Dreams will always be a baffling subject to explore. This is a state that occurs in the passage between the waking and sleeping state. An integral part of human life, but even science has failed to explain it inside out. They can be anything from a fun experience to something more nightmarish. They can comprise things and surroundings that an individual has experienced. People often see those individuals in them whom they have met or seen in real life.
A dream is a very subjective experience. Different individuals have different responses to it. Although its purpose is far from known, people often assign their meanings to it. Research has shown that it helps in memory consolidation and mood regulation.
It is a complex state which has inspired countless studies in the past. As a result, it has become a subject of endless speculations. It is full of mysteries and inspires doubts, which is why it has a psychology of its own. This is a psychology that can be explored and studied.
There are a few theories that suggest the definitive purpose of dreams. They can have many reasons which result in their occurrence. Studies indicate that they are a representation of the unconscious mind. They might be a collection of thoughts, ideas, wishes, and desires. These feelings and emotions need an outlet, and dreams provide them with one. According to Freud, dreams are a manifestation of one’s deepest desires and fantasies. He said that desires are the motivations for dreams to surface.
Later scientists and psychologists debunked Freud’s theory countless times. But many still associate dreams with desires. It is because they have shown a strong link with emotions. Certainty and uncertainty shroud the ideas of what dreams are. Scientists don’t have answers to the many questions about it and its psychology. New studies, hypotheses, and theories about dreams come up time after time with new facts and ideas. While none of these are entirely accurate, they are not discarded immediately.
A Brief Overview
Most dreams occur during REM. REM refers to ‘Rapid Eye Movement.’ Humans have a sleep-wake cycle that regulates the occurrence of REM. The reticular activating system controls the REM. It is a part of the brain whose fibers run from the thalamus to the cortex. An individual experiences REM between 3-5 times in the sleeping state. They see dreams in every single one of them. But they can seldom recount every one of those dreams later in the waking state.
The brain is active throughout the REMs. The cortex decides the substance of the dreams. They can be anything from the people we see, the places we go, or the things we run from. Dreams are a visual experience. As a response, the visual cortex remains active throughout the dreaming state. It helps in visualizing the substance. Other parts of the cortex are also functional during this time.
There is a limbic system in the brain that regulates emotions in humans. It is active during dreams. Along with it, the amygdala regulates the emotion of fear during the dreaming state. The frontal lobes are inactive during this time, so people are not analytical at this time.
Reasons We Do It
In “The Interpretation of Dreams,” Freud wrote that they are “disguised fulfilments of repressed wishes.” He generated a line of thought and methods focused on interpreting dreams. Later, a few theories and beliefs stated reasons why people dream at all. A few of these reasons are:
- for the balance of emotions
- for expressing the deepest desires
- for integration of memory
- for processing information
Scientists believe that these reasons may blend to produce dreams as well.
It Helps Your Brain Sort Through Information
Many believe that dreams play an important role in the consolidation of memory. Goldman believed that it was a kind of cleaning process. He said, “while we dream, the brain is sorting through what information it should keep and what it should forget.” The brain creates a coherent narrative that stores all this information. It requires optimal effort and management.
Theories suggest that dreams gather all the necessary information of the day. They then proceed to reflect upon them. This process involves assimilating everything and curating what is essential. Dreams are also believed to eliminate useless information and update and edit the remaining.
It Reflects Your Suppressed Emotions
It was Freud who first said that dreams contain repressed desires. His focus was on sexually repressed desires. According to studies, dreams process many emotions, and these are not positive emotions. They process and manifest negative emotions. People don’t work upon their negative emotions in the waking state. They suppress it during waking hours. As a result, the dreaming state manifests these emotions. This happens because people refuse to confront whatever holds them back. But the brain has a task to work on such things anyway. They could be memories, experiences, emotions, and feelings. They then surface in the unconscious state of dreaming. Likewise, nightmares are a response to fear that is not processed.
It Can Be a Way to Rehearse Survival Strategies
Dreams present a world that appears real to people in their sleep. It projects a simulation-like space that requires navigation and survival strategies. In 2000, Antti Revonsuo, a psychologist, proposed the Threat Simulation Theory of Dreaming. It suggested that dreams are the brain’s way of practicing survival strategies. It would do so without encountering a real threat.
This theory says that “the dream realm offers a consequence-free zone for the brain to practice social and behavioral strategies.” It treats dreams like virtual reality with a set of solvable problems. It gives the dreams a well-defined purpose: to teach individuals how to solve problems. It observes them as a problem-generating mechanism that is self-contained.
It Reflects Your Desires and Wishes
Sigmund Freud, in “Interpretation of Dreams” suggested that dreams comprise one’s innermost desires. It was a monumental theory that changed psychology forever. It theorizes dreams as a reflective map that shows people what they want. This theory, however, was later debunked.
