Dreams play a surreal role in our conscious and unconscious minds

Updated on August 12, 2022 17:17 PM by Ella Bina

The introduction to the world of dreams

People have dreamed since the dawn of time, and maybe from that time, people learned that they see something when they rest, closing their eyes. If explained more thoroughly, dreams are a universal human experience; every human being, even dogs and other non-human primitives, dreams.

Dreams can be described as a state of consciousness while asleep, characterized by the sensory, cognitive, and emotional occurrences during sleep. However, scientists have seen that dreamer has reduced control over the content or visual images they see in their dreams. It also leads to memory activation, specifically of the subconscious and unconscious mind.

The dream vs. hallucinations vs. delusions

The mind is like a trapped door where many thoughts, desires, and memories remain locked during our daytime or wakefulness. It is only when our body goes back to rest mode that the trap door opens, and various memories, desires, and thoughts start to come out and form a storyline or maybe a series of events or maybe a way of defining what we think or feel in real life.

However, one should be very careful; there is a difference between normal dreaming and delusions and hallucinations. If a person is delusional, that’s a situation related to a mental health issue. Dreams are much different from hallucinations and delusions.

So, one should not confuse them. Dreams are something that is rather harmless and does not cause any extra stress while the body is at rest. Delusions and Hallucinations are more of creating an alternative theory of reality, which can create day-to-day troubles as the mind is playing tricks to make one believe in things that do not exist and might even not happen in the future.

The definition of dreaming

An exclusive dream is a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring while a person is asleep. Usually, a deep sleeping person cannot have dreams; there is certain sleep that is deeper enough to make it dreamless.

There are various types of dreams which people might see in their sleep. Some of them include having a dream about climbing a mountain. Now climbing a mountain signifies struggles or trying to cope with your real-life situations.

The different types of dreams

Dreaming is Passive Imagination - It is more about when a person is sleeping and includes a combination of thoughts and desires that might have remained suppressed in the person’s wakeful mind

Dream Illusions - Now, this can include a person believing in something which might not exist and not always going on with seeing dreams during being at rest. Illusions are some thoughts that have no connection to the wakeful reality and are made up by the mind out of paranoia or maybe stress.

Dream-Hallucinations - Hallucinations are connected to dissociation from reality, and the person is always not in the rest. Sometimes hallucinations are a make-belief reality that the person might think is true.

A typical healthy dream can be explained as a succession of various sensations, a variety of emotions, various ideas, and a combination of images that occur involuntarily in a person's mind during certain stages of their sleep.

The significance of REM cycles

Usually, most of the dreaming in a person’s mind occurs during the REM stage of sleep. The rapid eye movement during sleep is REM, in which the person cycles through various dream periods during the night.

Sleep studies even showed that a person’s brain waves are almost as active during REM cycles as when awake. So, the dreams they see are almost taken from reality. Various sleep experts have worked on dreams and how a brain works being asleep. It is believed that the brainstem generates REM sleep, and the forebrain generates dreams while the body is in rest mode.

The disruption of dreaming

Now there could be times when a person does not dream at all. However, that happens to one in a million who do not dream. Sleep experts say that their REM sleep, which helps form the dream, is sometimes disrupted by a substance such as alcohol or marijuana.

However, sometimes medications like antidepressants or mental health conditions like depression can interrupt dreams, and the person might not dream. However, not dreaming is rare as the mind always suppresses certain thoughts and desires that one cannot express during the wake period.

The significance of dreams

Dreams play an important role in specifying the functioning of the mind in both wake and rest modes. Dreams tell people what they know about something or want to know about something. It also reflects what one feels in real life but cannot express openly.

Dreams point a person towards what they need for growth, development, integration, freedom of expression, and the overall health of all the relationships related to the person, place, and the thing. Dreams play an important role in helping people fine-tune their direction and show them their unfinished business.

Dreaming vs. Daydreaming

Dreaming and daydreaming are two different things. People dream even when they are awake, and that is also known as maladaptive daydreaming. Now, that is a mental health condition related to ADHD or ADD.

A person daydreaming is zoned out to a different world unrelated to the real world. Repetitive daydreaming can lead to the person having various mental health complications and can be said to be a medium of escape from reality.

