Question about sleeping dreams?

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I had just noticed this about a week ago. For some reason, I had noticed that I can only see and hear in my dreams. I can't feel or smell anything. Anyone else notice this about their dreams and if so, is it an autism thing?

I dont recall a dream in which my mind generated tactile, smell, or taste sensation. But I have had dreams that were generated in response to such sensations- storylines to keep asleep in response to real sensations: like having a hangover headache, or a bad smell from an unflushed toilet. One pleasant dream I had was of endlessly savoring a steak dinner- caused by the fact that I had brushed my teeth before going to bed-and still had residue that I could taste of real beef I had just eaten in my teeth.

Now that I think about it, I don't remember feeling, smell or taste in a dream.

No me neither. Are we supposed to be able to, I mean people in general?

As in people on the spectrum and NTs alike? I would assume dream state would be relatively unchanged, but can't say for sure

I can get odours in dreams and I can also feel stuff too.

It hasn't happened very often.

It's usually like an electric shock feeling and I'll wake up with an electric current running through me (not very nice at all).

I've never felt anything if I've fell out of an aeroplane though, I just usually bounce (To my surprise).

I can't explain what the odours are like but they might be because I do sometimes have a strong sense of smell.

It could be someone cooking bacon.

I can feel emotions in dreams. Sometimes I wake up crying and sometimes I wake up laughing.

I have also fallen in love in dreams.

Oh well!

I used to be that way, but it seems at times that my dreams are more "real" than my waking hours.

Don't know why it changed, though.

I've never thought about that really. I don't think such a small random thing like that would be another ''Autism thing''. Asking some NT people might help you get results.

Probably not related. I don't know much about the physiology of sleep.

It is normal for everyone (dreams used to be my special interest for a long time so I read a lot of peoples dreams and I know it is common not to be able to feel touch, smell or taste in dreams for all kinds of people).
Here is my theory:

Most dreams are just visual because sight is the strongest sense for almost everyone, it is the primary sense we use in real life. We use it all the time.

Second is hearing. Some dreams can be mute but most of them got some sounds created since our brains are used to depend on sounds in many situations and sound ofter tell us about what is going on around before we look in the direction.

Next is touch. Usually people don't depend on touch that much since nothing really is touching them (clothes and floor under feet is something we usually don't realize unless it gets uncomfortable) and if they need to recognize their surroundings they would rather look around than touch everything therefore our id rarely bothers to create realistic touch sensations. It isn't needed. But some dreams can be really realistic when it comes to touch - I remember having such dreams. Especially Lucid Dreams tend to turn that way if I want to feel the dream world. You need to focus on the touch for id to create the sensation, it pops up only when it is needed. However it is still a sense we depend more than taste and smell - we use touch when there is too dark to see and an unexpected touch(pain) can tell us about danger so it can get used sometimes in dreams too.

For taste and smell - we don't use it too often in real life (we get it on only when we eat or something smells badly) so it isn't necessary for id to create such sensations in dreams for the dream to be interesting enough.

All my dreams are visual, most got sounds inside, some got touch, a few got taste (I remember drinking tea on one of my dreams) and not much of them got smell.

Last edited by Kiriae on 25 Jun 2014, 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

can imagine what stuff in my dreams might feel, taste or smell like. For some reason I rarely hear or imagine hearing things in my dreams. I had a dream the other night where someone stuck an axe through throat and I could 'feel' blood pouring into my mouth and I felt what it might be like to drown in my own blood. But I knew it wasn't real, that it was only a dream, so I didn't feel the sensations as strong as I would if I didn't know it was a dream. Funnily enough I can't die in my dreams because every time I dream a situation where I might die I change the dream so that I don't. That was the closest I'd ever come (I dreamed that I survived it. I would have no chance if that was real life, the injuries were too extensive).

I used to die in my dreams a lot.

A few of the dreams got touch included. The most interesting one was a Lucid Dream in which I decided not change the nightmare I found myself in and actually feel how it is to die. So I let the dream go on and the fire reached me. I could hear the flames blowing around and I could feel heat and the smoke was getting into my eyes. But then, before it got too painfull my soul popped up from the body and I found myself floating in the air, not feeling the heat anymore. I wake up soon after, because of alarm clock. I felt alright.

Another dream like that was when I got shoot in my heart. I could feel pain in my chest and the dream started to disappear. Then I found myself in another dream - an afterlife. The pain was gone.

Of course I survived some of dreams like that too.

I remember a dream about getting my head cut off. It was only itchy. I put the head back on and sew it to my body - it was also just itchy, not painful. Funny dream.

And there was one more interesting survive dream. This time I didn't get hurt but the fear was physical, my chest and stomach ached because of the emotion. I was a bodyguard of a little boy and I was covering him with my own body while some terrorists were pointing at us with pistols. I was sure I am going to die but I couldn't escape because I had to protect the boy. It was epic, I never fell this kind of fear before. It was stronger than anything I ever felt in my real life. And once some help appeared and the terrorists got caught I felt a real relieve.

I have occasional dreams where I have an overwhelming urge to pee, and can't find a bathroom or any out of the way place to take one. That's definitely "feeling".

It's because I really do have to pee.

Luckily I always wake up before I find a place to go, in the dream.

I've also had dreams with tactile sensation, being touched. But I don't have any autistic traits in that area, and am actually quite sensual.

Smells and tastes, not that I can recall.