Losing a loved one is an inevitable part of life, but some losses impact us more deeply than we expect. Have you ever dreamt of someone who has passed away? You might not have considered its significance.

Grief manifests differently for everyone—some cry, some withdraw, while others act as if nothing happened. However, many share the experience of dreaming about the deceased.

Our subconscious shapes our dreams, and according to Patrick McNamara, a neurology and psychiatry professor at Boston University, “visitation dreams” occur when the dead appear alive in our dreams. McNamara, who blogs as Dream Catcher for Psychology Today, suggests these dreams aid emotional healing.

He recounts his own visitation dream after losing his parents, saying even his scientific skepticism couldn’t shake the feeling of real communication. Studies support this idea—one 2014 study in The American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care found such dreams are common and help with mourning. Themes often include past memories, messages from the deceased, or visions of them at peace.

In 2016, Canadian researchers studied 76 people who had suffered a recent loss. Of them, 67.1% felt dreaming of the deceased strengthened their belief in an afterlife, and 71% said it deepened their connection with the departed.

Psychologist Jennifer E. Shorter also studied these dreams, identifying four key traits: the deceased appear healthier or younger, they communicate reassurance, the dream feels telepathic rather than verbal, and the experience is peaceful.

Have you ever had a visitation dream? What do you think it meant?