Tyler Hardman
11/8/2012
Psych 111

Dreaming A dream is a succession of images, sounds, ideas and emotions that we experience involuntarily while sleeping. Everyone has dreamed at least once in their life, even if they don’t remember it. As a matter of fact everyone experiences six to eight dreams per night, and out of the eight hours of sleep we’re supposed to get each night, two of them are spent dreaming. People aren’t the only animals that can dream. Actually, every mammal is known to have dreams at night, and even some birds. Dreams usually occur during the “rapid eye movement” stage of our sleep, when brain function is high, almost as high as when we’re awake. We most likely remember the dreams that we have during the REM stage because the brain is functioning at such a high rate, but we also dream during other stages of sleep. Those dreams are just harder to remember because the brain is not functioning at the level that it would be during the REM stage. As we all know, dreams can range from exciting and pleasurable, to scary and terrifying. I know that I personally have woken up terrified from a dream, and didn’t want to go back to sleep because I didn’t want to encounter what I was dreaming about again. Usually, we can’t control what we dream about. However, it is a proven fact that a person can induce lucid dreaming if they work at it. Lucid dreaming is when the person who is dreaming is aware of the fact that they are dreaming, and can therefor control their dreams. Anyone can be a lucid dreamer, they just have to practice. There are a few steps that one needs to take in order to become a lucid dreamer. The first and possibly most important step is to keep a dream journal. This helps you recognize your common dream elements (people from your past, specific places, etc.), and also tells your brain that you are serious about remembering your dreams. It will also help you to recognize things that are unique to your dreams. These will be recurring things or events that you may notice in your dreams. The next step is to realize what time is the best to have a lucid dream. By learning your personal sleep schedule, you can figure out what time would be the best for you to be able to have a lucid dream. Scientists say that a nap a few hours after waking up is the best time to have a lucid dream. The next step is to get into the habit of performing reality checks. Although this may seem a little ridiculous because most of us can tell the difference of whether we’re dreaming or not, it is important to perform reality checks if you want to become a lucid dreamer because the habit will carry over into your dreams. This way, when you actually are dreaming, you can perform a reality check in your dream, and realize that it is in fact a dream, therefore being able to control it from there on. The final step is to keep telling yourself that you will have a lucid dream right before you go to sleep. By repeating “I will have a lucid dream”, you are convincing your brain that you can control your dreams and you’re ready to do so. The idea of lucid dreaming may sound cool and exciting, but there are drawbacks. People who learn to dream lucidly can become addicted, causing their natural sleep patterns to change and eventually affecting their health. People who partake in lucid dreaming also experience dissociation. They have a hard time telling what’s real and what isn’t while they are awake. Another risk is sleep paralysis. When people practice lucid dreaming, they are playing on the border of being awake and being asleep. Sometimes people can experience sleep paralysis, which is when their mind is awake, but their body is asleep. Many people wonder whether or not dreams actually have meaning to them. This is a topic that has had scientists arguing back and forth for years. We do know that dreams are useful in learning more about the dreamer's feelings, thoughts, behavior, motives, and values. Many find that dreams can help them solve problems. People do believe that dreams can be interpreted. Although the people, places, and items in your dreams are personal to you, some people believe that there are certain things in dreams that have meaning. For example, if you have a dream about spiders, it is aid that you are feeling like an outsider in some situation, or perhaps you want to keep your distance and stay away from an alluring and tempting situation. The spider is also symbolic of feminine power or an overbearing mother figure in your life. Alternatively, a spider refers to a powerful force protecting you against your self-destructive behavior. If you kill a spider in your dream, then it symbolizes misfortune and bad luck.
Dream interpretations date back to 3000-4000 B.C., where they were documented on clay tablets. For as long as we have been able to talk about our dreams, we have been fascinated with them and have strived to understand them. In some primal societies, members were unable to distinguish between the dream world and the waking world, or they could simply choose not to make the distinction. They saw that the dream world was not only an extension of reality, but that it was a more powerful world. In the Greek and Roman eras, dreams were seen in a religious context. They were believed to be direct messages from the gods or from the dead. The people of that time look to their dreams for solutions on what to do or what course of action to take. They believed dreams forewarned and predicted the future. Special shrines were even built where people can go there to sleep in hopes that a message could be passed to them through their dreams. Their belief in the power of a dream was so strong that it even dictated the actions of political and military leaders. In fact, dream interpreters even accompanied military leaders into battle to help with war strategy. Greek philosopher, Aristotle believed that dreams were a result of physiological functions.
During the Hellenistic period, the main focus of dreams was centered on its ability to heal. Temples, called Asclepieions, were built around the healing power of dreams. It was believed that sick people who slept in these temples would be sent cures through their dreams. Dream interpreters even aided the medicine men in their medical diagnosis. It was believed that dreams offered a vital clue for healers to finding what was wrong with the dreamer. In Egypt, priests also acted as dream interpreters. The Egyptians recorded their dreams in hieroglyphics. People with particular vivid and significant dreams were believed to be blessed and were considered special. People who had the power to interpret dreams were looked up to and seen as divinely gifted. The Chinese believed that the soul leaves the body to go into this world. However, if they should be suddenly awakened, their soul may fail to return to the body. For this reason, some Chinese today, are wary of alarm clocks. Some Native American tribes and Mexican civilizations share this same notion of a distinct dream dimension. They believed that their ancestors lived in their dreams and take on non-human forms like plants. They see that dreams as a way of visiting and having contact with their ancestors. Dreams also helped to point their mission or role in life. During the Middle Ages, dreams were seen as evil and its images were temptations from the devil. In the vulnerable sleep state, the devil was believed to fill the mind of humans with poisonous thoughts. He did his dirty work though dreams attempting to mislead us down a wrong path. In the early 19th century, dreams were dismissed as stemming from anxiety, a household noise or even indigestion. Hence there was really no meaning to it. Later on in the 19th century, Sigmund Freud revived the importance of dreams and its significance and need for interpretation. He revolutionized the study of dreams. Tracing back to these ancient cultures, people had always had an inclination to interpret dreams the bible alone has over seven hundred references to dreams. In my opinion, I think that dream interpretations are a little farfetched. It seems that they have made up a scenario to fit almost anything that a person could be going through in life. Nightmares are unpleasant dreams that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period of time. Nightmares can have physical causes such as sleeping in an uncomfortable or awkward position, having a fever, or psychological causes such as stress, anxiety, and ingestion of opioid drugs used in pain killers such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. Eating before going to sleep, which triggers an increase in the body's metabolism and brain activity, is a potential stimulus for nightmares. Recurrent nightmares that can interfere with sleeping patterns and cause insomnia may require medical help. Everyone dreams when they go to sleep at night, whether they remember it or not. Dreams can be good or bad, and can even feel so real that we wake up sweating or anxious. Scientists will continue to study dreaming and whether or not they actually mean something in life. Some people even believe that certain dreams are visions of the future, but for now, I think that I’ll just enjoy my dreams one night at a time and interpret them how I want to.

Bibliography
Domhoff, G. William. The Scientific Study of Dreams: Neural Networks, Cognitive Development, and Content Analysis. 2002.
Dream History. 1997. 6 11 2012 <http://library.thinkquest.org/11189/nfhistory.htm>.
Psychology Today. 9 5 2012. 28 10 2012 <http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/nightmares>.
The Dreams Foundation. 12 8 2012. 25 10 2012 <http://www.dreams.ca/>.