Directing Your Dreams, By Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ignited the discourse regarding dreams and the theory that they may serve a significant purpose to the dreamer. Freud believed dreams were insights to the subconscious. Today the topic of dreams is widely explored and examined by psychologists, scientist, and the average dreamer. Many people attempt to make sense of their dreams or look outside themselves for answers. Many people want to believe their dreams are relaying an important message from their subconscious or it provides insight into the future. Dreams can be extremely bizarre and outlandish yet it is known dreamers often attempt to make sense of it all. Despite popular belief dreams do not provide an intentional meaning to the dreamer in any way. At this time we cannot take dreams and apply them to our future or emotional state. Dreams are not insight to future or signals or
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feelings that need to be resolved. Despite the popular belief of Freud, his followers, and those with similar theories, our dreams cannot be interpreted as being an insight into our subconscious at this time due to the lack of concrete scientific evidence.
To delve into either side of the argument one must be aware of the process of sleeping and dreaming in the body. Dreams are a common occurrence that many people experience nighty but the process is not often understood. There are up to 5 stages of sleep the body undergoes nightly. During stage 1 sleep is light and mental activity slows down. This stage of sleep is so light it may seem that you are still in a conscious state. Stage 2 begins while eye movement stops and brain waves decrease further. Most of the night in an adult sleep cycle is spent in stage 2. Stage 3 and 4 are often categorized together or specified as one stage due to their similarity. This stage is known as deep sleep producing extremely slow brain waves. Dreams during this stage are often remembered. During deep sleep one can experience a variety of strange phenomena: nightmares, sleepwalking, and sleep-talking. The 5th stage is also known as REM sleep. Breathing becomes irregular and muscles of the limbs become paralyzed. It is as this stage that the eyes move rapidly side to side. “REM sleep is very important, and the brain will often deploy safety measures to insure it isn’t disrupted… Psychologist and neuroscientists are not sure why the brain goes to such lengths in preserving REM sleep.
Sigmund Freud famously claimed that the dreams now associate with REM allow us to resolve unconscious urges we suppress when we are awake. A more recent theory holds that these dreams reflect the new memories that are consolidated and integrated into the mind during stage 3 and 4.” (Ericson) There is no concrete explanation as to why we undergo REM sleep but according to a recent study dreams during this stage are memories being processed and stored into the mind. It is scientifically proven that nightly our brain takes the experiences and information acquired from the day and is either stored in the memory or discarded if deemed unimportant. Therefore, a more reasonable explanation of dreams would be the images we see in dreams are the brain’s way of processing and making sense of new information before storing it into memory.
Sigmund Freud first introduced the theory that dreams and their potential meaning.
Freud developed largely popular opinions regarding dreams and the possibility of a deeper message. Simply stated Freud believed dreams derived from our subconscious and are our inner most thoughts. Everyone experiences dreaming which makes it a large topic of discussion. Freud’s theories created a basis for discussion regarding dreams for people of all educational backgrounds to explore. You do not need a psychology degree or be neuroscientist to have an opinion regarding dreams. According to the article Directing Your Dreams by Rosalind Cartwright, she states, “They (dreams) help us uncover truths about ourselves that our waking minds may know yet deny that, awake, we may not be able to articulate.” Cartwright also states that dreams help the dreamer cope during crisis. When there is strong emotional distress in a person’s life their dreams will relate the emotional stress. She makes the argument that dreams can be a response to emotional crisis and is an attempt to bring awareness to the dreamer to face their suppressed emotional
state.
There are theories on various dream interpretation methods. One is The Crisis Method which attempts to understand and then change negative dreams to positive ones to improve our waking way of life. This theory is a concept that challenges the relationship between our waking mind and dreams. It redirects dreams that are negative and demoralizing to change our waking attitudes. This Crisis Method introduces dream dimensions as a reflection of our own unique way of organizing the world we live in. According to this method we start in infancy evaluating and interpreting dreams like a learned skill. As we age the ability to accurately interpret and rewrite the dreams we experience is sharpened. This method serves to improve waking mood by being able to control dreams in a positive way. (Cartwright)
Dreams may not seem that important but for some it dictates their life and unlocks the future. There is a community that surrounds their entire culture around dreams. Dreams serve as an important aspect of their daily lives. They rely on the belief that dreams indeed provide hidden truths. In a video produced by BBC titled Why Do We Dream, a tribe which exists today is introduced that interprets their dreams every morning in a dream circle. During the dream circle an elder provides meaning of the dream. A member of the tribe states, “Dreams help us work together to share our knowledge…when we have a problem, sharing our dreams, is like medicine to us.” Without a doubt these tribe members believe their dreams have meaning. (BBC) These people surround their life choices and future based on the interpretation of dreams. Like this tribe many people believe wholeheartedly their dreams serve a deeper meaning. Dreams give them hope and provide comfort in many situations. One woman was told by an elder her dream was symbolizing her brother over coming addiction. They are willing to believe their dreams without any scientific supporting evidence that their beliefs are valid.
