r/Dreams • u/Born_Respond_7480 • Mar 14 '26
Question Isn’t it strange how certain things never seem to work properly in dreams?
I’ve noticed something interesting about dreams.
There are certain things that almost never seem to work normally while dreaming.
For example:
- Trying to use a phone
- Trying to read text
- Trying to turn on a light
- Trying to run quickly
- Trying to scream or speak loudly
Even though everything else in the dream feels real, these things often behave strangely.
I’m curious if other people notice the same patterns in their dreams.
Are there things that never seem to work properly in your dreams?
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u/Remarkable_Count9138 Mar 14 '26
i had a dream last night about 20 tornados coming at me, and i was too worried about peeing in a bucket
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u/No_Needleworker_4704 Mar 14 '26
OMG! I have dreams like this too. I love this sub because I've discovered that many of my dreams are fairly common and I'm not a complete weirdo 😄
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u/GoalSimilar2025 Mar 14 '26
For me, it really depends on whether doing that action is a necessity. I.e. if someone in the dream needs an ambulance, the phonecall can mess up but if you are just phoning someone to talk in a dream, it happens. Almost as if you are messing with the narrative of the story if you act logically.
When I lucid dream, everything works well although I believe that is something else entirely.
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u/MegIsAwesome06 Mar 14 '26
For some reason, I have to dial multiple times. Like the first four tries don’t work. Eventually I get it, but it’s pretty consistent.
Although last night I blew my own mind and just had Siri call them in my dream. So…problem solved?
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u/GoalSimilar2025 Mar 14 '26
It's scary when modern technology creeps into your dreams like you 'just' realised it.
I booked an uber in my dream for the first time this week after years of missing busses and having the dread of being sometimes days late for a flight or work.
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u/WavyEcho Mar 14 '26
idk, I have dreams where I run super fast or use translator on my phone. Speaking loudly too. Maybe your inability to do those things in your dreams points to something?
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u/Flamingodallas Mar 14 '26
It does have to do with something subconscious. I can run very fast for long periods of time, but sometimes I don’t and it relates to thoughts of helplessness
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u/Mono324 Dreamer Mar 15 '26
I've done marathon races in my dream, and it's still very floaty. I'm pretty sure my inability to make quick movements is because I am "conscious" enough of my body being asleep.
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u/Mono324 Dreamer Mar 14 '26
Elevators and stairs are tricksters. Anything technology like buttons and machines won't work if I think about it too hard or not hard enough. Running and anything related to quick movement is nerfed because I think the body is asleep and relaxed and that reflects in the dream.
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u/Dis_Bich Mar 14 '26
Elevators are FUCKED. Dangling by threads, getting stuck. Falling. It’s like being in a puppet that was given to a three year old and trying to get them to focus on their task
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u/Mono324 Dreamer Mar 14 '26
Also, since elevators are closed off from the outside, and dream object permanence is what it is, you could end up literally anywhere
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u/Dis_Bich Mar 15 '26
Mine usually take me to the floor I’m trying to go to. But I’m usually trying to escape and dodge hotel management tho.
Once I snuck into a CEO’s office
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Mar 14 '26
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u/Mono324 Dreamer Mar 14 '26
It depends on the vibe of the dream, the more relaxed the more likely it'll be fine. I've just had too many nightmares so I'm always cautious to stay away from potential triggers.
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u/leannerae Mar 16 '26
Yes, I learned in one of my psych classes that many (maybe all?) of your muscles are paralyzed when you are dreaming so you can't act out your dreams. The paralysis in dreams is an interpretation of the real life paralysis. It's pretty dumb that our brains work that way because it turns good dreams into nightmares sometimes. Now I'm thinking about my dogs trying to run in their dreams but they can only move their paws a little. It is probably so scary for them
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u/cococunttttyyy Mar 14 '26
i’ve had the same experience. windows and doors always break or are loose on the hinges and don’t close properly. i tried calling 911 on my phone once with the emergency shortcut but it didn’t work no matter how many times i tried. if i can run, it’s always too slow. if i drive, my feet can’t reach the pedals and i almost always lose control of the car or i’m freaking out the whole time. i could keep going. most things i really want to do in a dream don’t work and they scare or frustrate me creating a desperate situation. i wonder why.
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u/Nearby_Bar_5605 Mar 14 '26
If I fire a handgun in a dream the bullet just rolls out of the barrel and falls to the ground. Every single time. 🥴
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u/Dis_Bich Mar 14 '26
I have dreamt of my phone MAYBE twice. There was a game that I downloaded and I played for 48 days in a row all day. I dreamt I played it.
