11 common stress dreams and what they actually mean

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The unfortunate thing about dreams is that most of them - or at least the ones we remember - are bad.

According to Kelly Bulkeley, a dream researcher and the author of "An Introduction to the Psychology of Dreaming," current evidence suggests the majority of our dreams are characterized by negative emotions - not positive ones. You fall off a cliff; you're being chased by your boss; you lose your keys before a plane flight.

But Bulkeley urges people not to dismiss their dreams or try to forget them. "Even though they might be unpleasant," he said, "they can be valuable and important." That's because stressful dreams often provide insight into the concerns we have in our waking life - concerns we might not want or be able to acknowledge.

To learn more about what our unpleasant dreams might be telling us, Business Insider asked Bulkeley and Michael Lennox, a psychologist, an expert in dream interpretation, and the author of "Llewellyn's Little Book of Dreams," to help decipher some of the most common themes. Read on to find out what your recurring stress dreams really mean.