Andre
You probably must have wondered why you don’t remember the details of your dreams, and why they’re often so fuzzy when you do remember them. Dreams are interesting, and they are a part of the life of every human being. They affect our lives in subtle ways, even though we may not realize it. Sometimes, the impact of dreams in our lives can be profound.
Psychologists have studied dreams for years and come up with interesting discoveries. Most times, our dreams do come true. In some cases, we remember them vividly as they play out in real life.
Many folks often rely on events that unfold in their dreams when making important decisions. For example, someone who had had an aggressive dream may naturally seek ways to reduce stress during the day. If you dreamt that you got mobbed in an alley in a dream, you’re probably going to be more careful about going out alone or walking along lonely paths.
Notwithstanding, our dreams are a beautiful part of our lives. We can use them to our benefit, especially if they are pre-cognitive in nature. That is, you can tell what happens in the future from your dreams. Hence, you might want to pay a bit more attention to the details of your dreams. Here are some psychological facts about dreams that everyone should know.
#1 Dreams Help Us Relax
You already can tell that resting helps in stress relief. So is dreaming. That should come as a surprise, especially when you wonder how a nightmare affects your sleep or mind.
Scientists, however, have discovered that taking a trip to Dreamland helps to take the edge off. Scientists at UC Berkeley reported in the Nov. 23, 2011, issue of the journal Current Biology that the brains of participants’ in the research showed decreased levels of certain chemicals associated with stress during the dream phase of sleep. This is also called REM sleep.
Rapid eye movement (REM) is a stage in your sleep when rest is profound, and brain activity is high. Matthew Walker, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, said in a statement that during REM sleep, there is a sharp decrease in levels of norepinephrine, a brain chemical that’s associated with stress.
#2 You Can Control Your Dreams
Being able to control your dream is called lucid dreaming. This is a type of dream in which you’re aware that you’re dreaming. That is you see yourself as a character in your own dream. Scientists think that lucid dream is a combination state of both your consciousness and REM sleep, in which case you can control or direct the events of your dream.
According to Dr Jayne Gackenbach, a psychologist at Grant MacEwan University in Canada, a good example of this is people who frequently play video games. He explained in his research that such persons are more likely than non-gamers to have lucid dreams.
They were also better able to influence the content of their dreams, as though there were controlling a video-game character. Dr Gackenbach concluded that that level of control could help people turn a scary nightmare into a pleasant dream.
#3 Men Have Different Dreams Than Women
According to research, men are more likely to have aggressive dreams than women. Just as we have psychological differences in men and women, there are differences reported in men and women when it comes to dreaming.
Some research reports that men dream about weapons way more often than the womenfolk did. Women, on the other hand, dreamed about milder things like clothing more often than men.
Another story suggests that men dream more about sex than women do. While women dreamt more about conversation and nightmares than physical activities, men are more likely to have aggressive content in their dreams.
#4 Late Sleepers Are More Likely To Have Nightmares
According to a research published in 2011 in the Sleep and Biological Rhythms journal, 264 university students were interviewed. The study discovered that night owls are more likely than their early-bird counterparts to have nightmares.
While going to bed late allows you to enjoy most of the evening before visiting Dreamland, it does come with a bit of discomfort for some people.
The research was unclear about what exactly was the link between sleep habits and nightmares. It did note, however, that the difference was significant.
#5 Dreams Help Us To Solve Puzzles
Another interesting discovery is how our dreams help us create the solution to mind-boggling challenges, which may have escaped us during the day.
Psychologist Deirdre Barrett postulates in her 2010 presentation to the Association for Psychological Science in Boston that our slumbering hours may help us discover solutions to puzzles that evaded solutions earlier during the day. More scientists have made findings in this. This often happens in the REM stage of sleep.
#6 Blind People May Dream Visually
Researchers have also found out in a study of people who have been blind at birth that they still seemed to experience visual imagery in their dreams. In addition to this, they were observed to have eye movements that correlated to visual dream recall.
These eye movements were also found to be fewer during REM for the blind participants than it is for the sighted participants in the study.
#7 Violent Dreams Can Be A Warning Sign Of Something Serious
If you have ever had a dream where something dangerous happened, which then goes on to repeat itself in real life, then you’d agree with this as a fact. Some studies have actually investigated this.
For instance, a study conducted on medical records from Mayo clinic observed that 13 out of 27 patients who had been diagnosed with cases of REM sleep behavior disorder reported from 2002 to 2006 went ahead to show signs of dementia and mild cognitive impairment. This disorder sometimes included inflicting physical injuries to oneself and others.
Conclusion
In as much as we tend to forget most details about our dreams, they still are a major part of our lives. Sometimes, it may help to make notes of what you remember as soon as you get out of bed.
