eacc2a98915e8/time-health-stock-sleep-nap-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=493c246c-7ffd-4d4c-b7f1-f73fa9c83fbe&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Weekdays | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Weekly | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Twice a week | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=493c246c-7ffd-4d4c-b7f1-f73fa9c83fbe&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=493c246c-7ffd-4d4c-b7f1-f73fa9c83fbe&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (health, weekdays), Worth Your Time (culture, weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, twice weekly), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=493c246c-7ffd-4d4c-b7f1-f73fa9c83fbe&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean [Watch (HLS stream): Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oMGRwnSR.m3u8) (1:42)  _Published 2017-12-15. Everyone has a bad dream once in a while. But having the same one over and over may signal that something specific is missing in your daily life, new research suggests_ by [Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/) ## Amanda MacMillan Dec 15, 2017 4:22 PM UTC Everyone has a bad dream once in a while. But having the same one over and over may signal that something specific is missing in your daily life, new research suggests by [Amanda MacMillan](https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/) ## Amanda MacMillan Dec 15, 2017 4:22 PM UTC Everyone has a bad dream once in a while. But having the same one over and over may signal that something specific is missing in your daily life, new research suggests. Men and women in the study who felt frustrated and incompetent during the day were more likely to have recurrent bad dreams at night than those who felt satisfied and in control. Other research has suggested that positive or negative emotions carry over into dreams, and that bad dreams [may represent the leftover parts](http://time.com/4921605/dreams-meaning/) of poorly processed experiences, the authors wrote in their study [published in the journal _Motivation and Emotion_](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11031-017-9656-0). Less is known about the role of social and environmental cues—how people relate to themselves and those around them—in shaping dreams. Lead author Netta Weinstein, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Cardiff in the U.K., wanted to find out if a lack of three basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence and relatedness—translated into disturbing dreams. People are more likely to be satisfied with their lives if they feel in control of their choices, good at what they do and closely connected to other people in their social sphere, says Weinstein, and missing out on these needs can lead to anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. To find out, they asked 200 people to complete a survey about how frustrated or satisfied they were with various aspects of their life, along with their most common recurring dream. They also asked 110 people to keep a dream diary and respond to psychology questionnaires over three days. Both experiments showed a link between unmet psychological needs, frustration with life experiences and negative dream themes, including dreams that involved frightened, sad or angry emotions. Those emotions “may directly result from distressing dream events,” the authors wrote in their paper, which “might represent the [psyche’s attempt to process](http://time.com/4970767/rem-sleep-dreams-health/) and make sense of particularly challenging waking experiences.” People who were frustrated with their daily lives were also more likely to report having recurring dreams about falling, failing or being attacked. But the study authors say it’s too soon to draw conclusions about whether specific dream content relates to certain psychological issues. “I wish we could say there are certain assumptions you could make about someone who dreams about fire or who dreams about falling, but the evidence for that right now is still quite modest,” says Weinstein. “Hopefully this is a first step in that direction, but we’ll need a much bigger sample before we can get there.” The study could not show that daily frustrations actually caused negative dream themes, only that there was an association. Weinstein says it’s possible that the relationship could work in the opposite direction—that bad dreams could influence waking experiences—or that some people may simply be more likely to feel dissatisfied with their life and to experience recurrent bad dreams. But people in the three-day study did report worse dreams after days when they reported more frustration, compared to days they felt more satisfaction. This suggests that day-to-day unmet needs really are influencing dreams, the authors say. Weinstein says her research makes a broader point about mental health and should send a message to people who find themselves consistently feeling frustrated, lonely, incompetent or helpless. “This is the latest in a string of research showing that these experiences are very harmful,” she says, “not just for our ability to function during the day, but now, possibly, for our ability to sleep well at night, too.” “At this point, we can definitively say that feeling incompetent is just not good for you,” she says. “My advice is to find any opportunity to feel more valued, more confident about yourself and more connected with people and things you care about. It’s hard to overestimate how helpful that will be for your well-being.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/"},"headline":"Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean","datePublished":"2017-12-15T16:22:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T08:42:23.795Z","description":"People who feel frustrated and incompetent during the day are more likely to have recurrent bad dreams and nightmares at night","url":"https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/","keywords":["Sleep","Psychology","Depression","Mental Health","Anxiety","Fear","dreams","health","onetime","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a4364986bd2743/6988c123fb4eacc2a98915e8/time-health-stock-sleep-nap-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amanda MacMillan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/amanda-macmillan/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7a4364986bd2743/6988c123fb4eacc2a98915e8/time-health-stock-sleep-nap-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"time-health-stock","caption":"Blonde woman laying on bed TIME health stock","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/sleep/","name":"Sleep"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/","name":"Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Here's What Your Recurring Nightmares Actually Mean","description":"Everyone has a bad dream once in a while. But having the same one over and over may signal that something specific is missing in your daily life, new research suggests","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oMGRwnSR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-15T20:39:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oMGRwnSR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/","duration":"PT1M42S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5060932/recurring-nightmares-psychology/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```