The internet never stops spilling over with dream interpretations. Lifestyle sites and social media posts claim to be able to make sense of your tangled subconscious thoughts and visions, with no scientific reasoning whatsoever. Ive read that dreaming about teeth falling out is a sign of anxiety, that dreaming of fish could mean youre pregnant, and that being chased in dreams signifies avoidance. Somehow, theres no convenient explanation for the absence of my wheelchair in my dreams.

I was diagnosed with Friedreichs ataxia , a progressive neuromuscular condition, when I was 13 years old. I remained ambulatory, with the help of mobility aids like canes and crutches, until I was 19, when I started to use a wheelchair since the progression of my condition made it impossible for me to deny help any longer. Until that time, I wasnt able to accept my disability, and so I was not able to accept that I needed a wheelchair.

That was seven years ago. Since then, my conscious mind doesnt dream of walking again for me, this is unrealistic and medically impossible but that has not stopped my unconscious mind from dreaming of an alternate reality where I dont need to use my wheelchair. It seemed bizarre, but when I spoke to other wheelchair users, I learned that many of them also dream of themselves walking with no assistance.

My subconscious seems wildly selective, conjuring up recreations of insignificant events in my day-to-day life but not reflecting my physical reality. My mind could recall the faces of acquaintances I see sitting in a sea of people in my university lectures but not the wheelchair Ive been using for my entire adult life. Why does there appear to be such a disconnect between my mind and my body?

At first, I theorized that this dissonance was some form of denial, a stubborn unwillingness to accept my disability. Although dream science is a very murky area and there isnt much that neurological and psychological experts can say for sure, I sought out some professionals to help figure out if my theory was true.

What you experienced is typical for people who suffer motor and sensory deficits, whether of cortical, spinal or peripheral origin, said Mark Solms, neuropsychologist, psychoanalyst and the director of neuropsychology at the Neuroscience Institute of the University of Cape Town. Solms first reported this phenomenon in his 1997 book The Neuropsychology of Dreams . Hemiplegic patients can move normally in their dreams, cortically blind patients can see, aphasics can speak, etc.

What hes saying, essentially, is that disabilities dont always translate from reality to dreams. Its a different world altogether when were asleep.