Dreaming can never be an escape from reality; it is a part of reality, and it is formed when we are sleeping. So, if daydreaming is going out of hand, one should go on and get diagnosed by a doctor.

Dreams and philosophy

The ultimate way of all human ordinances and wisdom is the perfect way of gratifying the passions of the living flesh at the expense of the soul. There have been the prophets or the psychics who have stood nearest to the fountain of universal knowledge by being able to connect to another realm.

They use dreams as a medium of connection to the other world more frequently than any other mode of divination. Aristotle once wrote: "There is a divination concerning some things in dreams are not incredible.''

Vague Dreams

Well, to an extent, some of the dreams that one sees indeed have no connection with reality, which can cause some issues, which mainly concern mental health issues. On certain occasions, a dream is defined as a vision of hope that the mind keeps up while awake.

An instance of a vision is images of flying while asleep. Flying is the meaning of having hopes of achievements and going through various modes of options with the die-hard desire to choose any one of them.

Dreams in holy books

Dreams have been interpreted in various holy books in various ways. While in the Bible, a dream is called a vision which reflects a connection with divine power. Some authors believe that the vision is to be a dream theophany, i.e., the visible embodiment of watching God while being asleep.

A line from the Bible says, “ After the sun has set, Abram makes a repudiation and falls into a deep sleep. God then creates his first covenant with him.”

Activation-synthesis hypothesis

It has been seen that the activation-synthesis hypothesis is the process or study which suggests that dreams are rendered by brainstem activation during rapid eye movement or REM sleep. It also means stimulating the limbic system while the body remains completely at rest; the limbic system is the other word for the emotional motor system.

The typical dreams people see

There are some of the most common dreams which people on and often talk of having to see

Falling - this is one of the commonest yet classic forms of a dream in which the person dreams of falling into nothingness.

Being chased - now that’s one of the most well-known insecurities that come from dreams. Various people dream of getting chased by anyone or anything.

Dying - This is the third-most common dream which people experience. Either they find themselves dying or find someone closer to them dead. This type of dream sometimes signifies the ending of something or completing a cycle.

Teeth - Falling off the teeth is one of people's most vivid dreams. Dental health is one of the most insecure portions of our body as it represents our face, smile, and appearance. So, the falling of teeth signifies one is insecure with their appearance.

Being naked in public - This is the fifth most common dream that the human mind can go through. It signifies getting exposed to the public. The fear of others getting to know some of your secrets can make you dream about getting naked in public.

Pregnancy - This is the sixth most common dream which people see. Pregnancy does not mean that the person will be pregnant in real life. Sometimes it also means the person might have a new beginning or get the fruit of the hard work they had done previously.

Flying - The seventh most common Dream is flying, which defines hope, freedom, and the power of a person to make their own decision.

Sex or cheating - The eighth most popular Dream is having sex with someone or getting cheated on by someone. These types of dreams signify the innermost desires and want of people.

Real-life experience through vivid dreams

Sometimes dreams feel very real as if everything exists in complete 3D mode; for a few minutes, one forgets that they are sleeping and dreaming and believes that they are in reality watching certain things unfold. These dreams mainly occur because we use the same emotions to process them in our brains.

Maybe we have seen something in reality that has been hidden in our subconscious mind; once we go off to sleep, the dream becomes so vivid that it feels real. These vivid dreams are parts of the brain that process real sensory information in the brain's wakefulness and that the mind remains active in REM sleep.

Usually, the suppressed emotions and desires remain hidden in our memory and come out as a way to deal with the irrational parts of our minds. These irrational thoughts are the ones that become dreams in our sleep state.

The more sane parts of our brain only switch on during our wakefulness. It is one of the reasons why dreams play out more like any real experience. Of course, once the sleep breaks, the person understands that they have been dreaming all this while.

Usually, these real, experienced dreams remain in the memory for a long time as they are neither illusions nor hallucinations and not even a mixture of vague thoughts and visions.

Are dreams connected with mental health issues

Sometimes dreams can be disturbing, and they may interfere with day-to-day life activities. If at any point a person’s dream is causing them possible distress or remembering those dreams is causing stress or anxiety, they should consider speaking with a doctor.

