There is an old American Standard song with words written by Oscar Hammerstein. It begins with the refrain, “When I grow too old to dream.” This richly textured and memorable song concerns the memories that remain with us when we grow older. It suggests that we replace our dreams with the waking recall of former times and relationships – and a loving relationship in particular:
When I grow too old to dream, I’ll have you to remember
However, we do continue to dream as we grow older. In fact, we spend most of our time when asleep in a state of sleep that is conducive to dreaming. I personally do an extensive amount of dreaming in my old age, and my aging colleagues report that they also recall many dreams during their older-age nights.
Some of this recall of dreams results from the frequent arousal during the night, with the frequent need to urinate or recover from sleep apnea (and the related snoring). We recall our dreams because we are frequently awakened during a time when we are dreaming. However, the lack of deep-level (stage three and four) sleep and the preponderance of “light” sleep (stages one and two), account for much of the increase in recalled dreams.
While many older adults report fewer dreams than was the case when they were younger, it might be a matter of the declining capacity to remember things during the day. If we don’t recall the appointment that we scheduled three minutes ago, then we might also fail to recall the dream that we had just before waking up in the morning. There are also so-called “white dreams” – those that we recall having but that now are nothing more than a blank screen. These dreams are often reported during our senior years. Once again, this might be a matter of memory failing us concerning dreams, much as this cognitive function often fails us in old age when we try to retain information about dates, agreements, and even names during our waking hours.
The Normal Dreams of Older People
As is the case with dreamers of all ages, the content of an older person’s dreams is often dependent on the so-called “day residue.” We are all inclined to process the events and interpersonal relationships of our previous day when we are dreaming (especially early at night). For older people, this might mean dreaming about events surrounding their health. Several years ago, when I was being treated with radiation for prostate cancer, I had several dreams about a large machine swirling around my head (replicating the experience of the radiation treatment I was receiving). Dreams regarding invading disease entities are common, as are dreams about meeting with our physician or physical therapist.
Dreams about people in our life are also common among older people, especially the significant people in our life. For most older adults, there is a decline in the number of people with whom they interact on a regular basis. This means that their interpersonal dreams are likely to focus on a few people in their life (unless the dream concerns someone they knew earlier in their life). Understandably, these interpersonal dreams often involve providing care for another person or receiving care from them.
