# Horrible toilet dreams: a woman thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860 "2004-11-03T22:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/1 "2004-11-03T22:27:28Z")
Last night I had one of those awful toilet dreams; you know, where you have to use the bathroom, but all the toilets are hideously grody and unusable. (I forget what they’re supposed to mean–anyone remember?) So this morning, I mentioned this to DangerDad–hey I had one of those horrible toilet dreams–and he didn’t know what I was talking about. I thought everyone had those every once in a while (right? they do, don’t they? right?), but he’d never heard of it, and hypothesized that, males being what they are, they might not need a clean toilet as much and thus might not have dreams about not being able to find one. Any thoughts? Men, do you ever experience this common dream, along with the public-speaking-while-naked and sudden-school-exam dreams? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/2 "2004-11-03T22:34:02Z")
I have 'em – but I’m female, so we haven’t proven (or disproven) anything. Don’t you hate them? And do we really want to know what they mean? ---
**Author:** ![Thinks2Much](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Thinks2Much](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinks2Much)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/3 "2004-11-03T22:41:19Z")
Here is what [one](http://dreammoods.com/cgibin/dreambank.pl?method=exact&header=dreamid&search=bathroomdream4) dream interpretation site says about that kind of dream. I have never had such a dream, either (I am female), but we discussed it once before in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=269375&highlight=filthy+stalls) thread as well as [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=131772&highlight=filthy+stalls) thread. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/4 "2004-11-03T22:53:34Z")
Huh - I have dreams like that sometimes too. And the stall doors are never big enough - too high from the ground and too low from the ceiling. However, I’m a girl - I’m gonna go ask my SO… ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/5 "2004-11-03T23:03:31Z")
I’m a guy and I had that deam once, but I just drove a little further to where the roadside was a little cleaner. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/6 "2004-11-03T23:04:03Z")
More data! I’ve asked 4 people on my floor - 3 women and 1 man. Two of the woman have had the dream (I think we’re running at about 75% here) and the man has not, and looked at me like I was mental. It was pointed out that men typically don’t need a stall for most of the their bathroom business which could account for the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/7 "2004-11-03T23:31:48Z")
I can’t say for sure that it is a woman thing, but as a male I’ve never had it and none of my friends has ever mentioned it. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/8 "2004-11-03T23:36:03Z")
As a guy, no I have not had that dream. Of course, I’m the same kind of fella that has to try hard not to laugh out loud when the person in the next stall is painfully shitting their guts out, so maybe I’m not the best person to ask… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/9 "2004-11-03T23:45:25Z")
Never had or heard of the dream. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/10 "2004-11-04T00:01:33Z")
Hm. The common interpretation seems to be that there is a worrying issue that needs resolving, or that stress levels are too high. Neither of those is true for me at the moment; we’ve just gotten through a difficult time and I’m feeling quite cheerful about life. And I didn’t need to go to the bathroom, either… Anyway, more data needed on the male/female thing, though it certainly appears so far that it is far more common with women than men. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/11 "2004-11-04T00:05:22Z")
I’m a male and I have these kinds of dreams, but I’m pretty anal (no pun intended) about the cleanliness of my toilet. It always amazes me how shabbily men treat public toilets. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/12 "2004-11-04T00:05:27Z")
_It means you have to go to the bathroom._ I have them every so often: No stalls on the doors! Toilet’s clogged! Dangerous awful bathroom! Then I wake up and stagger into the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/13 "2004-11-04T00:20:51Z")
One time I dreamed I had to pee soooo bad and in my dream I sat on the toilet and peed…and peed…and peed…and the toilet finally overflowed in my dream which is when I woke up and literally RAN to the bathroom. I think I have had at least one “nasty bathroom” dream as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/14 "2004-11-04T00:22:35Z")
These dreams are the reason I always get up in the middle of the night to go pee instead of holding it in and staying in bed. I’m female and always have been. ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/15 "2004-11-04T00:27:42Z")
I’ve had some weird dreams, but never that one. Then again, I have a laissez-faire attitude towards dust and dirt. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/16 "2004-11-04T00:36:20Z")
I’m male and yet have had a similar sort of dream, except it isn’t the toilets are necessarily dirty, just somehow too complex to use (with built in bedets/showers/stuff) and a large choice of different designs. I blame once using the toilets in the London Schhol of Oriental and African studies, some of the stalls had just wholes in the floor with some sort of sprinkler system. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/17 "2004-11-04T00:50:13Z")
I’d never heard of this kind of dream, either… I just asked my wife, and she says she’s never had one like it. Make of that what you will! ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/18 "2004-11-04T01:00:09Z")
I don’t have the dirty toilet dream, I have the non private toilet (and/or) shower dream. Can’t find one that doesn’t have tons of people standing around or (in one odd case) isn’t right in front of the tv. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/19 "2004-11-04T01:10:19Z")
I’m female. I have this dream all the time. Though usually the bathroom is too public: no stall doors, doors/walls made of glass, broken locks, and so forth. Second place is that I can’t find the bathroom at all. Least common is the dirty disgusting bathroom. I’m 100% sure that in my case this dream means I really have to go in real life, but can’t go while I’m asleep, so my brain makes up weird reasons in the context of my dream. I bet more women have this dream because our bladders are smaller and have to share space with internal organs men don’t have. But my experience may not be representative. I’ve always had a sensitive bladder, and once couldn’t urinate for five whole weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860/20 "2004-11-04T02:20:23Z")
Stall-using male who has no idea what in the hell you’re talking about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horrible-toilet-dreams-a-woman-thing/272860.md?page=2)