What Does It Mean When You Dream About Being Sick?

While dreaming may seem like an inconsequential activity and not much more than an interesting occurrence that's fun to talk about in the morning, dreaming serves a purpose. Dreaming helps our brains process emotions, regulate them, find solutions, and even synthesize memories, per Discover Magazine.

Even if we can't remember our dreams, we are still having them. Everyone dreams between three and six times every night, per Medical News Today. Yet, astoundingly you won't remember 95% of your dreams.

Some people dream more often than others. "Dreamers tend to be more anxious, but they're also more open to experiences and more creative people," says neuroscientist Raphael Vallat, who specializes in sleep and dream research at the University of California, Berkeley Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab (via Discover Magazine). "The analogy I make is that dreamers are the artists, whereas nondreamers are the engineers."

Yet sometimes dreams can be disturbing — like having a dream about being sick. But what does it mean?

When you dream about being sick, you may dream about getting news that you have a disease or illness or you may just know in your dream that you have it.

In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and endless news stories about it, it's not surprising to be overly concerned about your health, per Healthline. Stresses about contracting the virus, traveling, being in crowds, being isolated and quarantined, or even in the hospital alone can all make their way into your dreams. You could also be having a simple stress dream if you have a lot on your mind.

However, dreaming about being sick may be more symbolic and represent something in your life that just isn't healthy at the moment. It may be that you have toxic family members or a partner, or even that you are stuck in a toxic work environment, per Angel Number. If you dream about throwing up or having a high fever and sweating it out, it's very possible that your mind is trying to dispose of an unhealthy person or situation in your life.

Though it may seem like common sense, if you dream of having a sore throat or headache and wake up to find you're coming down with something, the dream may just be a semi-conscious thought of actually feeling the ache or pain and your mind realizing you're getting sick.

Dreaming about someone who is sick can have a two-fold meaning, per Dark Dreams. While you may simply just be concerned for some reasons, whether mentally, emotionally, or physically, it may also symbolize that they are sick and unhealthy for you to be around. This can be a subconscious thought in which your brain is warning you to watch yourself when around them.

Ironically, dreaming about a partner or spouse being sick may represent that you are worried about letting them down or even not being good enough (via Dream Glossary). It could also simply means that you have a fear of losing that person.