Why Do We Have Dreams?

15 Everybody Dreams

We all dream and we dream a lot. The average human will spend roughly 6 years of their lives dreaming. It’s just that we don’t remember them all.

And there’s a lot to remember. On an average night, you have one dream every 90 minutes. But you can have as little as five or as many as dozens depending on the night.

And each of those dreams is longer than the last. Your first dream will be around 5 minutes. By the end of your sleep cycle, your dreams are 45 minutes long.

 

14 First Things, First

Why do we dream? To be perfectly honest, scientists aren’t exactly sure. But there are a lot of viable theories.

The science of dream study is relatively new. However, scientists have uncovered lots of interesting stuff so far. And we’ve got the most widely accepted theories here.

So sit back and relax. We’re about to take a journey through the science of dreams. By the end, you’ll know as much as anyone.

 

13 What’s In A Dream?

Just what is a dream, really? According to scientists, a dream consists of the images, thoughts and emotions that you experience when you’re sleeping.

But is that all they are? Dreams have a big impact on human lives. We’ve been studying them since ancient Egypt.

Just what do they mean? What should we take from them? Well, there are several competing theories to offer an explanation.

 

12 The Longest Running Theory

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic dream theory is perhaps the most enduring. According to Freud, dreams represent our unconscious desires, ideas and motivations.

For him, dreams are basically the expression of all the desires we’re afraid to confront during the day. His theory explains why many of the dreams we remember are chaotic.

We have nightmares, sex dreams, fight dreams that run the emotional gamut. And Freud’s psychoanalytic theory argues that we understand ourselves better when we understand those base desires. This understanding is at the root of modern dream interpretation. When we wake up, we go back to sift through our sleep for clues about our waking life.

 

11 Interpreting the Imagery

According to Freud’s theories, dreams have two layers. On the surface is the imagery we see. Only when we analyze that imagery, can we get down to the truth.

Most of the dreams we have don’t make a lot of sense. We jump from place to place. We drive rubber duckies down the street.

But rubber duckies aren’t really on our minds. The rubber ducky symbolizes something. What does it mean? There are thousands of dream books that offer interpretations for almost anything you can dream up.

 

10 Was Sigmund Freud Right?

Thanks to Freud’s influence, we all try to interpret our dreams. But was Freud right? As dream science grows, it can’t find much evidence to support old Freud.

Dream scientist tackle dream studies with all the modern technology available. But, try as they might, scientists can’t really find any connections between dreams and their psychological significance.

Does that mean that you should throw out your dream book? It may be too soon for that. But modern science does offer some dream theories that are just as exciting as Freud’s.

 

9 A More Modern Model

After Freud’s dream theory came another by J. Allan Hobson and Robert McClarley. Their theory is more scientific. They think that we dream simply because the brain’s circuits become overstimulated during REM sleep.

A lot of that activity happens in the limbic system. This is the area that controls our emotions, memories and senses. That’s why our dreams feel so significant.

While all of this stimulation is happening, other areas of our brain try to make sense of it. And that’s why we dream. It’s our brain trying to make sense of all of that spastic activity.

If that’s true, do dreams mean nothing at all?

 

8 So What Do Our Dreams Mean?

Current dream theory sort of disagrees with Freud. But that doesn’t mean that your dreams mean nothing. Dreams may be the product of over-stimulation, but its still part of our brain’s most creative period.

The signals may be random, but our brain combines those random signals into new ideas. Most of those ideas mean nothing at all. But some of those new ideas can be useful to us. These ideas are a product of some of the best thinking our brains can do. And it’s thinking that we might not be able to accomplish while we’re awake.

 

7 Dreams May Be Telling You Something

Ever had recurring dreams or nightmares? Your brain may be trying to tell you something. When your brain fixates on the same imagery and emotions, it’s trying to rid itself of pesky thoughts.

