Dreams

A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur
involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are
not fully understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject
of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history. Dream interpretation is the
attempt at drawing meaning from dreams and searching for an underlying message. The
scientific study of dreams is called oneirology.

Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep—when brain activity is
high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the
eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these
dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable. The length of a dream can vary; they may last
for a few seconds, or approximately 20–30 minutes.People are more likely to remember the
dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. The average person has three to five dreams
per night, and some may have up to seven; however, most dreams are immediately or quickly
forgotten. Dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full eight-hour night sleep,
most dreams occur in the typical two hours of REM.

Beliefs on Dreams

The Mesopotamians believed that the soul, or some part of it, moves out from the body of the
sleeping person and actually visits the places and persons the dreamer sees in their sleep.
Sometimes the god of dreams is said to carry the dreamer. Babylonians and Assyrians divided
dreams into "good," which were sent by the gods, and "bad," sent by demons – they also
believed that their dreams were omens and prophecies.

In Judaism, dreams are considered part of the experience of the world that can be interpreted and
from which lessons can be garnered. It is discussed in the Talmud, Tractate Berachot 55–60.

The ancient Hebrews connected their dreams heavily with their religion, though the Hebrews
were monotheistic and believed that dreams were the voice of one God alone. Hebrews also
differentiated between good dreams (from God) and bad dreams (from evil spirits). The
Hebrews, like many other ancient cultures, incubated dreams in order to receive divine
revelation.

Christians mostly shared the beliefs of the Hebrews and thought that dreams were of a
supernatural character because the Old Testament includes frequent stories of dreams with divine
inspiration. The most famous of these dream stories was Jacob's dream of a ladder that stretches
from Earth to Heaven. Many Christians preach that God can speak to people through their
dreams.
Why do we dream?

The human brain is a mysterious little ball of gray matter. After all these years, researchers are
still baffled by many aspects of how and why it operates like it does. Scientists have been
performing sleep and dream studies for decades now, and we still aren't 100 percent sure about
the function of sleep, or exactly how and why we dream.

5 Theories on Why We Dream:

1. We Dream to Practice Responses to Threatening Situations

In dreams, we often find ourselves naked in public, or being chased, or fighting an enemy, or sinking in
quicksand. Antti Revonsuo, a Finnish cognitive scientist, has shown that our amygdala (the fight-or-
flight piece of the brain) fires more than normal when we're in REM sleep (the time in sleep when we
dream). We dream in order to rehearse behaviors of self-defense in the safety of nighttime isolation. In
turn, get better at fight-or-flight in the real world.

2. Dreams Create Wisdom

If we remembered every image of our waking lives, it would clog our brains. So, dreams sort through
memories, to determine which ones to retain and which to lose. Sleep is the process through which we
separate the memories worth encoding in long-term memory from those worth losing. Sleep turns a flood
of daily information into what we call wisdom: the stuff that makes us smart for when we come across
future decisions.

3. Dreaming is Like Defragmenting Your Hard Drive

We dream in order to forget.They meant that the brain is like a machine that gets in the groove of
connecting its data in certain ways. Dreaming is a shuffling of old connections that allows us to keep the
important connections and erase the inefficient links. It is like defragmenting a computer hard drive.
Dreams are a reordering of connections to streamline the system.

4. Dreams Are Like Psychotherapy

Ernest Hartmann, a doctor at Tufts, focuses on the emotional learning that happens in dreams. He has
developed the theory that dreaming puts our difficult emotions into pictures.We think through emotional
stuff in a less rational and defensive frame of mind. Through that process, we come to accept truths we
might otherwise repress. Dreams are our nightly psychotherapy.

5. The Absence of Theory

Of course, others argue that dreams have no meaning at all—that they are the random firings of a brain
that don't happen to be conscious at that time. The mind is still "functioning" insofar as it's producing
images, but there's no conscious sense behind the film. Perhaps it's only consciousness itself that wants to
see some deep meaning in our brains at all times.

Dictionary of Dreams
These are some common definitions that will help you understand the meaning of your dreams.
Only you can interpret your dreams, but this is a best way to start.

 Dreaming with an Airplane

Dreams about airplanes, like dreams about all modes of transportation, may be addressing the
path you are on in life, how fast you are moving and how much you are in control of your life.
Consider what the plane is doing, who you are and where you are on the plane for further insight.

