<p>Yes this kind of dreams are commonly called nightmares. The reason we experience nightmares is to prepare us for threats in the real life.</p>

<p>"A dream-production mechanism that tends to select threatening waking events and simulate them over and over again in various combinations would have been valuable
for the development and maintenance of threat-avoidance skills."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.unil.ch/files/live//sites/ln/files/shared/Revonsuo_1.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.unil.ch/files/live//sites/ln/files/shared/Revonsuo_1.pdf</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-17T13:59:00.907Z
Yes, they're definitely nightmares, but how come that this particular is so common even in adults, who haven't taken an examination for decades? Is it as common in other cultures apart from the Western one?
peppe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-17T19:41:47.270Z
Do you have any reference that these types of nightmares are common among adults? If that was indeed the case one possible explanation would be that in the Western culture meeting deadlines is more important than in other cultures. So the fear of missing a deadline is a recurrent theme. Maybe because the importance of deadline is at its all time high during education our brain pictures this worst-case scenario - as with nightmares in general, which are not always truthful and maybe even grossly exaggerated.However though I can't provide any links for these claims they are just a speculation
CuriousIndeed
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-21T13:44:59.630Z
I don't have scientific literature (after all that's why I'm asking here :)), but a quick Google reveals http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-01-06/news/0201060411_1_dreams-exam-rosalind-cartwright ; http://www.psychmechanics.com/2015/02/interpretation-of-some-common-dreams-1.html ; http://psychiclibrary.com/beyondBooks/exam-dreams ; http://www.dreammoods.com/commondreams/test-dreams.html .
peppe
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-24T19:12:18.363Z
This seems like speculation to me. At best.
Bliebervik
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-17T09:48:20.173Z
2015-02-17T09:48:20.173Z
CuriousIndeed
<p>Why so many people have a <strong>dream in which they are just about to take a mandatory school exam</strong> and they're totally unprepared, or they've missed it because show up in the wrong day, or the exam is on the very next morning, etc.; and get extremely nervous and anxious, up to the point of waking up panting and taking several minutes to figure out it was all just a dream?</p>

<p><sub>Or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g7VoRQPswg" rel="nofollow">maybe they're only being whipped</a>... that's so reassuring!</sub></p>

<p>Is there a technical term denoting this kind of dreams? What's their nature? Is it specific to the Western world/culture? Are there other examples of it?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-21T19:00:46.970Z
I think it's also worth asking: Are these "exam dreams" actually prevalent? From research on concepts, we know that what we consider prototypical isn't necessarily frequent.  So even though the "mandatory exam dream" might be the prototypical nightmare (e.g., as shown on TV shows), it's not necessarily a common nightmare.
mrt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T09:45:54.780Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it contains an unstated assumption (mandatory school exams are common nightmare settings) that makes the question too specific to answer. Would retract close vote if question was edited to be more generally about nightmares or performance-related nightmares.
Christian Hummeluhr
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-25T17:37:57.270Z
... the very fact that there are *parodies* of it doesn't make it common enough? (Cf. the link). Then, sure, if you think one has to research the question into more generic performance-related nightmares, I'd like to hear some other example or be pointed at some extra literature...
peppe
<dreams>
Why are dreams about failing exams so common?
peppe
# Why are dreams about failing exams so common?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-12)

Why so many people have a **dream in which they are just about to take a mandatory school exam** and they're totally unprepared, or they've missed it because show up in the wrong day, or the exam is on the very next morning, etc.; and get extremely nervous and anxious, up to the point of waking up panting and taking several minutes to figure out it was all just a dream?

Or [maybe they're only being whipped](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g7VoRQPswg)... that's so reassuring!

Is there a technical term denoting this kind of dreams? What's their nature? Is it specific to the Western world/culture? Are there other examples of it?

**Tags:** dreams

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think it's also worth asking: Are these "exam dreams" actually prevalent? From research on concepts, we know that what we consider prototypical isn't necessarily frequent.  So even though the "mandatory exam dream" might be the prototypical nightmare (e.g., as shown on TV shows), it's not necessarily a common nightmare.  
> **username_2**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it contains an unstated assumption (mandatory school exams are common nightmare settings) that makes the question too specific to answer. Would retract close vote if question was edited to be more generally about nightmares or performance-related nightmares.  
> **username_0**: ... the very fact that there are *parodies* of it doesn't make it common enough? (Cf. the link). Then, sure, if you think one has to research the question into more generic performance-related nightmares, I'd like to hear some other example or be pointed at some extra literature...  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-02-17. Score: 3

Yes this kind of dreams are commonly called nightmares. The reason we experience nightmares is to prepare us for threats in the real life.

"A dream-production mechanism that tends to select threatening waking events and simulate them over and over again in various combinations would have been valuable
for the development and maintenance of threat-avoidance skills."

<http://www.unil.ch/files/live//sites/ln/files/shared/Revonsuo_1.pdf>

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Yes, they're definitely nightmares, but how come that this particular is so common even in adults, who haven't taken an examination for decades? Is it as common in other cultures apart from the Western one?  
> **username_3**: Do you have any reference that these types of nightmares are common among adults? If that was indeed the case one possible explanation would be that in the Western culture meeting deadlines is more important than in other cultures. So the fear of missing a deadline is a recurrent theme. Maybe because the importance of deadline is at its all time high during education our brain pictures this worst-case scenario - as with nightmares in general, which are not always truthful and maybe even grossly exaggerated.However though I can't provide any links for these claims they are just a speculation  
> **username_0**: I don't have scientific literature (after all that's why I'm asking here :)), but a quick Google reveals http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-01-06/news/0201060411_1_dreams-exam-rosalind-cartwright ; http://www.psychmechanics.com/2015/02/interpretation-of-some-common-dreams-1.html ; http://psychiclibrary.com/beyondBooks/exam-dreams ; http://www.dreammoods.com/commondreams/test-dreams.html .  
> **username_4**: This seems like speculation to me. At best.  

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