Dreams are a very mysterious phenomenon.
For centuries, people have been trying to understand why we dream this or that dream, how to decipher dreams, and find out at what point a person dreams. In ancient times, dreams were given great importance, so people tried to interpret the events that dreamed. Interest in this topic has not diminished now. Let’s look at the most pressing issues related to dreams.
1. Can you learn to memorize dreams?
Yes, if you take the time. A person quickly forgets what he dreamed, if he wakes up abruptly in the morning and begins to hurry to work. In a hurry, when you need to solve a lot of things in a short time, sleep is simply erased from memory. To memorize dreams, you need to write down everything that happened in your dream in a notebook or phone in the morning without being distracted by other things. You can start a special diary in which to write down your dreams every day. Figurative thinking also works well. If you do not have time to record information, you can try to remember the key moments of sleep, linking them to some real-life events, and coming up with associations. It is even easier in the morning to record the story of your dream on a dictaphone.
2. What happens to the human brain at night?
There are two main phases of sleep: the phase of fast and slow sleep. Falling asleep, a person falls into superficial sleep, which is then replaced by slow and fast sleep. It is in the fast sleep phase that we dream. In adults, this phase lasts 15-25% of the total sleep time, and in newborns about 50%. In a dream, our brain analyzes the information received during the day, and sorts it out, choosing what is important to remember and what can be temporarily removed. Solutions to relevant issues are also being sought. That is why very often the right decision on the issue comes in the morning because at night the brain has processed all the information received and found a solution to the problem.
3. When I imagine something on the verge of sleep, is it considered a dream?
This is not a dream, because real dreams are the result of our subconscious. This is an unconscious mental activity. And we can control dreams. When a person closes his eyes and relaxes, the brain generates alpha waves, which are less frequent than those generated before falling asleep. Then, when the person relaxes, even more, unusual images may appear. At this point, the waking state is invaded by a phase of rapid sleep. This state is the boundary between dreams and reality. This is the state of sleepwalkers.
4. Can noise affect dreams?
When a person sleeps, he hears everything. Therefore, any noise during the stage of falling asleep can wake him up, and in the fast sleep phase – to fit into the dream plot. If our hearing was turned off during sleep, waking up in the morning on the alarm clock would be incredibly difficult. When the TV is on, the voices of the household can intertwine in dreams and even change the course of events that take place in them.
5. Why do you need dreams?
Scientists have long been trying to solve this mystery. And everyone comes to their own conclusion. Some scientists believe that the fast sleep phase serves to form the basics of behavior in children, and in adults – to preserve them. This idea belongs to Michel Jouvet. According to Francis Crick, information is sorted during sleep. Some data is stored in memory, others are deleted. Psychoanalysts believe that dreams give way to our emotions and mental stress.
6. How to get rid of nightmares?
Nightmares, if they occur infrequently, can even be helpful because they help the body fight stress. If such dreams become permanent, it is a certain signal of the body. Nightmares are sometimes the result of real-life problems, especially if the unpleasant situation stretches for a long time. It is a reflection of inner experiences, conflicts, and human pain. If you start having nightmares after the death of a loved one, an accident, and other stressful events, it may be difficult to get rid of them yourself and you will need the help of psychologists.
Also, nightmares can accompany a person during the depression, fatigue, or illness. You can get rid of them by visualizing scenes from sleep, which cause the most acute negative reaction. These scenes need to be changed by replaying the plot in a positive way. Improving the quality of sleep will help exercise during the day, a hot bath before bed, and the absence of overeating just before bedtime.
7. Why is a dream we often see symbols, not from our lives?
Dreams contain no more than 40% of events that reflect our lives. All other meanings of dreams are archetypes. This concept was introduced by Carl Jung. Archetypes are images that exist in the collective unconscious and are manifested in people’s dreams. There are two types of the unconscious: personal and collective. Private is the result of our own experiences. Collective – the experience gained over generations. These include symbols and images from myths and fairy tales, such as hero, dragon, sage, and mother.
Motives come from these archetypal images. For example, the hero defeats the dragon. Such motives can be included in the plot of a dream if certain events occur in a person’s life, which can be interpreted with the help of these motives. So it turns out that part of the content of our dream includes images and motifs from the collective unconscious, which can be transferred to our lives and reflect events from it in a slightly distorted context.
8. Is it possible to decipher dreams on your own?
Of course, only this requires certain knowledge and training. Dreams are very individual, they depend on certain life situations in which a person is. Interpretation differs depending on the chosen approach because the same dream according to the system of Freud and Jung is interpreted differently. Therefore, you can learn to understand dreams by trial and error. It often happens that the understanding of sleep comes to a person after a long period of time. Therefore, the dream diary will be very useful in solving dreams.
9. If you dream of misfortune, which then occurs in reality, is it a prophetic dream?
Much research has been devoted to this topic, and scientists still can not understand how a person can dream a prophecy. Montana psychologist Ullman conducted research to find out that a person’s premonitions can actually be embodied in a dream. Since 1966, a private company in the United States has been collecting, analyzing, and keeping track of “prophetic” dreams.
10. Do our pets have dreams?
Dreams occur in the fast sleep phase, which is present not only in humans but also in mammals and birds. When a cat or dog in a dream pulls his paws, meows, barks, or growls – it means that at the moment reproduces a typical animal scenario (pursuit of prey, battle with the enemy, etc.). The only thing that has not yet been established – is how exactly the dream manifests itself. That is, animals see dreams as people see them, or at this point just turn on the usual reactions. Interestingly, the stage of fast sleep in predators lasts longer than in victims. For example, in cats, it occupies 20% of all sleep time, and in rabbits only 3%.
