National Dissertation Day: What does it mean to dream about a dissertation?

by Lucy Moore | 26 April 2022

To dream of a dissertation, suggests that you need to look into something with more depth.

Andrey Orlov / Alamy Stock Photo

Perhaps you are only seeing the most obvious solution to a problem and need to delve a little deeper. While you may be on the right track, your current insights are not enough.

Another thought is that you are coming to the end of something. You still have a lot of work to do but the finish line is on the horizon. You just need to get over this final hurdle and then you can think about relaxing and what your next move is going to be.

To hand in a dissertation implies that you have finally got something big out of the way and feel like a huge weight has been lifted. Give yourself a pat on the back because for now, you can take a moment for yourself to recuperate and evaluate.

It’s possible you have found a new passion in something in your waking hours and you want to devour everything that has been written about it. If this is a genuine interest, there is no harm in reading further into it, particularly if you want to be considered an expert in the field.

With that said, if it’s for your own gain, rather than a professional one, try not to let it take over too much of your life or you may find that it negatively affects your relationships.

Along the same vein, it’s likely you are so focused on a certain subject at the moment you are losing the attention of those around you. While it may be fascinating to you, perhaps it’s not to the people in your life. Be careful not to talk endlessly about it or you may get a reputation with family and friends.

The simplest dissertation dream interpretation is that you are currently writing your thesis and the pressures of a looming deadline and final edits are filtering through into your dreamscape.

If you missed your dissertation deadline, it’s likely that you haven’t seen something through to completion. Whether this was deliberately or unintentional, you have invested a lot of yourself in something but haven’t seen it through to the end. This could be a relationship that wasn’t working or a job that you left before a project got the final sign off.

If we were to focus on the ‘diss’ in the word dissertation, there is a chance that someone is being disrespectful or critical of you right now. Is it time you told this person how their comments are making you feel?

Alternatively, maybe you are the one who is acting this way towards someone in your waking world and you need to think about the impact your words are having on their mental health.

Consider what the dissertation was about as this can provide additional meaning. For instance if it was centred around relationships, this could be an area of your life that needs some nurturing. On the flipside, if it was more scientific, do you need to fixate on the facts rather than the feelings in some area of your life at present?