For centuries people have pondered the meaning of dreams. Early civilizations thought of them as a medium between the world and that of the gods. In fact, the Greeks and Romans were convinced that dreams had certain prophetic powers. While there has always been a keen interest in the interpretation of human dreams, it was not until the end of the 19th century that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung presented some of the most widely-known modern theories of dreaming.shifa news
Theories about dreams
Dream material was viewed by Freud as providing a royal road to the unconscious. Also, being a vehicle for unearthing specific traumatic experiences from the past. His theory centred on the basis of repressed longing – the idea that dreaming allows us to sort through unresolved and repressed wishes.shifa news
Carl Jung also believed that dreams had psychological importance, but suggested different theories about their meaning. To Freud, dreaming provided a play field for the unconscious mind. To Jung, it was a stage where the psyche’s archetypes acted out primal themes.shifa news
Newer theories hold that dreams help brain consolidate emotional memories. They help brain work though current problems like divorce and work frustrations.shifa news
Inability to dream
Recently, scientists have also identified where dreaming is likely to occur in the brain. A very rare clinical condition known as Charcot-Wilbrand Syndrome has been known to cause loss of the ability to dream. This was among other neurological symptoms. However, it was not until a few years ago that a patient reported to have lost her ability to dream while having virtually no other permanent neurological symptoms. The patient suffered a lesion in a part of the brain known as right inferior lingual gyrus (located in the visual cortex). Thus, we know that dreams are generated in or transmitted through this particular area of the brain. This area is associated with visual processing, emotion and visual memories.shifa news
But that does not mean dreams are devoid of meaning. Anyone who can remember a vivid dream knows that at times the strange night-time scenes reflect real hopes and anxieties or constantly dreaming about themselves getting pricked by something or the other or failing in exam etcetera. For everyone else, the idea of dreams as a kind of sound check for the brain may bring some comfort, as well.shifa news
Dream interpretation
Dream interpretations suggest that dream is indicative of a difficult childhood experience. For example, getting lost in a public or unfamiliar place, being abandoned by parents or being lonely – the three critical items.shifa news
To understand what the therapist does with the specific dream material, it would be interesting to use an example. Suppose a patient came in with a dream report about walking up a mountainside alone on a chilly day. And commented that the dream must mean that he finds mountain walking appealing. The therapist might then discuss part of the dream, mentioning the mountain that he reported being alone there. Moreover, despite the patient’s remark about liking mountain walking, the “chilly day” suggests that the feeling might be a “cold” one.shifa news
At that point, the therapist would try to induce the patient to agree with this suggestion. The dreamer might then move towards a generalised interpretation, suggesting that this dream means he is not totally happy with himself or needs challenge, resists being helped by others, and might have social or interpersonal difficulties. The therapist then might suggest that the dream content, and the feelings about that dream are probably due to some past experience which he might not even remember.shifa news
The therapist would then analyse that the specific details mentioned are commonly due to certain bad experiences before the age of three. For example being lost in a public place, being abandoned even temporarily by parents or finding oneself lonely and lost in an unfamiliar place. Finally, the therapist would assess whether any of the critical events happened to the participant before he was three years old. When the patient expresses that he cannot remember these experiences, the therapist interprets how childhood experiences are often buried in the unconscious but do get revealed in dreams.shifa news
Role of dreams in processing emotions
Dreams are known to guide us, process our feelings and emotions by encoding and constructing memories of them. What we see and experience in our dreams might not necessarily be real. However, the affects attached to these experiences certainly are significant.shifa news
Analyst interprets dreams and believes that they primarily attempt to slice the emotions out of a certain experience by making a memory of it. This way, the emotions itself are no longer active. This process completes an important role because when we cannot process our emotions, especially negative ones; this enhances feelings of worry and anxiety. Dreams happen in REM (rapid eye movement) sleep phase. Dream analysts consider that dreams track traffic on the hanging bridge which connects our experiences with our emotions and memories.shifa news
By: Prof Dr Fawad Kaiser, Psychiatrist
