Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsInterpreting School DreamsPhysical and Emotional SignificanceCommon Themes and VariationsPossible Explanations and TheoriesCoping Strategies and Interpretation Techniques

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Table of Contents

Interpreting School Dreams

Physical and Emotional Significance

Common Themes and Variations

Possible Explanations and Theories

Coping Strategies and Interpretation Techniques

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If you’ve ever had an anxiety-producing dream that you’re back at school, you’re definitely not alone. Dreams about being back at school can happen for many years after you have left school, and take lots of different forms.

You might dream that you’re late to school, that you’ve got a test or project coming up, or even that you’ve skipped an entire semester. So, where do these dreams come from, and what do they mean?

Our dreams can often reflect ourunconscious thoughtsor feelings, or the emotions we’re experiencing in the day before we go to sleep, so there are lots of reasons why you might be dreaming that you’re back at school.

Interpreting Your Dreams About Being Back in School

According toDeborah Lee, MRCGP DRCOG, GP and sleep expert, it’s common to dream about being back at school—particularly among people who live with anxiety and stress. She explains, “You may revert to a time in your life in your dreams when you felt happy and secure and had positive aspirations for the future."

You might dream about school at a time when you need to make a big decision about something or change a course of action, for example starting a new job. Your mind may naturally need to draw on past experiences and lessons learned at school on how to cope with new situations and be more resilient to change.—DEBORAH LEE, MRCGP DRCOG, GP

You might dream about school at a time when you need to make a big decision about something or change a course of action, for example starting a new job. Your mind may naturally need to draw on past experiences and lessons learned at school on how to cope with new situations and be more resilient to change.

—DEBORAH LEE, MRCGP DRCOG, GP

Martin Seeley, sleep expert and CEO ofMattressNextDayadds, “If you find yourself dreaming of being back at school, it can symbolize learning in your life, whether you are currently experiencing and learning something new in your everyday life e.g. taking a new course, starting a new job or learning a new skill.”

As school was a time when we had to adhere to rules and our life had plenty of structure, it might be that your brain wants a more stable, predictable life.

“If you keep dreaming of a specific situation, such as being at school, your subconscious mind may be trying to tell you something,” says Dr. Lee. She recommends noting down your dreams, and taking the time to think about their underlying meanings.

If your school-related dreams are more stressful, this might be because your sleep is being affected. Higher levels of stress can affect therapid eye movement (REM) phaseof the sleep cycle in particular, and this is where we dream the most.

Dreaming about school can be difficult for some people. If you didn’t have a good time at school, be it academically or in terms of your relationships with peers or teachers, you might not enjoy having these dreams bring back memories of your school days.

What to Know About REM Sleep

When you dream about being back at school, there are lots of different potential themes. Some may be mostly innocuous, but several of them may have you waking up in a cold sweat from time to time. School may be in your past, but your dreams feel very present, and very real! These are among the most common variations of school dreams:

Sigmund Freudbelieved that dreams were a way to gain insight into the unconscious mind,while most modern researchers believe that, in contrast, dreams are a reflection of what we’re thinking about while we’re awake.

Carl Jung, meanwhile, viewed dreams as being a way for the unconscious mind to communicate with the conscious mind, with dreams being symbolic and potentially having more than one meaning. So, what could dreaming about being back in school indicate?

As mentioned, dreams about being back at school can often come about if you’re currently learning something new, perhaps as you’re back in a similar headspace. Perhaps you’ve started a new job, you’re a new parent or pet owner, or you’ve simply started a new class to learn a language, for example.

School dreams can have subliminal reasons relating to feeling anxious or stressed with your waking life, it can relate to lessons learned that can help you with your problems in your real life.—MARTIN SEELEY, SLEEP EXPERT

School dreams can have subliminal reasons relating to feeling anxious or stressed with your waking life, it can relate to lessons learned that can help you with your problems in your real life.

—MARTIN SEELEY, SLEEP EXPERT

“Alongside this, if you are dreaming about starting a new school but you’re no longer in the studying era of your life, it could relate to anticipation or suggest it is time to start something new such as a career path or moving to a new city.”

Why Do I Keep Dreaming About School?

One potential explanation for dreaming about school is that it relates toimpostor syndrome—particularly if your dreams relate to you failing an exam, for example, or being late to class. If you doubt yourself or your abilities, dreaming of failure at school may reflect the fears you have in the present.

And as school plays such a big part in our lives, guiding us through the transition from childhood to adulthood, it can sometimes represent symbols or figures of authority when it appears in our dreams.