 Dreaming with a Baby

Dreaming of babies may represent an immature aspect of yourself or a new aspect of yourself
that is still maturing or developing. It may also symbolize a part of you that is feeling neglected
or needs to be nurtured, loved and accepted by you.

 Dreaming with Cheating

Dreams of a cheating partner are among the most common dreams reported. These dreams are
often so emotionally disturbing that it’s not unusual to accuse your partner of cheating when you
wake up. In reality, cheating dreams are often related to your own low self-esteem or guilty
conscience.

 Dreaming with Death

Dreaming of death or dying may symbolize a phase in your life has come to an end and
something new is beginning.

 Dreaming with a Deceased

Dreaming of a deceased loved one is a common dream theme which often raises the question:
“Was that really the deceased that came to me in my dream?” A deceased person in a dream may
be the spirit, soul or energy of the actual person. Alternately, the deceased may symbolize the
deceased and therefore they represent a personal association the dreamer has to the deceased.
The difference being that the actual deceased spirit’s energy is external to the dreamer and as a
dream symbol the deceased is a construct of the dreamer’s dreaming mind. As with all dream
related symbols, only the dreamer can decide.

 Dreaming with a Snake

A snake as a phallic symbol and so it may represent a male figure that you find sexually
attractive or threatening, depending upon how you feel in the dream.

Types of Dreams

1. Daydreams
You spend an average of 70-120 minutes a day, daydreaming or fantasizing from a perspective
that transcends normal perception. Between consciousness and the sleep state is an area that
allows the imagination to wander. As your level of awareness decreases, you lose your sense of
self. You may revisit the past, or explore the future, and in doing so, approach the border of the
dreamscape. All the while, consciousness keeps pulling you back into the present.

2. Lucid Dreams

Lucid dreams occur when you ‘wake up’ while dreaming. Sometimes this sudden sense of
knowing you are dreaming allows you to do fantastic things like fly over the houses you see.
Many people actually wake themselves up within the dream to remain in this lucid state to
explore how they can influence dreams. This ability to achieve the lucid dream state is an
important initiation into mastering the power of thought and its ability to influence events.

3. Nightmares

The nightmare often causes you to wake up in a state of panic with your heart racing. Not
wanting to go back to sleep, the memory of the dream appears all too real. Sometimes a dream
can reflect actual trauma or an unresolved crisis, although the nightmare is always a WAKE UP
CALL to learn to let go. Whether you are attempting to overcome a real life crisis, or to
transcend non-rational fear, dreaming is a ‘safe place’ that allows these difficult ideas to be
explored.

4. Recurring Dreams

Recurring dreams are story lines or themes that repeat themselves over weeks, months and even
years. Sometimes they leave you feeling puzzled because they seem irrational. Like nightmares,
once the puzzle is solved and the aspect is integrated into consciousness, the dream will not
recur. Even the most frightening dreams are meant to awaken you to your real nature.

5. Prophetic Dreams

It is also referred to as a precognitive dream, are dreams of events or incidents before they
happen. So despite what the sceptics may say many people have experienced prophetic dreams
and believe that their dream can predict the future.

Things that may happen when you Dream (Parasomnias)

1. Night Terrors
A person experiencing a night terror abruptly awakes from sleep in a terrified state, but is
confused and unable to communicate. They do not respond to voices and are difficult to fully
awaken. Night terrors last about 15 minutes, after which time the person usually lies down and
appears to fall back asleep. People

2. Sleepwalking

Sleepwalking occurs when a person appears to be awake and moving around, but is actually
asleep. He or she has no memory of the episode. Sleepwalking most often occurs during deep
non-REM sleep (stages 3 and 4 sleep) early in the night and it can occur during REM sleep in the
early morning. This disorder is most commonly seen in children between ages 5 and 12;
however, sleepwalking can occur among younger children, adults, and seniors.

3. Rhythmic Movement Disorder

Rhythmic movement disorder occurs mostly in children under age 1. A child may lie flat, lift the
head or upper body, and then forcefully hit his or her head on the pillow. Rhythmic movement
disorder, which also has been called "head banging," also can involve movements such as
rocking on hands and knees.

