Dreams are stories and images that our minds create while we
sleep. They can be entertaining, fun, romantic, disturbing,
frightening, and sometimes bizarre.
Why do dreams occur? What causes them? Can we control them? What do they
mean?
Fast facts on dreams
We may not remember dreaming, but everyone is thought to dream between 3
and 6 times per night
It is thought that each dream lasts between 5 to 20 minutes.
Around 95 percent of dreams are forgotten by the time a person gets out of bed.
Dreaming can help you learn and develop long-term memories.
Blind people dream more with other sensory components compared with
sighted people.
Causes
There are several theories about why we dream. Are dreams merely part of the sleep
cycle, or do they serve some other purpose?
Possible explanations include:
representing unconscious desires and wishes
interpreting random signals from the brain and body during sleep
consolidating and processing information gathered during the day
working as a form of psychotherapy
What are dreams?
Dreams are basically stories and images that our mind creates while
we sleep. They can be vivid. They can make you feel happy, sad, or
scared. And they may seem confusing or perfectly rational.
Dreams can happen at any time during sleep. But you have your
most vivid dreams during a phase called REM (rapid eye movement)
sleep, when your brain is most active. Some experts say we dream at
least four to six times a night.
Nightmares
Nightmares are distressing dreams that cause the dreamer to feel a number of
disturbing emotions. Common reactions to a nightmare include fear and anxiety.
They can occur in both adults and children, and causes include:
stress
fear
trauma
emotional difficulties
illness
use of certain medications or drugs
CHARACTERS
Studies have examined the “characters” that appear in dream reports and how they the
dreamer identifies them.
A study of 320 adult dream reports found:
Forty-eight percent of characters represented a named person known to the
dreamer.
Thirty-five percent of characters were identified by their social role (for
example, policeman) or relationship to dreamer (such as a friend).
Sixteen percent were not recognized
Among named characters:
Thirty-two percent were identified by appearance
Twenty-one percent were identified by behavior
Forty-five percent were identified by face
Forty-four percent were identified by “just knowing”
Forgetting dreams
Studies of brain activity suggest that most people over the age of 10 years dream
between 4 and 6 times each night, but some people rarely remember dreaming.
It is often said that 5 minutes after a dream, people have forgotten 50 percent of its
content, increasing to 90 percent another 5 minutes later.
Most dreams are entirely forgotten by the time someone wakes up, but it is not known
precisely why dreams are so hard to remember.
Steps that may help improve dream recall, include:
waking up naturally and not with an alarm
focusing on the dream as much as possible upon waking
writing down as much about the dream as possible upon waking
making recording dreams a routine