Depression, anxiety, and stress lead to various dreams, which can be troublesome. These dreams are stressful thoughts that form complex forms inside the unconscious mind.

How are dreams important in our lives

Mind is a very tricky place; it has various sections and compartments, and its reach is infinitely like the Universe. Over the years, various specialists have tried to connect the reason for dreaming with brain functionalities.

They have still not got the answers as it is difficult to say why a person has a specific dream or whether telepathy is also a way of reaching out to another person through a dream. In various cultures, dreams are interpreted in various ways.

Sometimes dreams are considered a specific meaning or an indication of something going to happen. It is difficult to determine the subtle connection between the mind and dreams. What makes a person dream about a specific thing and why it is so involuntary is still unknown.

While researchers worldwide still aren't sure what exactly causes a person to dream, however, keeping medical science in the forefront, it is a relief to know that a person who is getting healthy sleep and can remember their dreams is a healthy thing.

The prominent subjects of dreams

The various subjects which come prominently in the dreams are

Snakes - watching snakes in the dream is also one of the common dreams though it can be scary as people might find the snakes are trying to grab them or twist along their neck, hand, or legs.

Paralysis - not being able to move in sleep even when the person wants to reach a specific place is also considered a paralysis dream.

The dream where you cannot run or move faster is one of the commonest dreams. It is subtly connected with paralysis. Dreaming of trying to run or move faster but failing to move the pair of legs is also a very common dream.

The dream where one fails in their exams is also common, specifically for sincere students who have been insecure with the pressure of studies.

The existence of vivid dreams

Ironically certain dreams that one might have seen in their sleep can come true in real life. Sometimes, those can be accidental premonitions or a prediction that the person might have detected in real life.

Sometimes, certain dreams come true or tell a person of a future event. However, a dream played out in real life is most likely due to sudden coincidence or bad memory. Dreams have always been an iconic part of human beings; even babies dream and cats and dogs have been seen reacting in their periods of sleep due to dreaming.

Sharing dreams is rare

Usually, two people can get connected through dreams, which is called telepathy. These are very rare cases and do not involve any forms of psychic abilities. There are some well-documented cases, though, but they are extremely rare where it has been seen that two strangers have shared the same dream.

In anime, cartoons, and various movies, it has been shown by the makers that two to three people are dreaming of the same thing. However, those dreams have resulted in a darker future. A Nightmare on Elm Street - is one of the well-known movies where a group of people gets to see the same clawed person trying them in their dreams.

In short, they are connected through dreams. In the Japanese Anime of Shinchan, a movie was made by the creators who showed all the characters were connected through a single dream. In their dreams, every character was interlinked due to a dark entity.

So, it is a rare case usually where two people share the same dream. In the psychic world, twin flames and soulmates are considered by various psychic mediums to be connected through a single mind and soul, so they are bound to share the same dream.

There is no scientific explanation for this sharing of dreams as two individuals can't share their dreams as every brain is independent of its thoughts. Now there are some unscientific reports of strangers experiencing the same dream.

According to the psychic mediums, these people shared the same dream because the strangers ran into one another and recognized each other from the dream they saw various times. Now that’s a rare case, and no scientific proof and written evidence can connect to these coincidences.

Things we want to know about dreams

Sometimes reincarnation is also connected with this sharing of dreams between two strangers. Various movies, stories, and novels have been created based on reincarnation and dreaming about past life scenarios.

Every dream has its duration, and it depends from person to person. The length of a specific dream can always vary. However, it has been seen that the dreams may last for a few seconds to approximately twenty to thirty minutes. People sometimes watch vivid dreams, which they are more likely to remember even after they wake up, provided they are awakened during the REM phase.

The rarest form of dreaming

However there are various types of dreams, but the rarest types of dreams are lucid types of dreams. Most medical experts working on dreams and their connection to our minds believe that lucid dreams are still the rarest type of dreams.

Lucid dreams are the types of dreams where while one is dreaming, they are conscious that they are dreaming. However, they cannot get out of the dream because the brain and the body are in an involuntary mode, so even after knowing they are dreaming, they keep on dreaming.

