What Does It Mean When You Dream About Falling?

Last Updated on March 31, 2020 by Sloane Marie

A dream about falling can be terrifying to experience. In many cases, you wake upright as you are about to hit the ground. According to one urban legend, people die if they do not wake up when they hit the ground. Luckily, this myth is completely untrue. There are common interpretations for a dream about falling though.

Support your ability to understand the purpose of your dreams by learning how to interpret the hidden meanings of common dream themes.

What Does It Mean When You Dream About Falling?

According to Sigmund Freud, dreams of falling show that you want to give in to a sexual impulse and lack discretion. In reality, this interpretation is probably not true. Most dream interpreters believe that a dream about falling represents your instabilities and insecurities. You may feel overwhelmed or anxious in your waking life. This may relate to your work environment or personal relationships. It may feel like everyone is getting ahead and work, but all of your efforts do not result in anything. The loss of control during falling tends to represent a feeling that you have lost control in some aspect of your real life as well.

Sometimes, a falling dream can represent a sense of inferiority. You may feel like you are failing in some aspect of your life, or you may just feel afraid that you could fail. You may have lost your self-esteem in terms of your job, status, love or school.

This type of dream generally occurs during the first portion of your sleep. At this time, you may feel muscle spasms in your legs, arms or body. These myclonic jerks are contractions that can cause you to wake up during your falling dream. According to scientists, these jerks exist to wake you up rapidly in case there is a threat in the surrounding environment.

The Different Types of Falling Dreams

Sometimes, you can learn more about what your dream means by looking at exactly what happens in the dream. While falling dreams are incredibly common, there are actually different types of dreams about falling. Did you lose your balance or jump? Were you pushed? Looking at the exact circumstances in the dream can help you determine what it actually means.

Losing Your Grip

In this type of dream about falling, you are holding on for dear life and are about to lose your grip. This type of dream demonstrates that you need solid ground and balance in your real life. You may be in a situation where you feel out of control, and you need to take back your life again. This dream scenario may also include metaphors that show exactly what part of your life feels out of your control.

You Are On the Edge

In this falling dream, you are on the edge of a cliff and holding on still. You have not lost your grip or fallen yet, but you know that it could happen soon. This dream means that you need to slow down and focus on the rest of your life. You may be taking too many risks that are bringing you close to the edge in your waking reality.

Losing Your Balance

Sometimes, you fall in the dream because you have lost your balance. This represents a desire to be grounded and stable in your normal life. You may not have the confidence to do what you need to, so you feel like you need some type of grounding influence. Often, the people or location in the dream can show you what the dream is trying to represent.

Slipping in Your Dream

This can be an extremely scary dream to experience. In the dream, you slip and are about to plummet to your death. This shows that there may be a hidden problem or situation that could “slip” you up in real life. You feel like it will strike when you are least expecting it and cause you harm.

Holding On

If you are struggling to hold on in your dream, it shows that you are trying to fix a situation where you lack control. This could be in relation to your friends, family or romantic relationship. Sometimes, holding on could be the reason why you have problems. If the relationship is not worth keeping, holding on too tight is the real risk. In some cases, you just have to let go.

Landing in the Dream

If you fall and land without waking up, it tends to show that something is ending in your life. You may feel like your work situation, relationship or something else is about to come to an end.

Pushed

If someone pushed you in your dream, you have to figure out the situation and the person. If you do not recognize the person in the dream, it could show that you are afraid of confronting a problem in your real life or that there is some hidden force working against you. Sometimes, a shadow figure in the dream shows that you are repressing a part of yourself that you are unwilling to look closely at.