- Why do we still dream about school?
A school bell rings, a door opens, dim light. What's going on, one wonders. Until slowly a feeling creeps from the stomach up. Oh no, math test? I haven't studied!
Fear of an exam - that's a feeling millions of students in Germany know and are just recovering from. Many federal states are still on summer break, in some school has already started, but without the big exam pressure in the first weeks. But it's also a feeling that affects many adults who left school long ago. In the night.
School dreams, the classic nighttime mind theater
If you listen closely, you'll know: Many people dream of school and exam situations. A nameless classroom, a blackboard at the front, a sheet of paper with tasks on the table - these are classics of the theater that our brain stages in sleep.
The big school break in the summer is a good opportunity to ask: Why is that?
Those who want to know should talk to Michael Schredl, one of the most famous dream researchers in the country. A man who has very rested answers to pressing questions. He says: In a school dream, it's less about concrete experiences in educational institutions from many years ago - but about current, emotionally relevant things in the here and now.
"A dream always mixes current experiences with things that happened earlier - if these earlier experiences trigger similar emotions or feelings," explains the scientific director of the sleep lab at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim. School is just a kind of backdrop on which the current emotional state becomes visible.
A feeling not only found in classrooms
"The basic pattern of the exam dream is that someone else wants to know if you can do something, if you can perform," explains Schredl. "The feeling is: My performance is being observed."
It's a feeling that can be unpleasant. And a feeling not only found in classrooms. "This basic pattern is something that doesn't just happen in school, but in life as a whole," says the researcher. "In the professional world, it's not the teacher who tests, but the boss or colleagues."
Therefore, it's also possible that former model students who were always well-prepared dream in adulthood of sitting unprepared for a math or English exam. "Because it's about current feelings and emotions," says Schredl. A study by Schredl found that dreams about exams are among the top ten themes in nightmares.
Science author Stefan Klein, who wrote a widely acclaimed book about dreams ("Dreams. A journey into our inner reality"), belongs to those people who often dream of exam situations - although he himself had never been particularly afraid of class tests and the like.
But he too says: "I dream about it in a very specific life situation. Namely, when I fear an evaluation." For him, this is typically the case when the publication date of a book is approaching.
"Dreams tell me how I really feel."
"To reveal something about myself, my dream tells me this," says Klein. During the day, we often convince ourselves that we can handle a situation well. But the dream shows that it still bothers us and causes stress. "A wise friend of mine once said: Dreams tell me how I really feel. There's a lot of truth to that," says Klein. "Emotion is the driving force of the dream."
But the question remains: Why does this emotion choose school as the stage for its performance?
Well, it's very formative for many people. The first evaluations, the first authorities. "School is so present because many things happen for the first time during this time - including where some problems begin. It's a time of strong emotions," says dream researcher Schredl.
To the students now returning to their classrooms, we can only wish: Sweet dreams.
Despite the summer break in some areas, the fear of exams is a common experience among many students in Germany. This feeling also impacts adults who left school long ago, as Michael Schredl, a renowned dream researcher in Mannheim, explains. He suggests that school dreams are not about past experiences, but they reflect current, emotionally relevant issues.
