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Are Vivid Dreams Indicative Of Deep Sleep?
Question: I have not been sleeping well the last few weeks & when I do, I have very vivid dreams. I wake up every few hours. Are vivid dreams indication of not very deep sleep?
Brief Answer:
No, they don't necessarily indicate lack of deep sleep.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
As perhaps you have read yourself, sleep is composed of cycles. Each cycle lasts about 90-120 mins and is composed of several stages following each other. The first 4 stages are called NREM (non rapid eye movements) the last two of which constitute the deep sleep. These stages are then followed by the REM phase during which you have your dreams. It composes around 20% of sleep time in adults.
Having very vivid dreams doesn't necessarily mean that you don't go through deep sleep, it's just that one has no recollection of the deep sleep and it's only the REM phase with its dreams which you remember.
The fact that the dreams may be intense and seemingly involving many events doesn't exactly correlate to the duration of REM sleep as in reality it can be only minutes.
Since you wake after a few hours it seems to correspond to a full 2 hour cycle and the end of which the REM stage dreams wake you up, that doesn't indicate that this REM phase wasn't preceded by a normal length deep sleep.
Of course exact measuring of your sleep stages can be done only through polysomnography studies.
I remain at you disposal for further questions.
No, they don't necessarily indicate lack of deep sleep.
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern.
As perhaps you have read yourself, sleep is composed of cycles. Each cycle lasts about 90-120 mins and is composed of several stages following each other. The first 4 stages are called NREM (non rapid eye movements) the last two of which constitute the deep sleep. These stages are then followed by the REM phase during which you have your dreams. It composes around 20% of sleep time in adults.
Having very vivid dreams doesn't necessarily mean that you don't go through deep sleep, it's just that one has no recollection of the deep sleep and it's only the REM phase with its dreams which you remember.
The fact that the dreams may be intense and seemingly involving many events doesn't exactly correlate to the duration of REM sleep as in reality it can be only minutes.
Since you wake after a few hours it seems to correspond to a full 2 hour cycle and the end of which the REM stage dreams wake you up, that doesn't indicate that this REM phase wasn't preceded by a normal length deep sleep.
Of course exact measuring of your sleep stages can be done only through polysomnography studies.
I remain at you disposal for further questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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