What Your Dream Are Telling You Essay

, Research Paper

WHAT YOUR DREAMS

ARE TELLING YOU

BY:

PSYCHOLOGY 100

Do you know what your dreams are telling you. If your answer was NO you re not alone. Many people have no idea what their dreams are trying to tell them. In this research paper I will answer this question and many other questions about dreams, sleep and also types of dreams. I will also talk about some of the most common or popular dreams and their meanings. We will explore some dream theories and interpretations of dreams. I have also done my own at hand research which I will be sharing with you the reader in this paper. I wish to take you through the dreaming process step by step, but in order for dreams to begin we must first sleep. So that is where I ll begin, with the sleep process.

All dreaming starts with sleep. When we sleep there are four stages that we go through (Carskadon 4). Stage one is the lightest phase of sleep. In stage one sleep there is often visual imagery involved. Images appear in the form of wandering or dream like thought which can be controlled unlike a full dream state. In this stage of sleep someone can be awakened by low volume sounds or slight touch. Stage one sleep happens through-out the night. It often reappears as a transitional state of sleep following arousal during the night. When stage one does reappear during sleep it only last thirty seconds to one minute (Carskadon 5-6). Young adults spend ten to fifteen minutes a night in stage one sleep (Carskadon 6). Sometimes during sleep you feel your body jerk or twitch, that is called Hypnic Jerks . This usually happens right before stage two sleep occurs (Carskadon 6).

Stage two sleep may have some of the slower eye movement of stage one but in general stage two sleep is free of any eye movement. Another feature of stage two is arousal. Since stage two is a deeper sleep than stage one it will take more arousal to awaken a person from this stage of sleep. The transition from stage two sleep to stage three occurs with a gradual decrease in brain thought (Carskadon 7-9).

Stage three sleep as well as stage four is usually referred to as a slow wave sleep. Which basically mean a slow frequency of brain thought. There are no visible eye movements in this stage (Carskadon 10). Again in stage three it takes even more arousal then stage two sleep, to awaken a person from this state of sleep. Most of the dreams remembered occur during stage three sleep (Carskadon 11-12).

Stage four sleep is the deepest of sleep. This is where the body and mind gets the most rest. Brain frequencies increase slightly in stage four sleep. In this stage of sleep people begin their dreams. When a person is dreaming you can visually tell by the movement of the eyes. Scientist and theorist measure deep sleep by R.E.M. which simply means rapid eye movement . R.E.M. is measured by sleep monitoring instruments. What they measure is the amount of time your eye moves in stage four sleep and also brain activity along with frequency. Once again much more arousal is needed to awaken a stage four sleeper (Carskadon 14-19).

Next we need to examine dreams and the different types of dreams. According to Dr. Koch-Sheras the definition of a dream is a story that evolves in your mind, all in a single flash (32). Dr. Koch- Sheras also states that a dream is a sequence of sensations, images and thoughts (32). I discovered through recent self research I that a lot of people don t remember their dreams or that they just don t dream at all. Well the myth that not everyone dreams is false. Everyone dreams. Everyone! (Koch-Sheras 41). Within a year some people may only remember few or no dreams but, they still dream. Some people are just able to recall dreams better than others (Koch-Sheras 42-46). Dr. Medard Boss professor of psychotherapy at the University of Zurich says that People with above average I.Q. and or upper brain function are more apt to recall dreams of the past nights sleep and sometimes of dreams in past days, weeks, months and possibly years in certain past cases (192).

There are many different types of dreams, too many to list in this paper. I will go over a couple of the most common types of dreams. Have you ever realized you were dreaming while the dream was still happening. Experts refer to that as a Lucid Dream (Koch-Sheras 61). Just about everyone over the age of 20 has experienced a lucid dream and more often during nightmares (Koch-Sheras 61). Now you might ask how do you know when you have had a lucid dream. It s when the fear of the situation suddenly lifts you up and out of your dream and you have to say to your self It was only a dream (Koch-Sheras 62). A lot of the time dreamers wake themselves up as soon as they notice they are dreaming. A lucid dream may sound like a nightmare, but they are a little bit different (Koch-Sheras 62).

Now according to The Encyclopedia of Dreams their definition of a nightmare is A frightening dream, often accompanied by a felling of oppression and helplessness (647). Dr. Koch-Sheras says that a nightmare is A disturbing dream that causes the dreamer to wake up feeling anxious or frightened (67). Also with a nightmare the content of the dream is easily recalled. In some nightmares the plot may seem silly or cartoon like in away, especially in clear light of day. Still the strong emotions are all too real and may stay with