Dreams are successions of images,
ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during
certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively
understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as
a subject of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history.
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, but some may have up to
seven dreams in one night. The 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.
In modern times, dreams have been
seen as a connection to the unconscious mind. They range from normal and
ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can have varying natures, such
as frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous, or sexual. The
events in dreams are generally outside the control of the dreamer, with the
exception of lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is self-aware.[citation needed]
Dreams can at times make a creative thought occur to the person or give a sense
of inspiration.
Opinions about the meaning of
dreams have varied and shifted through time and culture. The earliest recorded
dreams were acquired from materials dating back approximately 5000 years, in
Mesopotamia, where they were documented on clay tablets. In the Greek and Roman
periods, the people believed that dreams were direct messages from one and/or
multiple deities, from deceased persons, and that they predicted the future.
Some cultures practiced dream incubation with the intention of cultivating
dreams that are of prophecy.
Sigmund Freud, who developed the
discipline of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and their
interpretations in the early 1900s. He explained dreams as manifestations of
our deepest desires and anxieties, often relating to repressed childhood
memories or obsessions. In The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), Freud developed
a psychological technique to interpret dreams and devised a series of
guidelines to understand the symbols and motifs that appear in our dreams.
Jungian and other views of dreams
Carl Jung rejected many of
Freud's theories. Jung expanded on Freud's idea that dream content relates to
the dreamer's unconscious desires. He described dreams as messages to the
dreamer and argued that dreamers should pay attention for their own good. He
came to believe that dreams present the dreamer with revelations that can
uncover and help to resolve emotional or religious problems and fears.
Jung wrote that recurring dreams
show up repeatedly to demand attention, suggesting that the dreamer is
neglecting an issue related to the dream. He believed that many of the symbols
or images from these dreams return with each dream. Jung believed that memories
formed throughout the day also play a role in dreaming. These memories leave
impressions for the unconscious to deal with when the ego is at rest. The
unconscious mind re-enacts these glimpses of the past in the form of a dream.
Jung called this a day residue. Jung also argued that dreaming is not a purely
individual concern, that all dreams are part of "one great web of
psychological factors."
Fritz Perls presented his theory
of dreams as part of the holistic nature of Gestalt therapy. Dreams are seen as
projections of parts of the self that have been ignored, rejected, or
suppressed. Jung argued that one could consider every person in the dream to
represent an aspect of the dreamer, which he called the subjective approach to
dreams. Perls expanded this point of view to say that even inanimate objects in
the dream may represent aspects of the dreamer. The dreamer may, therefore, be
asked to imagine being an object in the dream and to describe it, in order to
bring into awareness the characteristics of the object that correspond with the
dreamer's personality.