According to sleep experts and medical researchers, about fifty-five percent of common people experience lucid dreams at least once in their life. Now why one person sees lucid dreams are still not known; whatsoever, no mental health condition is being connected to it by any experts. However, researchers are still trying to find the reason behind lucid dreaming.

Intense dreaming and its causes

Whatsoever, various real-life problems with friends, family members, issues at school, or trouble at work can sometimes trigger intense dreams. Sometimes a person might be nervous before a big event like getting married or maybe buying a house or maybe getting a new job or changing to a new city can give in to intense dreaming.

Stress plays an important role in determining the type of dream a person sees while asleep. Sometimes stress and anxiety are caused by various traumatic events, such as a death of a loved one, sexual abuse, mental abuse, bullying, getting into a vehicle accident, or witnessing a traumatic event, which can also cause nightmares and sometimes lucid dreams. In such cases, the person might consciously find themselves involved in the traumatic event in their dream but cannot stop themselves from dreaming.

What are recurring dreams

Sometimes traumatic events bring in recurring dreams. Many experts have placed theories that agree that recurring dreams usually happen when a person is still tied up in some unresolved difficulty or maybe bogged down due to certain conflicts in real life.

These issues and problems come back as dreams recurrently in their life. Depression, anxiety, stress, and various mental disorders can also be the reason behind recurring dreams. It has been seen that the presence of recurrent dreams is due to lower levels of mental and psychological well-being.

The existence of symptoms of anxiety and depression leads to certain levels of lucid dreams, which might create disruptive sleep patterns or exhaustive sleep.

A scientific explanation of dreams

A recent Texas A& M Health Science Center College of Medicine neuropsychologist came out with a journal that said that dreams occur when the cortical parts of our brain remain active even when we are asleep.

The brain's cortical parts are the areas responsible for higher-order functions of a human body, like language and speech mode. However, it remains active even during sleep. Consecutively, the brain prevents sending messages to the lower portions of the body to prevent any forms of movement in sleep.

Usually, messages sent during wake hours from the cortical parts of our bodies would otherwise cause movement. The fully-functional brain knows how to activate certain modes and keep the other modes on a paused note.

Dream interpretation in the psychic world

Well, dream interpretation is quite resourceful in the psychic medium world. Various psychics connect dreaming with an internal connection between two people. According to psychic experts dreaming about someone continuously over a long period usually means they are thinking of you.

Maybe this someone hasn’t been in your life for a long time and might have no real-life connection with you. Still, you have been dreaming about them frequently. This dreaming also means that that person might be deeply thinking about you.

Now, this dreaming of the same person over and over again could also mean that this person has thought of you many times, and you are always in their subconscious, superconscious and unconscious mind.

Now thinking of this person about you might make you dream about them. These connections are psychic connections and are neither rare nor popular. Sometimes you might not be dreaming of your ex-boyfriend, but you will be dreaming of this specific person because that person cannot forget you and holds some intense feelings for you.

It is just that every time you dream, their thoughts about you enter your head. Now, nothing they thought about you yesterday needs to be dreamt of by you today. There is no specific time limit. Maybe this someone might have thought about you two months back, and now you might be getting dreams about them.

It&rsquo's a psychic connection with no scientific theory attached to it. In the novel Jane Eyre, authored by Charlotte Bronte, the protagonist Jane dreams of her love interest Mr. Rochester and wakes up with a startle; at the same time, at least some time back, Mr. Rochester was deeply thinking about Jane Eyre and was heartbroken. So these dreams are mentioned in classic novels, but scientific facts are difficult to relate.

Dreams and mental health

Sometimes people do not dream at all. In some other times as a whole, not dreaming is no cause of trouble. Now one mustn’t be worried that they are not dreaming, and there are even a few things one can do to encourage storing a dream memory if they want to check it with their real-life events and consequences.

Sometimes, a lack of dreaming also signifies a lack of quality sleep. Now that’s related to some other issues, and that's another story. Poor sleep could be a huge sign of a physical or mental health problem.

One must not be reluctant about it as poor sleep patterns affect the dream and overall lifestyle and health. Chronic sleep problems can harm a person's overall health, so one must be very careful to take care of their sleep and dreams.