Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing, frightening and sometimes bizarre.

Fast facts on dreams
Here are some key points about dreams. More detail and supporting information is in the main article.
Though a few people may not remember dreaming, it is thought that everyone dreams between 3 to 6 times per night.
It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes.
Around 95% of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed.
Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories.
Women dream more about family, children and indoor settings when compared with men.
Recalling something from last week that has appeared in your dream is called the “dream-lag effect.”
There is a difference in the quality and quantity of dreams experienced in rapid eye movement and non-rapid eye movement sleep.
48% of people that feature in a dream are recognized by the person dreaming.
Blind people dream more with other sensory components compared with sighted people.
Both sleep and dream quality are affected by alcohol.
What are dreams?
Dreams are a universal human experience that can be described as a state of consciousness characterized by sensory, cognitive and emotional occurrences during sleep.27 The dreamer has reduced control over the content, visual images and activation of the memory.42