Key Takeaways
- If you dream about someone dying, it often means there is a big change or ending happening in your life.
- Dreams about death can reflect fears about losing someone close to you or signify unresolved issues with them.
- If recurring dreams about death are upsetting, consider talking to a mental health professional for help.
Each of us spend about two hours each night dreaming, and dreams typically occur in the REM portion of our sleep cycle. While the purpose and meaning behind our dreams isn’t entirely understood, the basic theory is that dreams help us process and understand our emotions. As such, if you are dreaming about someone dying, this is likely reflective of an emotional and mental health state you are in.
“Dreaming about someone dying can have a variety of meanings, depending on your life situation,” says Carolina Estevez, PsyD and a clinical psychologist at Infinite Recovery. “These dreams can be unsettling, but ultimately represent a positive change in direction and potential growth in the future.”
Here, we’ll take a closer look at what dreaming about someone dying may mean, including different versions of this type of dream, and what help is out there if your are finding these dreams upsetting to experience.
Why Do You Dream Of Someone Dying?
When it comes to understanding the meaning of our dreams, there isn’t one definitive way to interpret dreams, and there are several theories out there to explain what our dreams might mean.
The interpretation of dreams goes back to ancient history, with figures like Hippocrates theorizing that dreams signal an underlying disease we may have. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, believed that dreams were symbolic of our unconscious impulses and emotional conflicts. Carl Jung believed that dreams represent certain archetypal symbols and believed that dreams could help us learn more about ourselves and offer solutions to some of our personal conflicts.
When it comes to dreams about deaths specifically, Dr. Estevez says that the meaning behind these dreams depends on the context and will vary from one person to another.
It could symbolize the end of an important relationship or phase in your life, like graduating, moving, or breaking up with someone
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CAROLINA ESTEVEZ, PSYD
“It could also represent the act of letting go of something like an old belief system or habit.” Sometimes dreaming about death is associated with a fear of mortality, Dr. Estevez adds.
Tzivia Gover, certified dreamwork professional and the author of three books on sleep and dreams, says that dreams about death usually have hidden metaphors in them, and that dreams about dying are often a metaphor for some type of ending or completion. “For example, you might dream about death at a time of transition in your life, when a job, a relationship, or your attachment to an old way of behaving is ending and you are on the verge of something new,” she says.
We asked these dream experts to help us analyze a variety of different types of dreams about death. Here are their comments on some common types of death dreams.
What Does It Mean When You Dream Of Death Of A Family Member?
“It’s not surprising that when we dream of death, the dream usually centers on someone we’re close to, such as a family member or intimate friend,” says Gover. “That’s because most of our worries about loss stem from our closest relationships, and these are the people who are on our minds, and about whom we have strong feelings.”
What these dreams symbolize depend on the relationship you have with the person you are dreaming about, says Dr. Estevez. “These dreams may symbolize unresolved issues with that person, or the wish for more closeness and understanding between you,” she explains. Sometimes, these dreams suggest fears of abandonment or rejection from this person. They would also express a desire to protect them from harm, Dr. Estevez says.
What Does It Mean When You Dream About Your Partner Dying?
There are many ways to interpret a dream you have about your partner or spouse dying. Again, it all depends on your particular relationship and the contents of your dream.
“These dreams could indicate that some kind of change is coming in your relationship—either good or bad—and that you need to prepare yourself emotionally for what’s ahead,” Dr. Estevez describes. Gover agrees that often dreams about intimate partners dying mean that some type of change is on the horizon.
A dream about the death of a spouse might indicate that you’re letting go of—or you are ready to let go of—some aspect of your marriage or that your marriage is entering a new phase
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TZIVIA GOVER, CERTIFIED DREAMWORK PROFESSIONAL
What Does It Mean If You See Someone’s Corpse?
Having a dream about a dead body can be eerie and quite scary. “Seeing a corpse in your dream may symbolize fear of death, as well as fears associated with mortality such as aging and loss,” says Dr. Estevez. Alternatively, it may represent the end of something that was important to you, she says, such as a relationship or career.
What Does It Mean If You Attend Someone’s Funeral?
Finding yourself attending someone’s funeral in a dream can also be disturbing. Often, these types of dream represent a type of rite of passage, Gover says—a way of saying a final goodbye. And these goodbyes may not always be directly linked to the person whose funeral you’re dreaming out. “Ask yourself, what are you saying goodbye to in your life?,” Gover suggests. “Is there a relationship, a life phase, or a job whose ending you are mourning?”
What Does It Mean If You Witnessed Someone’s Death?
Watching someone die is one of the scariest dreams that people have, especially if it’s someone you love deeply or who you are trying to protect. There are many ways to interpret these dreams, and they aren’t always necessarily about the person who died in your dream.
You can get clues about the dream’s meaning based on how the person in the dream died. Gover explains. “For example: if they are suffocating, ask how you might be feeling like you ‘can’t breathe’ in a situation or in a relationship,” she says. “If someone is being attacked, ask what part of your life you are feeling attacked in.”
What to Do When You Dream About Someone Dying
For some people, having a dream about someone dying can be upsetting, but they are able to move past it after waking up and going about their day. But for others, having dreams about someone dying can be distressing.
The first thing to do if you have an unsettling dream about someone dying is to take a deep breath and remember that as scary as the dream felt, it can also be viewed in a positive light—as a helpful message to you, says Gover. It’s also helpful to keep it in perspective: it doesn’t mean that someone is actually about to die.
“Your dream is most likely speaking in metaphors—rather than predicting the untimely death of yourself or a loved one,” Gover assures. She recommends writing the dream down in a journal or talking about it with a friend as a way to process it and understand its meaning.
Sometimes, though, if the dreams recur, or if they are extremely upsetting, you might need further help. In these cases, connecting with a mental health professional can be helpful.
“A qualified psychologist can help you gain insight into the meaning of the dream and gain more insight into your thought life and subconscious,” says. Dr. Estevez. “They can also help you work through any fears or unresolved issues that the dream is bringing up, as well as develop new coping strategies to deal with them.”
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep.
Scarpelli S, Bartolacci C, D’Atri A, et al. The Functional Role of Dreaming in Emotional Processes. Frontiers in Psychology. 2019;10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00459
Sikka P, Pesonen H, Revonsuo A. Peace of mind and anxiety in the waking state are related to the affective content of dreams. Scientific Reports. 2018;8(1):12762. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30721-1
APA Dictionary of Psychology. Dream Analysis.
APA Dictionary of Psychology. Dream.
Additional Reading
APA Dictionary of Psychology. Dream.
APA Dictionary of Psychology. Dream Analysis.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep.
Scarpelli S, Bartolacci C, D’Atri A, et al. The Functional Role of Dreaming in Emotional Processes. Frontiers in Psychology. 2019;10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00459
Sikka P, Pesonen H, Revonsuo A. Peace of mind and anxiety in the waking state are related to the affective content of dreams. Scientific Reports. 2018;8(1):12762. doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30721-1
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