Sandlhya Nankani provides a valuable insight in the article titled Unlocking the Dream Code published in 2009. “Nankani states, “When you sleep and dream, your brain suspends logic and allows creativity to take over. Your dreaming mind allows the impossible to become possible and the make-believe to become real.” Therefore, our dreams can be completely bizarre and irrational with no known message to the dreamer. You cannot draw rational conclusions from dreams that are formed when brain activity is minimal and logical reasoning is absent and not an influence to what the dreamer is experiencing. Potential meanings are concluded for various dream situations. For example, a common dream is teeth falling out. It is stated that loss of teeth in a dream signals that the dreamer is unhappy or lacking confidence with their appearance. These beliefs regarding dream interpretation of dreams forms conclusions based on theories not any scientific evidence. Dreamers cannot form rational interpretations from dreams.
feelings that need to be resolved. Despite the popular belief of Freud, his followers, and those with similar theories, our dreams cannot be interpreted as being an insight into our subconscious at this time due to the lack of concrete scientific evidence.
To delve into either side of the argument one must be aware of the process of sleeping and dreaming in the body. Dreams are a common occurrence that many people experience nighty but the process is not often understood. There are up to 5 stages of sleep the body undergoes nightly. During stage 1 sleep is light and mental activity slows down. This stage of sleep is so light it may seem that you are still in a conscious state. Stage 2 begins while eye movement stops and brain waves decrease further. Most of the night in an adult sleep cycle is spent in stage 2. Stage 3 and 4 are often categorized together or specified as one stage due to their similarity. This stage is known as deep sleep producing extremely slow brain waves. Dreams during this stage are often remembered. During deep sleep one can experience a variety of strange phenomena: nightmares, sleepwalking, and sleep-talking. The 5th stage is also known as REM sleep. Breathing becomes irregular and muscles of the limbs become paralyzed. It is as this stage that the eyes move rapidly side to side. “REM sleep is very important, and the brain will often deploy safety measures to insure it isn’t disrupted… Psychologist and neuroscientists are not sure why the brain goes to such lengths in preserving REM sleep.
Sigmund Freud famously claimed that the dreams now associate with REM allow us to resolve unconscious urges we suppress when we are awake. A more recent theory holds that these dreams reflect the new memories that are consolidated and integrated into the mind during stage 3 and 4.” (Ericson) There is no concrete explanation as to why we undergo REM sleep but according to a recent study dreams during this stage are memories being processed and stored into the mind. It is scientifically proven that nightly our brain takes the experiences and information acquired from the day and is either stored in the memory or discarded if deemed unimportant. Therefore, a more reasonable explanation of dreams would be the images we see in dreams are the brain’s way of processing and making sense of new information before storing it into memory.
Sigmund Freud first introduced the theory that dreams and their potential meaning.
Freud developed largely popular opinions regarding dreams and the possibility of a deeper message. Simply stated Freud believed dreams derived from our subconscious and are our inner most thoughts. Everyone experiences dreaming which makes it a large topic of discussion. Freud’s theories created a basis for discussion regarding dreams for people of all educational backgrounds to explore. You do not need a psychology degree or be neuroscientist to have an opinion regarding dreams. According to the article Directing Your Dreams by Rosalind Cartwright, she states, “They (dreams) help us uncover truths about ourselves that our waking minds may know yet deny that, awake, we may not be able to articulate.” Cartwright also states that dreams help the dreamer cope during crisis. When there is strong emotional distress in a person’s life their dreams will relate the emotional stress. She makes the argument that dreams can be a response to emotional crisis and is an attempt to bring awareness to the dreamer to face their suppressed emotional
state.
There are theories on various dream interpretation methods. One is The Crisis Method which attempts to understand and then change negative dreams to positive ones to improve our waking way of life. This theory is a concept that challenges the relationship between our waking mind and dreams. It redirects dreams that are negative and demoralizing to change our waking attitudes. This Crisis Method introduces dream dimensions as a reflection of our own unique way of organizing the world we live in. According to this method we start in infancy evaluating and interpreting dreams like a learned skill. As we age the ability to accurately interpret and rewrite the dreams we experience is sharpened. This method serves to improve waking mood by being able to control dreams in a positive way. (Cartwright)
Dreams may not seem that important but for some it dictates their life and unlocks the future. There is a community that surrounds their entire culture around dreams. Dreams serve as an important aspect of their daily lives. They rely on the belief that dreams indeed provide hidden truths. In a video produced by BBC titled Why Do We Dream, a tribe which exists today is introduced that interprets their dreams every morning in a dream circle. During the dream circle an elder provides meaning of the dream. A member of the tribe states, “Dreams help us work together to share our knowledge…when we have a problem, sharing our dreams, is like medicine to us.” Without a doubt these tribe members believe their dreams have meaning. (BBC) These people surround their life choices and future based on the interpretation of dreams. Like this tribe many people believe wholeheartedly their dreams serve a deeper meaning. Dreams give them hope and provide comfort in many situations. One woman was told by an elder her dream was symbolizing her brother over coming addiction. They are willing to believe their dreams without any scientific supporting evidence that their beliefs are valid.
Sandlhya Nankani provides a valuable insight in the article titled Unlocking the Dream Code published in 2009. “Nankani states, “When you sleep and dream, your brain suspends logic and allows creativity to take over. Your dreaming mind allows the impossible to become possible and the make-believe to become real.” Therefore, our dreams can be completely bizarre and irrational with no known message to the dreamer. You cannot draw rational conclusions from dreams that are formed when brain activity is minimal and logical reasoning is absent and not an influence to what the dreamer is experiencing. Potential meanings are concluded for various dream situations. For example, a common dream is teeth falling out. It is stated that loss of teeth in a dream signals that the dreamer is unhappy or lacking confidence with their appearance. These beliefs regarding dream interpretation of dreams forms conclusions based on theories not any scientific evidence. Dreamers cannot form rational interpretations from dreams.