For example, if you’re finding it difficult to deal with a boss at work and wish you had more freedom and independence, you might dream that you’re back in school, where there’s a similar level of control.

Dreams about being late to school or to class could indicate that your priorities aren’t in order, or that you’re worried about a lack of planning. Have you beenfeeling disorganized, or felt guilty for procrastinating recently?

What if you’re dreaming about hanging out with friends at school? According to Dr. Lee, “If you have a current friendship or relationship issue, you may dream of the times spent with classmates and friends during your school days, and utilize these reserves to help you move things forward. Sometimes, school appears in our dreams if we feel nostalgic for the past.”

If you’re dreaming about taking a test in school, it might reflect the anxiety you feel while you’re awake, perhaps if you feel as though you’re aperfectionistor you have high expectations for yourself. Or, it might mean that you need to solve problems in your real life.

If you’re dreaming about taking a test that you haven’t studied for, this—like dreaming about being late—might reflect worries you have around being unprepared or not planning properly.

What Are Stress Dreams?

“It can be helpful to keep a dream journal and write down what youcan rememberin the morning, every morning,” Dr. Lee says. “They are thought to act as messages from our higher self that can help/aid us through difficulties in life.”

If you find yourself waking up in the night sometimes, you might want to keep the journal next to your bed, or even just a notebook and pen to jot things down in. Or, you could record voice memos on your phone if you don’t feel like writing things down when you’re tired.

If you live with a partner, friend, or relative, could you find a few minutes to discuss your dreams over your morning coffee, for example?

There are a few things you might ask yourself when trying to interpret or make sense of your dreams. If school, or your school friends, are common symbols that occur often, try to remember what they looked like, and what they were doing—or what you were doing—in your dreams. How did you feel about them in your dream, and how do you feel about them now that you’re awake?

Keep in Mind

If you’re dreaming about school, there are various potential explanations, and they might depend on the aspect of school you’re dreaming about. There are no definitive answers, but keeping a dream journal or just taking the time to think about your dreams each day could help you gain a better insight into your dreams.

If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, and you think that this is manifesting itself in your dreams, you could reach out to a loved one or a mental health professional for advice and support.

How to Interpret Dreams

3 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nollet M, Hicks H, McCarthy AP, et al.REM sleep’s unique associations with corticosterone regulation, apoptotic pathways, and behavior in chronic stress in mice.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019;116(7):2733-2742. doi:10.1073/pnas.1816456116Sikka P, Pesonen H, Revonsuo A.Peace of mind and anxiety in the waking state are related to the affective content of dreams.Sci Rep. 2018;8. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30721-1Zhang W, Guo B.Freud’s dream interpretation: A different perspective based on the self-organization theory of dreaming.Front Psychol. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01553.

3 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Nollet M, Hicks H, McCarthy AP, et al.REM sleep’s unique associations with corticosterone regulation, apoptotic pathways, and behavior in chronic stress in mice.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019;116(7):2733-2742. doi:10.1073/pnas.1816456116Sikka P, Pesonen H, Revonsuo A.Peace of mind and anxiety in the waking state are related to the affective content of dreams.Sci Rep. 2018;8. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30721-1Zhang W, Guo B.Freud’s dream interpretation: A different perspective based on the self-organization theory of dreaming.Front Psychol. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01553.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Nollet M, Hicks H, McCarthy AP, et al.REM sleep’s unique associations with corticosterone regulation, apoptotic pathways, and behavior in chronic stress in mice.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019;116(7):2733-2742. doi:10.1073/pnas.1816456116Sikka P, Pesonen H, Revonsuo A.Peace of mind and anxiety in the waking state are related to the affective content of dreams.Sci Rep. 2018;8. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30721-1Zhang W, Guo B.Freud’s dream interpretation: A different perspective based on the self-organization theory of dreaming.Front Psychol. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01553.

Nollet M, Hicks H, McCarthy AP, et al.REM sleep’s unique associations with corticosterone regulation, apoptotic pathways, and behavior in chronic stress in mice.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019;116(7):2733-2742. doi:10.1073/pnas.1816456116

Sikka P, Pesonen H, Revonsuo A.Peace of mind and anxiety in the waking state are related to the affective content of dreams.Sci Rep. 2018;8. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30721-1

Zhang W, Guo B.Freud’s dream interpretation: A different perspective based on the self-organization theory of dreaming.Front Psychol. 2018;9. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01553.

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