The American Psychoanalytic Association debunked Freud’s theory. Since then, he has attracted a lot of criticism for his findings. The basic consensus now is that his theory could be true in some cases, but it does not account for all the cases. A 2018 study published in ‘Frontiers in Psychology’ proposes that dreams may be the brain’s self-organizing event. It may not always be the result of positive emotions. It is more likely to be an information processing cycle that helps the brain sort through layers of data. Although some experts still believe that dreams reflect one’s secret wishes.
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It Can Help Your Memory
A recent hypothesis suggests that dreams play an important role in memory consolidation. Memory consolidation involves a combination of many experiences. While dreaming, the combination of memories results in all sorts of outcomes. They can be absurd, frightening, and sweet. This runs an adaptive process in the brain. It creates a narrative-like structure that helps one memorize information.
Memory consolidation also helps individuals in their creative endeavors. These endeavors demand a high organizing capability. Dreams help individuals in organization of thoughts and memories in an accessible fashion.
Is There a Way to Interpret Them?
Dreams can show us all sorts of things. There is a wide range of emotions that they bring out. Scientists may disagree on their purpose, but it is needless to say that they may have a meaning. People dream of impossible and bizarre things, but these things stem from reality. This is why dream interpretation is important.
Dream Interpretation is the act of attributing coherent and understandable meanings to dreams. Experts believe that symbols are present in dreams. These symbols are discernible and can lead to proper interpretations. They are a part of the brain’s narrative, images, and memories. Their meanings depend on the life experience of a person. Dream Interpretation may hold the key to people’s complex lives. It could provide them with a better understanding of what is happening in their lives. It may account for the emotions and anxieties that they repress during the day.
Dream Interpretation helps to mirror the traits and wishes of individuals. It is a reflective exercise. One may not need to go to the professionals for the same. They can maintain a dream journal. People can recount them later and jot them down in a diary. It may help them in noticing observable patterns or recurring symbols. These could hold the keys to one’s subconscious mind and may help improve certain areas of life.
Why Do We Have Nightmares?
Nightmares are a response to the unprocessed anxieties and fears of the mind. They are dreams with disturbing content. They may occur in children at the age of 3. They become more pronounced after the age of 10. According to theories, they are a mechanism that helps in survival. Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard, suggests that they bring a person’s attention to the problems they need to address. They may have the following features:
- It makes the person feel anxious, scared, infuriated, or melancholic.
- The person wakes up right after having one.
- The heartbeat increases when a person is still dreaming.
- The person experiences distress after waking up and refuses to go back to sleep.
- The person can usually recall the vivid details of the nightmare.
- The contents have threatening themes.
- The person has to survive the threats and rush toward safety.
Nightmares are a common occurrence. In contrast, nightmare disorder is very rare. It entails frequent bad dreams and disruption in sleep and may cause problems in the waking state. It may cause one hesitation to go to sleep. One must consult a doctor if nightmares persist for long.
What is Lucid Dreaming?
Lucid dreaming is when a person who is dreaming becomes conscious of the fact that they are dreaming. It occurs during the REM cycles of sleep. During lucid dreaming, an individual is usually aware that they are watching a dream. It is a type of metacognition, which means being conscious of consciousness. About 55% of people have attested to watching lucid dreams more than once in their lives. It is a very peculiar state of dreaming. It lets one control what is happening in the dream. It is also very spontaneous.
Lucid dreaming has now become an ability that can be learned. It has led to countless kinds of research which have popularized it. Dr. LaBerge is one of the pioneers in this direction. He invented one of the most popular techniques to achieve lucid dreams. His efforts on the subject have inspired many scientists to study this occurrence. It has proved fruitful in helping people with conditions like PTSD and anxiety.
Get More Answers About Your Sleeping Habits with a Trusted Provider on DocVita Today
Dreams have a psychology of their own, which is not as obscure as many think. It packs many interesting and intriguing facts. Our perception of dreams has changed from our earliest beliefs to new studies. Our ideas about it have come a long way, and many more hypotheses are being worked upon. Sleep experiments have been a staple practice at many psychological and health institutions. It reflects that dreams are still a hot subject for upcoming medical findings and observations.
The science of dreaming may hold the key to many questions that concern us and our lives. Its dependence on our daily experiences, emotions, feelings, fears, and memories suggests more than a deeper connection between it and our psyche. It can reveal many things about one’s behavior and life. People often ignore observable patterns in their sleeping habits. By getting in touch with one of our professionals, you can get more answers about the behavioral patterns related to sleep. Get in touch with a trusted service provider on DocVita today.