Mainz – October 29, 2026 -- A new documentary from ARD Wissen, "Meine Träume – Was verraten sie über mich?" (My Dreams – What Do They Reveal About Me?), is streaming now in the ARD Mediathek. It asks whether people are helpless against their nightmares or can learn to shape them.
Nightmares affect 3 to 7 percent of healthy adults every week
People spend about a third of their lives asleep, and they dream even if they don't remember it. According to the film, roughly 3 to 7 percent of healthy adults have at least one nightmare a week. People with mental illness or trauma have them far more often. A so-called nightmare disorder can be severely distressing, because fear and negative feelings from sleep can spill into daily life.
Two protagonists confront recurring dreams
Content creator Theresa, who talks openly about her sleep problems on social media, goes to a sleep lab to investigate her recurring dreams of violence. Bundeswehr soldier Roland has post-traumatic stress disorder after deployments in Afghanistan and repeatedly relives war experiences in his sleep. The film follows whether he can rewrite that dream through training.
Climber Martina tests dreams as mental practice
Prof. Daniel Erlacher researches lucid dreaming, in which the dreamer knows they are dreaming and can actively steer the dream. Climber Martina tests whether lucid dreams can serve as mental training for her sport.
SWR produced the documentary for ARD Wissen.