How do you know what your brain is trying to tell you? Science isn’t even sure that your dreams have something to say. But for those who follow Freud’s theories, it’s about finding out what’s behind the imagery.

Lots of us have dreams about our teeth falling out, for example. Many dream theorists say that teeth represent words and communication. This recurring dream may mean that you’re subconsciously frustrated with your inability to get your point across.

 

6 Dreams Help You Learn

It’s one of the few certain things scientists know about dreams. The best time to absorb information is right before you sleep. While you dream, your brain will absorb the new information.

Harvard neuroscience professor Robert Stickgold calls this off-line memory reprocessing. While you sleep, your brain is free from outside stimuli. It can then use all of its computing power to tackle the new information. His test subjects all had better recall of information after they slept on what they learned. It’s the best excuse we’ve heard for taking a snooze break while studying.

 

5 Maybe They Help Us Cope

Ernest Hoffman, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Newton Wellesley Hospital in Boston, Mass., suggests that “…a possible (though certainly not proven) function of a dream to be weaving new material into the memory system in a way that both reduces emotional arousal and is adaptive in helping us cope with further trauma or stressful events.”

 

4 To Explore New Worlds

You can control your dreams. The premise of the new movie Inception is that people can take the reins of their dreams and make them what they want them to be. But it may not just be a Hollywood fantasy. According to the results of a new survey of 3,000 people, dream control, or “lucid dreaming” may be a real thing.

In fact, 64.9 percent of participants reported being aware they were dreaming within a dream, and 34 percent said they can sometimes control what happens in their dreams. Taking charge of the content of your dreams isn’t a skill everyone has, but it can be developed, says Kelly Bulkeley, PhD, a dream researcher and visiting scholar at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkley, California.

The technique is particularly useful for people who suffer from recurring nightmares, he says. Dr. Bulkeley suggests giving yourself a pep talk of sorts before you go to sleep by saying: “If I have that dream again, I’m going to try to remember that’s it’s only a dream, and be aware of that.” When you learn to be aware that you are dreaming—within a dream—you not only have the power to steer yourself away from the monster and into the arms of Brad Pitt, for instance, but you train your mind to avoid nightmares in the first place. “Lucid dreaming enhances your ability to learn from the dream state,” says Dr. Bulkeley.

 

3 Dreams Affect Your Mood

Ever had a nightmare that set the tone for the day? How about a dream that made your morning seem brighter? Dreams have a calculable effect on your mood.

The opposite is also true. If you go to bed after an unresolved argument, you’re likely to have nightmares. Fall asleep in a good mood and sweet dreams will come.

Unfortunately, daily discomforts are more likely to show up in your dreams. According to Harvard scientist Robert Stickgold, its because your brain is more likely to work out difficulties while you’re sleeping — and more willing to confront them.

 

2 You Don’t Have To Be Asleep to Dream

Waking dreams are dreams that you have when you’re awake. Find a quiet spot, close your eyes and think about your last dream. Dr. Bulkeley says that meditating on a dream in this way stimulates the brain the same way as night dreams do.

Scientists aren’t sure exactly what dreams do or how they work. But they do know that they help you work through your issues — somehow. So why not take time out to tackle dream issues while you’re awake? It’s a great way to deal with a puzzling dream that’s been bothering you all day. Just sit back, relax and let your mind run free.

 

1 Whatever Dreams Do, We Really Need Them

Scientists don’t know exactly why we need dreams. But they do know that we need them.

If you don’t sleep for more than 10 days, you’ll die. If you don’t dream for several days, you do irreparable psychological damage to your brain.

In 1959, radio DJ Peter Tripp tried to set a world record of sleeplessness and made it 8.4 days. Soon after the feat, he started to hallucinate. Later he had a full psychotic break. He claimed that he was not Peter Tripp but an imposter.

The hallucinations eventually subsided but Peter was never the same. He got fired from his jobs, got involved in a payola scam and went on to have four divorces.