Were anxiety and fear predominant dream emotions for you in 2024? If so, you’re not alone. More than 70% of the 13,000 dreams collected in 2024 by the Dream Decoder app featured fearful or anxious emotions, revealing how deeply modern life’s stressors may be resonating within us. On the brighter side, as the year unfolded, the dreams began to shift toward themes of personal growth and self-discovery.
This is one of the notable findings Chinese computer scientist Yoazhi Wang shared in his report summarizing the dreams collected and analysed on an AI-assisted app he developed to share with interested dreamers. When asked if the prevalence of anxiety dreams reflects a general characteristic of dreaming, or is more of a reflection of current events, Wang said this is hard to determine with just one year of data. “However, the challenges of modern life and significant social events can undoubtedly influence people’s dreams. For example, our database shows a noticeable spike in anxiety-related dreams during the US election period.”
Another surprising pattern is the large number of relationship-focused dreams. “That stood out to me personally, because I usually dream about exploring entirely new environments or scenarios that don’t exist in real life,” said Wang.
Here are the most notable statistics from the past year: Fear and anxiety were reflected in 72% of dreams. Themes of love and relationships, including romance, connection and family were featured in 30% of dreams. Growth and transformation was another dominant theme, reflected in 13% of recorded dreams. Wang said, “As fear receded in the latter half of the year, growth and exploration dreams rose, showcasing a collective shift toward optimism and resilience.”
Most Dream Scenarios are Threatening
The two most common scenarios — the classic nightmare themes of being chased or attacked — dominated the dream landscape. Being lost or disoriented, often symbolized as being in an unknown house, was also a common dream theme. Physical limitations (being unable to move) and experiences of social anxiety (being late, naked, back in high school – or maybe all of these at once) rounded out the list of the most common dream scenarios recorded last year by Dream Decoder. The top ten most common symbols, in order, were: house, mother, car, friend, home, water, friends, darkness, crying and father.
Dreaming by Season
Another interesting feature of dreams recorded by the app in the past year is that they appear to change with the seasons. In 2024:
- Winter brought introspection, with dreams of home and family dominating.
- Spring inspired exploration, with themes of discovery and new beginnings.
- Summer was an emotional high, marked by anxiety and dreams of social connection.
- Fall painted a picture of transformation, with growth-oriented dreams taking center stage.
This seasonal rhythm suggests that as the world changes around us, so does the tone and content of our dreams.
People Are at the Heart of Our Dreams
Three out of four dreams in 2024 featured people at their core. Family, friends, and relationships emerged as dominant themes. The frequency of symbols like “mother,” “father,” and “friend” emphasizes the deep social ties that shape our subconscious. These connections weren’t always harmonious. Scenarios involving conflict, betrayal, or anxiety around social situations (like being late or public speaking) featured prominently.
Origins and Future Plans
When asked about the origins of Dream Decoder, Wang said, “I’ve always had vivid dreams and a strong curiosity about the subconscious behind them. When ChatGPT emerged, I realized AI could help interpret and analyze these dreams in a meaningful way. That’s when I decided to develop this tool. Over time, I found I had gathered so much dream data that I could analyze it on a larger scale, which sparked my interest in examining patterns across a broader population. Ultimately, my main goal is to help people understand themselves better and improve their lives by uncovering the deeper layers of their dreams and subconscious.”
Wang initially plans to make AI-assisted dream analysis available on a personal level so users can see their own dream patterns. In the future, more self-discovery features will be added, such as allowing users to record their personal interpretations and compare them with AI’s perspective. As well, Wang said, “I believe there are countless exploratory and imaginative dream experiences. My hope is to help people express these more vividly, for example by generating images that capture the essence of their dream worlds.”
While the focus is currently on individuals who want to track their dreams for self-discovery and creativity, the platform may also serve researchers and dreamwork professionals. Wang said, “I notice that the data I’ve gathered differs from many existing research collections, which often involve a relatively small group of highly dedicated individuals logging numerous dreams. In contrast, my data comes from a wider base of users, each typically recording fewer entries. I believe both approaches offer valuable perspectives.”
About Dream Dictionaries
The Dream Decoder app offers a list of potential ways to interpret symbols and elements that most often appear in dreams. I shared my deep suspicion of dream dictionaries with Wang, and he agreed that “static symbols are not sufficient for a comprehensive dream analysis. Every dream is unique to the individual and their circumstances at a specific time” However, he believes artificial intelligence, combined with the collection of dream reports over time, can mitigate over-simplication of dream symbols.
“A key limitation of current AI is that it can know every theory about dreams but nothing about the dreamer or their current context. Without this connection, it cannot provide truly meaningful interpretations.” However, Wang said, “tracking dreams over time can reveal patterns of relevance to individual dreamers. And for reports like this one, which analyze large populations, dream symbols and themes remain critical as they enable a data-driven approach to uncover nuanced patterns.”
He noted that most people do not seem to care for nuanced interpretations anyway. “On our platform, only about 1% of visitors to the dream dictionary pages choose to explore AI-based personalized interpretations. I think this may reflect some aspect of human nature.”
Interpreting the Bigger Picture
What can we take away from this detailed analysis of 2024’s dreamscape? Wang reached the following conclusions:
– Dreams are emotional mirrors that reflect not just individual struggles but the collective challenges and growth of a society.
– Our subconscious adapts: The shift from anxiety to growth-oriented dreams suggests that our minds are wired to seek resolution and resilience.
– Symbols and emotions are universal yet personal: While certain symbols appear consistently across dreams, their interpretation often depends on individual context.
You can check out the full report here: https://dreamdecoder.me/research/dream-report-2024.