The elevator is stuck. There must be at least 30 people crowded in the tiny structure. You breathe slowly and deeply as beads of sweat begin to form on your forehead. Why won’t the elevator move?

You try not to act afraid because everyone else is laughing. One obnoxious guy starts jumping up and down.

“Oh, please don’t do that,” you think to yourself. Everyone else joins in and the elevator begins shaking.

Then…boom! The elevator plummets from the ninth floor to the first. You’re screaming as you and the 30 others are sucked up to the top…boom!

You sit up, drenched with sweat. You’re surrounded by darkness, but you’re safe in bed. Thank goodness that was only a dream.

Dreams are images which pass through the mind while one sleeps. Everyone dreams to various degrees, said Jerry Boyd, a psychologist from Charleston.

The Association for the Study of Dreams Web site states that when people are in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, they experience their most vivid dreams. The brain is very active in REM sleep, which occurs three to four times a night and lasts longer each time.

Dreams of being chased, flying and reliving events are common, Boyd said.

“Something has precipitated that type of dream,” Boyd said.

Marcus Sewell, a sophomore business major, usually dreams about whatever is on his mind. Katie Kirts, a freshman undeclared major, dreams about things going on in her life.

“(I dream about) situations with friends,” Kirts said.

Nightmares, like the one described in the beginning of this article, are very common among children and fairly common among adults, as stated on the Association for the Study of Dreams Web site.

Often, nightmares are caused by stress, traumatic experiences, drugs or medication, emotional difficulties or illness. Boyd said scary movies and books can also cause nightmares.

How to avoid nightmares

Nightmares can be avoided. The best way to avoid nightmares is to talk to someone trustworthy. Sleep and dreams also are affected by a great variety of drugs and medications, including alcohol. Halting the intake of certain medications suddenly may cause nightmares. If one of Boyd’s patients is having frequent nightmares, they talk about it and try to interpret it.

“Dream interpretation is only a small part of what I do,” Boyd said.

People can interpret their own dreams. The ASD Web site states that dreams reflect one’s thoughts and feelings, and that people, actions, settings and emotions in one’s dreams are personal.

For example, an elephant in a dream can mean one thing to a zookeeper and something different to a child. Therefore, dream dictionaries are not helpful.

People interested in figuring out what their dreams mean need to compare their lives to what happens in their dreams. It also helps to keep a dream diary.

Dreams can sometimes predict the future, according to the ASD Web site. The predictions are due to coincidence, faulty memory, or an unconscious tying together of known information.

Some people claim they can’t remember their dreams. Nearly everything that happens during sleep – including dreams, the thoughts which occur throughout the night and memories of brief awakenings – is forgotten by morning.

Sleep itself makes it difficult to remember what has occurred and most dreams are forgotten unless they are written down. Sometimes a dream is suddenly remembered later in the day or on another day.

“Children and adolescents do a better job of remembering their dreams,” Boyd said.