What It Means When You Dream of Someone Who Has Passed: The Insights You Need

Sooner or later, everyone loses someone close to them—it’s sadly a part of life. However, losing certain loved ones can impact us more than we expect.

For instance, have you ever dreamed about someone who has passed away? The reason they appear in your dreams might be something you never considered.

Losing a loved one is very difficult, and each person processes their grief in their own way. Some cry a lot, while others become quiet and retreat into themselves.

Some people try to avoid talking about it or act as if nothing has happened. However, many people share one common experience: dreaming about loved ones who have passed away. Our subconscious controls our dreams, and if you’ve dreamed of someone who has died, it might have a special meaning.

So, can dreams carry messages from those we’ve lost?

According to Patrick McNamara, an associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at Boston University, there is a specific term for dreams about deceased people—visitation dreams. This means that the deceased person is visiting you in your dream. McNamara explains it as “dreams of the bereaved where the dead appear to the bereaved in dreams and look to be very much alive.”

The 67-year-old neuroscientist, Patrick McNamara, writes an active blog at Psychology Today under the name Dream Catcher. Over the years, he has shared his thoughts and findings about dreams and their meanings. According to him, visitation dreams usually have a logical explanation.

These dreams can help you cope with grief, loss, and sorrow.

In one of his blog posts, McNamara talks about a dream he had after his parents passed away. This dream was a visitation dream, and it led him to believe that these dreams could be a sign of life after death.

“Now if I, an individual who studied dreams with a skeptical scientific mind, could not shake the conviction that I had just communicated with my dead parents, how much stronger must be the conviction of someone with a less skeptical approach to dreams than me?” McNamara writes.

Patrick McNamara isn’t the only one interested in these dreams; several studies have explored this phenomenon.

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

Common themes in these dreams included “past memories or experiences, the deceased free of illness, memories of their illness or time of death, the deceased appearing healthy and at peace in the afterlife, and messages from the deceased.”

In 2016, a team of Canadian researchers analyzed dreams from 76 middle-aged individuals who were grieving. According to the study, 67.1% of participants reported that their dreams of the deceased strengthened their belief in an afterlife. About 70% described their dreams as “visitations,” and 71% felt more connected to the deceased because of these dreams.

Psychologist Jennifer E. Shorter from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, CA, has also studied our dreams and what they mean.

In her research titled “Visitation Dreams in Grieving Individuals: A Phenomenological Inquiry into the Relationship Between Dreams and the Grieving,” she notes that it’s unclear how many people experience visitation dreams.

These dreams can occur soon after a person has died or even long after. Shorter identified four key factors that characterize a visitation dream:

1. The people in your visitation dream look like they did when they were alive, often appearing healthier or younger.

2. The deceased often communicates something about how they are now, such as saying they are fine.

3. The message in the dream is felt more telepathically than through a physical presence.

4. The dream is usually calm and organized, almost harmonious.

Have you ever dreamed of a loved one who has passed away? What did it mean to you? Feel free to share your experience in the comments section! And if you believe that dreams can have meaning, don’t forget to share this article on Facebook!