What are dreams?
Thursday 11 December 2008
Confused about dreams? Ever had a weird one and wondered why? n2k does some investigating.
What are dreams?
Dreams are experienced whilst sleeping, and can be images, sounds and feelings. Sometimes dreams are so real that it’s possible to ‘smell’ the environment.
Dreams are most commonly a weird mix of the ordinary and humdrum events of the day that are often unnoticed.
Theories suggest that dreams are unconscious wishes – or desires that go unnoticed.
Others believe that dreams are a ‘clean-up’ of the brain – that it’s getting rid of all the unwanted thoughts collected throughout the day.
Ever had a dream like this one?
REM
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a stage of sleep that marks physical bodily changes like faster breathing, brain activity, eye movement and muscle relaxation.
It usually occurs 90 minutes into sleep and can happen another four or five times throughout a long sleeping session - each occurrence gets longer every time, usually covering around 25 per cent of sleep.
Dreams throughout REM sleep are usually the ones remembered the most.
As bodies lose muscle control – dreamers often twitch or sometimes reenact their dreams – this is called REM Behavior Disorder.
This disorder shouldn’t be confused with sleepwalking though. Many think that sleepwalkers are re-enacting their dreams during the REM stage; however, sleepwalking actually occurs before REM takes affect.
Types of dreams
Lucid dreaming
In this form, dreamers know that they’re dreaming and understand that they're not in the real world. Even more weird, the dreamer can control their own actions and others too!
DAMT
Dreams of absent-minded transgression (DAMT) sees an action avoided in real life, committed in dreams. This is common for people trying to give something up – and in their dreams they give into the thing they’re trying to avoid.
Real world dreaming
Dreams can be linked to actual events going on in the ‘real world’. For example, it’s quite common for someone to hear a phone in their dream and not know that it’s coming from a ringing phone in real life.
What do dreams mean?
There are a few common dreams that interpreters have provided their own meanings for. However, it’s up the dreamer to figure out if it applies to them.
Here’s a little round up of some of the interpretations:-
Teeth falling out
This shows worries over appearance. The dreamer often worries too much about what they look like and can obsess about being embarrassed.
Another explanation is that falling teeth represents fear of change. Dreamers might be worried about life changing decisions and new situations that could affect their daily routine.
Flying
There are positive and negative interpretations of this. Believers of the weird, strange and extraordinary, like ESP, often dream that they’re flying.
Others point out that since flyers don’t have their feet on the ground, they’re not ‘grounded’. They could be living in a fantasy world or obsessed with issues that aren’t important.
Being chased
This is often due to anxiety, stress and pressure in life – the chaser reflects these worries, and the person being chased is trying to escape from it.
