Wet dreams: top five facts

What is a wet dream?

Wet dreams (also known as nocturnal emissions or ‘night fall’) are spontaneous ejaculations in your sleep. With or without an erection, semen comes out of your penis. It will leave a wet patch in your bed. You haven't peed in bed, but you had an ejaculation! For some boys, a wet dream can be the first time they ejaculate. You can even have wet dreams without dreaming about sex.

Are wet dreams normal?

There is nothing wrong with having wet dreams. They are a normal part of growing up. Even if you have a lot of wet dreams it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you. And they don't have any bad effects on your health.

Some people have wet dreams a few times a week. Others may only have a couple of wet dreams during their entire lifetime. The older you get, the fewer wet dreams you will have.

There is a 'cure'

Because in some cultures and religions wet dreams are seen as something bad and unhealthy, people often try to get rid of wet dreams with home remedies. For example herbal supplements or giving up watching television or eating meat. None of these will help!

But actually, there is one thing that will reduce the chances of having wet dreams: masturbation! The more you masturbate, the fewer wet dreams you will have, research shows. And for the record – masturbating won’t do you any harm at all either.

Women and wet dreams

Most people think wet dreams are something only men will experience, but oh no, it’s not true! Up to 40 percent of all women will have ‘wet dreams’ at some point in their lives. The vagina then becomes wet and lubricated. Women can even have intense orgasms at night, which may or may not be triggered by sexual dreams.

And just like the men's wet dreams, they are normal and nothing to worry about!

Censored dreams

Your brain can censor your sexual dreams! So you may think your dreams aren't sexual, but instead your brain may just be masking sexual symbols. Men for example may not dream about vaginas, but instead of tunnels and subways. And women dreaming of cigars, chimneys and rockets may in fact be dreaming about penises!

Next time you have a wet dream and you can just remember dreaming of nice, rolling hillsides and mountains, think again – your brain may have censored a dream about breasts! This seems to happen more to people who think talking, and dreaming explicitly about sex is frowned upon.

To protect the identity, the person in the picture is a model. This article was first published on August 7, 2012. 

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