Why is it that dreams slip away so quickly after waking and we have trouble recalling them?

Question

even if they were crystal clear upon waking?

Answer 1

Because there is no fine line between your consciousness and subconscious - you move from one end to the next. We tend to remember things more when we're closer to the part of the mind the information is stored. That's why you remember dreams as you're waking up but then they start to fade as you get out of bed -you're moving farther away from the subconscious. If you can remember to remember your dream as you're waking up, the memory of the dream will also become more semi-permanent in your conscious state.

By the way - unrelated to your question: have you ever had a dream about something from your past that you totally forgot about? - e.g. recalling, in a dream, the name of a childhood friend you forgot all about. If so, it's because your subconscious stores everything that your consciousness experiences even when the memory of the event was lost from your consciousness.

Answer 2

dreams are images your brain conjure unconsciously. usually the cause of this would be because you were thinking too much about something. thinking too much about many things will result in weird dreams that relates all the different things that you think of when you were conscious.
it is said that you dream when you are at the deepest part of your sleep. you are not dreaming any more. but it always seem that the dream lasted until you were just about to wake up or that you wake up because of the dream. [sorry if that does not make any sense]
anyway, it is also said that your dream only last for a ouple of seconds eventhough you feel that the dream lasted the whole of your sleep..

Answer 3

The reason why your dreams slip away is because you only have 3 seconds to remember your dreams. If the dream was really important think of it as soon as you wake up and keep a notepad and pen/pencil by your bed to jot it down.

Answer 4

i have no idea really. i guess that doesn't help but an interesting fact to do with dreams and waking though. if you wat to go back into your dream when you wake up then if you spin round in your mind over and over you can pick up where you left off. sometimes with mild alterations from your part waking state but generally back in the same place. its like being in a trance you need to distract the conscious mind to go back. i know hat doesn't help but its a cool thing to remember if you are having a cool dream. to partly answer your question, the more you practice with remembering the easier it is to recall.

Answer 5

It reminds me of the old cartoon where a man asks his computer (through the speech recognition software) "Are you finished with that work I gave you?" and the computer replies, (through the speech synthesis software) "Not yet."

"Why not?" the man wanted to know.

"Because it's using up over 99% of my capabilities holding this fascinating conversation with you," the computer told him.

That's how it is with our brains, sometimes. We get busy starting the day, and tell ourselves that we'll think about the dream over breakfast; well, by the time we get done fixing breakfast, we've forgotten all about the dream! We can only focus on one thing at a time.

Answer 6

I'm not sure exactly why. But, if you want to remember them, tell yourself as you're falling asleep to wake up after your dream. Keep a pen/pencil and paper beside your bed and jot down what happened in it.

My psychology teacher in high school told us to try it.... it worked.

Answer 7

maximum of your assertions are incorrect, yet that’s ok. You’re a righty. we are watching for that. My question to you is: Did you ever think of vote casting for a guy who avoids his patriotic accountability with the aid of hiding hundreds of thousands in the Caymans and Swiss financial company money owed, who rather professional in offshoring, who raped the pensions of working persons for his own earnings? Oh, wait. You’re a righty. of path you probably did.

Answer 8

im not too sure but as soon as you wake up say your dream out loud and you WILL remember it all day, weird but true lol

Answer 9

Probably because you were there in your unconscious state. Upon waking you are no longer unconscious.