Dreams Class

Focal conflict –recurrent -

Lecture: The Body and Dreams –

Vasaly Kasatkin –

-from Russia, born in 1912 - Soviet Union. He goes to the army.
-Cultures were diverse.
-Wrote Theory of Dreams (not available in English)
-Rejected psychoanalytic approaches to dreams.
-Focused instead on body-oriented dream influences, but that they change if the dreamer changes professions or moves to another region. (dreams respond to many aspects of life) – Dreams are culturally shaped. Reflective in underlying health? (biology)

Studied soldiers in the Soviet Army:
•1st year, dreams were of past
•over time, dreams became more similar even if from different places-- i.e.,Ukrainian, Tatar, and Uzbeck dreams indistinguishable.

Kasatkin: Dream Influences -

•Kasatkin focused on what Freud called manifest content
-believed dreams caused by internal physiological stimuli, external stimuli, and social environment
•Recognized dreams vary depending on one’s stage of life and gender was most focused on dreams and illness (pay attention to physiological aspects)

Dreams and Illness -
Katsatkin believed:
Duration of an illness, its seriousness, and it location in the body affected dreams
Illness often causes increased dream recall
Illness often causes increased nightmares or dream distress-- more images of: war, violence, death, tombs, raw meat, graphic negative images…

Dreams and Illness continued…

Katsatkin believed:

•Such negative dreams often start before an illness was known to exist, even before symptoms arise.
Illness dreams often last longer each night, often lasting all night in comparison to “everyday” annoyance or distress dreams.

The content of the dream can reveal the location and seriousness of the illness since all nerves are connected to the brain; dreams are diagnostic messages from the body. Health/Dream Warnings
•He asserted warning times had a level of predictability:
•Heart attacks:
•Mental Illness:

Health/Dream Warnings:

-He asserted warning times had a level