What Crying In Your Dreams Really Means

Many people go to sleep and have vivid, real-feeling dreams that they can perfectly describe when they wake up in the morning. While some people have dreams that feel unrealistic, others have dreams about people and things that actually are major parts of their everyday life. Sure, there is no definitive evidence that dreams can mean anything indefinite, but the majority of psychologists and dream interpreters agree that dreams represent different emotions and struggles that people undergo subconsciously every day (via CNET). 

While many different psychologists have studied dreams over the centuries, Sigmund Freud was one of the most prominent researchers. His "The Interpretation of Dreams," for example, is regarded as one of the 20th century's most important books (via the Freud Museum London). According to Freud, dreams represent suppressed feelings, as well as wishes for yourself and your life (via Dreams).

However, some people have dreams that can have negative connotations, like when you lose someone close to you or even just seeing yourself having a hard time and crying. Many fear that this can mean bad things are coming in the future, but, experts say that crying in your dreams can represent something else entirely.

Crying in your sleep can be rather worrying and scary when you're sleeping, especially if it has to do with something traumatic happening in your dream. But, according to sleep experts, what you see and experience in dreams can represent feelings you have been bottling up in your everyday life (via CNET). 

So, when you cry in your sleep, a theory is that it's an expression of emotions you have been hiding in the real world. This could be anything from agony to anger to joy to happiness, that you are unable to emote in your life every day (via Times Now). These emotions can be bottled up and are let out in your subconscious while you are dreaming. Another theory behind crying in your dreams has to do with things you are holding back, specifically what you're not saying to people in your waking life. 

If you see someone you love in your dreams crying, it could also have a significant meaning. Seeing someone else in your dreams crying could signify that the specific person in your life is crying out for help from you (via Reference.com). That person may be struggling and you notice, and want to actually help them, but they haven't exactly asked yet. 

As many experts note, emotions in dreams may also be tied to repressed emotional trauma. If you are experiencing crying dreams, one tack is to journal or to look within to try and get to the root of what you may be suppressing.