Dreams may help us process and reduce strong emotions like fear or anxiety.

Our dreams often include emotions and stressful situations. Scientists think that dreaming allows us to work through these feelings safely while we sleep, helping to calm us down. By creating a story around scary or upsetting feelings, dreams might help our brain ‘practice’ handling tough emotions, so we feel better when we wake up. This emotional processing might explain why people who have trauma sometimes have nightmares.