58 %of grieving caregivers dreamed of the person they lost
Dreaming of a loved one who has died is common. In a survey of 278 bereaved hospice caregivers, 58 % reported dreams of their deceased loved one, and 60 % felt those dreams affected their grieving, often bringing acceptance or comfort. In a separate student survey, 38.4 % said they had ever dreamed that someone now dead was alive.
In the Typical Dreams Questionnaire study of 1,181 Canadian students (Nielsen et al., 2003), 38.4 % said they had ever dreamed of "a person now dead as alive": 41.3 % of those 19 and over, 32.9 % of those 18 and under.
Among people actually grieving, the figure was higher: in a survey of 278 hospice caregivers (Wright et al., 2014), 58 % reported dreams of the person they had lost.
Do these dreams help with grief?
Sixty percent of the caregivers felt that their dreams affected their bereavement, often through acceptance, comfort or a sense of spirituality. The respondents chose to answer and looked back on their dreams, so this describes how they felt, not a measured effect.
If grief feels heavy
If grief feels overwhelming right now, talk to someone you trust or to a professional.
Questions
Is it normal to dream about someone who died?
Yes. More than half of grieving caregivers in one survey reported such dreams, and nearly four in ten students in another survey had dreamed that someone who died was alive.
Can dreams of a loved one who died help with grief?
Many people say so: in one survey, 60 % of bereaved caregivers felt their dreams affected their grieving, often bringing comfort or acceptance. That's self-report, not a measured effect.
Sources
Nielsen, T. A., Zadra, A. L., Simard, V., Saucier, S., Stenstrom, P., Smith, C., & Kuiken, D. (2003). The typical dreams of Canadian university students. Dreaming, 13(4), 211–235. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:DREM.0000003144.40929.0b
Wright, S. T., Kerr, C. W., Doroszczuk, N. M., Kuszczak, S. M., Hang, P. C., & Luczkiewicz, D. L. (2014). The impact of dreams of the deceased on bereavement: A survey of hospice caregivers. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine, 31(2), 132–138. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049909113479201
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