Illustration by Liz Zonarich/Harvard Staff Health Does having a bad dream make you a bad person? Psychologist breaks down what those negative night narratives might be trying to tell you Samantha Laine Perfas Harvard Staff Writer September 10, 2026 4 min read Part of the Wondering series A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts. Deirdre Leigh Barrett is a dream researcher and a Harvard Medical School lecturer on psychology in the department of psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance. She is also the author of “The Committee of Sleep: How Artists, Scientists, and Athletes Use Their Dreams for Creative Problem Solving — And How You Can Too.” Dream interpretation is tricky. Let’...