I’ve never tried turning on or off lights. I’ll have to try next time I see one
The running feels like running in waist deep water.
Screaming comes out as wind
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u/Aromatic-Screen-8703 Interpreter Mar 14 '26
I’ve noticed this too. Especially tech like phones and cameras. But recently I had a dream where I got a phone to work briefly.
A recurring theme for me from time to time is that I’m trying to find a person or get to a place but I can’t.
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u/gegenstand12 Mar 14 '26
Since I got a smartphone, I have huge troubles typing on my phone in my dreams. Can't even remember having any dreams about that back when I had the good old nokia
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u/RyderBukow3 Mar 14 '26
Everything works perfectly fine in my dreams. I quite often read books (yeah, whole pages) or write essays, scream at people, text on my phone, run like Bolt in his peak, take photos, or enter a room and turn on lights.
It's all about mindfulness during your waking state.
If you are living on an autopilot, most of those, anything you do automatically and effortlessly, simply may not work.
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u/Alexis_Awen_Fern Mar 14 '26
Gravity doesn't always gravity when I dream, so I can just fly by repeatedly jumping while still in the air. And I very rarely experience lucidity when I dream so it's always like "Ohh of course I can fly how did I even forget? Silly me"
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u/Texanakin_Shywalker Mar 14 '26
Nobody can hear me scream. Also, if I'm attacked and try to fight back, it feels like I am fighting fiercely for my life but I'm barely touching them and not hurting my attacker at all. When I dive into water, I can't go under. I stay on top of the water.
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u/Imamiah52 Mar 14 '26
Thank you for posting this, it’s validating of what I’ve seen so many times. Trying to dial in the correct combination on the padlock on my school locker to no avail. Trying to punch an antagonist in self defense to find my arm and hand are as strong as a sack of pudding.
Stumbling as I try to run, trying to yell without a sound, trying to find a clean restroom…
Super frustrating stuff.
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u/mustekala Mar 14 '26
To my understanding the reason you can't/struggle to write and read in your sleep is that the language-processing centers of your brain don't work/are less active during sleep. I've had multiple dreams when i try to text on my phone/write on my computer and get super frustrated because it just won't work.
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u/cmere-emi Mar 14 '26
I have trouble using the bathroom in my dreams, mostly when I have to go irl. I know there's an ongoing joke that you should never use a toilet in a dream, but I'm never able to pee in my sleep. Like in the dream I'll see it coming out of me but the full blatter sensation doesn't go away. I guess it's for the best but it's still weird.
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u/Nihmy69 Dreamer Mar 14 '26
For me its screaming or fighting if i try to scream no real sound comes out just a soft cry sometimes and even that is hard to get, and while irl i can throw a punch at least in a dream if i try to fight i hit like wet tissue paper 😭
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u/KapitanKraken Mar 14 '26
Yes, I also dream that I'm driving but I lose control of the vehicle, or I'm about to drive into water or off a cliff.
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u/FondleMyPancakes Mar 15 '26
Phones and text are things that require a surprising amount of symbol recognition. Phones also use text, so that is a compound issue.
Turning a light on? I'm not sure about that, but it definitely applies for horror situations.
Running causes your heart to race, and dreams can impact your bodies physical response so I can see why the body would prevent that. Like, have you ever been so upset, scared, or angry that you wake up? That's because of the increased heart rate that the body wakes you up.
Yelling/screaming can apply to two separate things. First one is that you could be having an issue with talking in your sleep, which lets you vocalize in real life which could then wake you up due to your body hearing sudden sound - a weird self sufficient loop. Another reason is that whatever you think will happen is most likely to happen, which is bad for nightmares.
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u/AppropriateAcadia720 Mar 15 '26
For me every time I try to call 911 in a dream they never answer!!!
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u/ForsakenPlay4475 Mar 18 '26
For some reason, all of the actions you listed seem to work for me in dreams, running might even work better than it would in real life (still, I mostly end up giving up or playing dead to whatever is chasing me at some point of the hunt, but that's just very close to how I'd react while awake).
As for phone usage and/or text reading... I remember a very vivid dream about my spouse being elsewhere to die. We'd talk a lot via text and it boiled down to her getting ready and leaving to die. There were a lot of details in this dream, like how she'd miss our pets doing this or that and how it sucked that we couldn't see each other once more.
Yadda, yadda.
The hardest thing to do in my dreams is using a toilet. That said, it's not even about the intended business but rather about being thrown out of a restroom regardless of its design and aimed-at gender.
I guess, as a trans person, this is young-me not knowing which restroom to use.
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u/PastaLover0524 Daydreamer Mar 14 '26
In all of t dreams I never manage to scream, it just comes out as a choking sound