You got a beautiful dream last night, how do you feel about that? Are you excited, curious, or confused? Did you ever have a ‘bad dream’ and that left you worried? Of course, there will be tons of questions in your mind after you wake up from sleep, but rest assured most of them are rather common dreams yet in some cases have psychological meaning, which might interests you!
It is a fact that when you are dreaming, you have visions about something that takes you to a different world. You visualize stories and images, probably those created by your brain when you are sleeping.
So, what happens and why your mind creates these images and facts?
Dreams are indeed an exciting subject to explore and yet an unsolved psychological mystery. Is there any scientific evidence to advocate the causes of dreams?
In this blog, we will try to cover them in detail, so keep reading until the end.
What is the definition of a Dream?
When our brain gives us a conscious experience of emotions, sensations, and images while we are sleeping, it is what is called a dream.
Doctors from around the globe have been investigating to understand this remarkable phenomenon in humans. It is one of the most popular researches among neuroscientists globally.
You will be surprised knowing that each of us dream while sleeping, and that is proven scientifically, but we do not remember everything that we see while sleeping. Or mostly when we wake up, we will not even be knowing about the dream that we had the previous night.
Until date, psychologists and neuroscientists do not have an idea about the actual purpose of dreams, and that is a complete mystery.
However, various scientific experiments prove that while dreaming, our brain disconnects itself from the conscious world and creates in itself a sub-conscious environment. It gives us such intense feelings that even we are in a deep sleep, we feel like things happening in the real world.
So, what psychological doctors are saying about the occurrence of dreams? Is there a clear scientific theory that explains the phenomenon of dreams? What should you do to control your dreams? Read More to know more!
Dreams could be scary too! It is therefore, essential to dive more in-depth and explore the underlying truth.
Why we dream?
There are multiple theories by psychological doctors on dreams. However, there is one common point explained in these theories, and that is about the sleep cycle.
Wait, before we move forward, it is essential to know the difference between the conscious and subconscious mind.
Our conscious mind is our active mind, and it records various information during the course of our life. When we sleep, our subconscious or unconscious or preconscious remains active. It is also known as the emotional state of mind and responsible for our dreams.
Let us now understand some critical situations triggering dreams.
- Your unfulfilled desires and wishes that you had for a long time.
- Various incidents that had happened throughout the day.
- Any stressful situation.
- A dream could be your brain’s defense mechanism to prepare you from any upcoming threats.
- Any real life experiences.
The causes and purpose of a dream until today remains an unsolved psychological mystery, as it is not a subject to study in any science lab.
Furthermore, the dreaming pattern between individual varies as they are greatly affected by several external factors.
Psychologists are, however, able to confirm that a person dreams during the fifth stage of the sleep cycle. It is the rapid eye movement or REM stage.
Theories behind Dreams
Although they are not proven, scientists are up with a few theories explaining the probable reasons for which a person dreams. Let us discuss about them.
Psychoanalytic Theory
This theory came in place during the ’70s. It states that dreams are unconscious desires which our brain process by sending various random signals. In other words, what we see in our dreams are byproducts of selective memories and emotions.
Activation Theory
It explains that there is a place in our brain which stores many memories throughout our life’s transition. Later on, due to the effect of several external factors, they are visible to us as dreams.
Some interesting facts about dreams
- Dreams are memory transition from short term to long term.
- They are threat simulation signals of our brain, preparing us from real life threats and challenges.
- Dreams are our brain’s data cleansing process to delete useless information.
- While we are dreaming, we will have an active state of mind with a paralyzed body.
- Distressing dreams or nightmares happen because of stress, fear, trauma, or emotional challenges.
Let us now understand the types of dreams and their psychological meaning.
Five common dreams and their psychological meaning
Chased by someone
Did you remember being chased by someone in your dreams? If you have got these visuals, it as one of the most common visions. However, you should know the reason behind it. Psychologists say when you see someone chasing you in your dreams, it means there are certain issues in your life which you are avoiding! So, what you need to do? As soon as you wake up, start resolving those issues instead of avoiding them further.
You are falling
Ohh! You have got a dream where you are falling from heights? It is again a common variety of ‘dream’ what many people have. If you are stressed and losing control in your life, there are high chances for you to see that you are falling in your dreams. It is also the most frequently occurring dream with almost everyone. So, take a look into your life’s situations like marriage, finances, job, and others and try to regain control over those situations.
Feeling as if you are awake
Remember the morning hours, and it is common for you to have a dream where you find yourself walking up and getting ready for the day’s work. It is a dream, and you are still sleeping on the bed. If you are worried and in anxiety for the day, generally, there are chances for you to have this type of dream.
You are flying
You see yourself flying in dreams when things are pleasant and exciting. Psychologists also call these as lucid dreams and are one of the most common varieties.
Dreaming of being burglarized
If you have ever any dream with visions like being robbed, it means you have significant traumatic stress in life. So, address them and try to reduce stress in your life.
Is there any adverse effect of dreams?
Generally, dreams do not have any adverse effects unless you see them repetitively. Daytime sleepiness, mood swing, and sleep resistance are some adverse effects of dreaming excessively. However, if you do not address dream affecting your sleep, it could lead to severe disorder like sleepwalking, and other health issues.
