What does it mean when a person who has passed away appears in your dream?

The meaning behind them appearing in your dreams could be something you never thought of…Losing a loved one is very hard, and how you process the grief is up to each person. Some shed many tears, while many become silent and go retreat into themselves.

Others try to avoid the subject or behave outwardly without reaction. But there is one behavior many have in common – having dreams of the loved ones who have passed away. When it comes to what we dream at night, our subconscious is in charge, and if you’ve ever dreamed of a deceased person, it may have meaning.

So, can dreams carry messages from loved ones who have died?

According to Patrick McNamara, associate Professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Boston University School, there is a particular term for dreams about dead people – visitation dreams. It means that the deceased person is visiting you in your dream, or as McNamara explains it: “dreams of the bereaved where the dead appear to the bereaved in dreams and look to be very much alive.

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Patrick McNamara isn’t the only one who is interested in these dreams, and there have been several studies that dig deeper into this phenomenon.

In 2014, the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care published a study that examined the impact of grief dreams. The study found that “dreams of the deceased occur frequently, can be highly meaningful and further healing from a loss.”

Themes in the dreams included “past memories or experiences, the deceased free of illness, memories of the deceased’s illness or time of death, the deceased in the afterlife appearing healthy, comfortable and at peace as well as the deceased communicating a message.”

In 2016, a team of Canadian researchers did an analysis of dreams from 76 bereaved middle-aged individuals. According to the study, 67.1% of the bereaved sample said that their dreams of the deceased helped them believe more in an afterlife. Around 70% characterized their dreams of the deceased as “visitations,” and 71% revealed that dreams of the deceased helped them feel more connected with the deceased.