4. Confusional Arousals

Confusional arousals usually occur when a person is awakened from a deep sleep during the first
part of the night. This disorder, which also is known as excessive sleep inertia or sleep
drunkenness, involves an exaggerated slowness upon awakening. People experiencing
confusional arousals react slowly to commands and may have trouble understanding questions
that they are asked.

5. Sleep Paralysis

People with sleep paralysis are not able to move their body or limbs either when falling asleep or
waking up. Brief episodes of partial or complete skeletal muscle paralysis can occur during sleep
paralysis.

6. Sleep Bruxism (Teeth Grinding)

Sleep bruxism or teeth grinding involves the involuntary, unconscious, excessive grinding or
clenching of teeth during sleep.

Interesting Facts about Dreaming

1. You Forget 90% of Your Dreams

Within 5 minutes of waking half of your dream is forgotten. Within 10, 90% is gone.
2. Blind People also Dream

People who became blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind
do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound,
smell, touch and emotion.

3. Everybody Dreams

Every human being dreams (except in cases of extreme psychological disorder). If you think you
are not dreaming – you just forget your dreams.

4. In Our Dreams We Only See Faces That We already Know

Our mind is not inventing faces – in our dreams we see real faces of real people that we have
seen during our life but may not know or remember. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of
faces throughout our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize
during our dreams.

5. Not Everybody Dreams in Color

A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number
dream in full color. Studies from 1915 through to the 1950s maintained that the majority of
dreams were in black and white, but these results began to change in the 1960s. Today only 4.4%
of the dreams of under-25 year-olds are in black and white. Recent research has suggested that
those changing results may be linked to the switch from black-and-white film and TV to color
media.

6. Dreams are Symbolic

If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams
speak in a deeply symbolic language. Whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely
to be a symbol for itself.

7. Emotions

The most common emotion experienced in dreams is anxiety. Negative emotions are more
common than positive ones.

Why Are Thousands of People Dreaming About This Man?

Have you dreamed about this man comforting or befriending you over the past five years? Then
you are one of thousands across the world who have dreamed "this man." And they have a
website to describe their experiences.

According to the This Man website, set up to bring together the people who have dreamed about
him:

In January 2006 in New York, the patient of a well-known psychiatrist draws the face of a man
that has been repeatedly appearing in her dreams. In more than one occasion that man has given
her advice on her private life. The woman swears she has never met the man in her life.

That portrait lies forgotten on the psychiatrist's desk for a few days until one day another patient
recognizes that face and says that the man has often visited him in his dreams. He also claims he
has never seen that man in his waking life.

The psychiatrist decides to send the portrait to some of his colleagues that have patients with
recurrent dreams. Within a few months, four patients recognize the man as a frequent presence in
their own dreams. All the patients refer to him as THIS MAN.

From January 2006 until today, at least 2000 people have claimed they have seen this man in
their dreams, in many cities all over the world: Los Angeles, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Tehran, Beijing,
Rome, Barcelona, Stockholm, Paris, New Dehli, Moskow etc.

Mysteries about Dreams and Sleep

1. When Sleep Doesn't Come, Death Does.

Fatal insomnia is a rare prion disease that interferes with sleep and leads to deterioration of
mental function and loss of coordination. Death occurs within a few months to a few years.

If a person has had this genetic disorder passed on to them, they will show no symptoms until
they reach their middle ages, with the first signs of the disorder usually showing up when the
individual is in their forties. The first signs will resemble insomnia, with the person finding it
more difficult to fall asleep and often waking up after only a few hours.

2. Spontaneous Human Combustion

Spontaneous combustion occurs when an object -- in the case of spontaneous human combustion,
a person -- bursts into flame from a chemical reaction within, apparently without being ignited
by an external heat source. The first known account of spontaneous human combustion came
from the Danish anatomist Thomas Bartholin in 1663, who described how a woman in Paris
"went up in ashes and smoke" while she was sleeping. The straw mattress on which she slept was
unmarred by the fire. In 1673, a Frenchman named Jonas Dupont published a collection of
spontaneous combustion cases in his work "De Incendiis Corporis Humani Spontaneis.

3. Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome

Southeast Asian immigrants, who were mostly fleeing the Vietnam War, most often had this
syndrome, marking Southeast Asia as the area containing the most people with this fatal
syndrome. However, there are other Asian populations that were affected, such as Filipinos and
Chinese immigrants in the Philippines, Japanese in Japan, and natives of Guam in the United
States and Guam. Nonetheless, these particular immigrants who had this syndrome were about
33 years old and seemingly healthy and all but one of the Laotian Hmong refugees were men.
The condition appears to affect primarily young Hmong men from Laos (median age 33) and
northeastern Thailand (where the population are mainly of Laotian descent).

4. Nocturnal Death Syndrome- Sleep Paralysis

It’s like living a death experience. You feel like being suffocated, not being able to move your
limbs and fingers.There are medical reasons, and they happen with a physical and physiological
explanation. Heart failure, suffocation, starvation, and injuries are all logical reasons of how a
human being dies, just to name a few. So we need to have this fact established. Remember that
during sleep paralysis, you only feel like you’re being suffocated, and that’s not the thing that
gets you.

Nightmares on Adults

Nightmares in adults are often spontaneous. But they can also be caused by a variety of factors
and underlying disorders.
Some people have nightmares after having a late-night snack, which can increase metabolism
and signal the brain to be more active. A number of medications also are known to contribute to
nightmare frequency. Drugs that act on chemicals in the brain, such as antidepressants and
narcotics, are often associated with nightmares. Non-psychological medications, including some
blood pressure medications, can also cause nightmares in adults.

Withdrawal from medications and substances, including alcohol and tranquilizers, may trigger
nightmares. If you notice a difference in your nightmare frequency after a change in medication,
talk with your doctor.

Sleep deprivation may contribute to adult nightmares, which themselves often cause people to
lose additional sleep. Though it's possible, it has not been confirmed whether this cycle could
lead to nightmare disorder.

There can be a number of psychological triggers that cause nightmares in adults. For example,
anxiety and depression can cause adult nightmares. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also
commonly causes people to experience chronic, recurrent nightmares.

Nightmares in adults can be caused by certain sleep disorders. These include sleep apnea and
restless legs syndrome. If no other cause can be determined, chronic nightmares may be a
distinct sleep disorder. People who have relatives with nightmare disorder may be more likely to
have the condition themselves.

What Are the Health Effects of Nightmares in Adults?

Nightmares become much more than bad dreams when they have a significant effect on your
health and well-being. Among people who experience nightmares, those who are anxious or
depressed are more likely to be distressed about the experience and suffer even more
psychological ill effects. Although the relationship is not understood, nightmares have been
associated with suicide. Because nightmares may have a significant impact on your quality of
life, it's important to consult a medical professional if you experience them regularly.

Sleep deprivation, which can be caused by nightmares, can cause a host of medical conditions,
including heart disease, depression, and obesity.

If nightmares in adults are a symptom of untreated sleep apnea or post-traumatic stress disorder,
the underlying disorders can also have significant negative effects on physical and mental health.

The Dreamcatcher
In some Native American cultures, a dreamcatcher or dream catcher is a handmade willow hoop,
on which is woven a net or web. The dreamcatcher may also include sacred items such as certain
feathers or beads.

Sometimes referred to as "Sacred Hoops," Ojibwe dreamcatchers were traditionally used as

talismans to protect sleeping people, usually children, from bad dreams and nightmares. Native
Americans believe that the night air is filled with dreams, both good and bad. When hung above
the bed in a place where the morning sunlight can hit it, the dream catcher attracts and catches all
sorts of dreams and thoughts into its webs. Good dreams pass through and gently slide down the
feathers to comfort the sleeper below. Bad dreams, however, are caught up in its protective net
and destroyed, burned up in the light of day.

All parts of the authentic Native American dreamcatcher have meaning tied to the natural world.
The shape of the dreamcatcher is a circle because it represents the circle of life and how forces
like the sun and moon travel each day and night across the sky. The dream catcher web catches
the bad dreams during the night and dispose of them when the day comes. As for the good
dreams, the feathers act as a fluffy, pillow-like ladder that allows them to gently descend upon
the sleeping person undisturbed. There is some contention when it comes to the meaning of the
beads that often decorate the dreamcatcher. According to some American Indians, the beads
symbolize the spider—the web weaver itself. Others believe the beads symbolize the good
dreams that could not pass through the web, immortalized in the form of sacred charms.

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Time Retrieved: 9:45 pm

Date Retrieved: September 17, 2017