Why Do People Have Dreams With Different Meanings?

Many people wonder about where do their dreams come from, or why do they dream. Some are also interested about interpreting the meaning of their dreams but they have no single idea about how to start it. When someone is sleeping, he continues to undergo stages, from NON-REM or the stage when there is no Rapid Eye Movement. starts from stage one to stage four. After this, he continues with the fifth stage which is allotted to dreaming or which is scientifically termed as REM stage or the state of Rapid Eye Movement. In this stage, one's eyeballs are noticeably moving. This is because most of the images in dreams are visual in nature, that is why eyeballs are moving to follow the images. These magical yet typical experience arouses one's curiosity about the meaning of dreams.

To know the meaning of this hallucinatory states, it is important first explore its origin for knowing its roots will eventually lead a person to interpret his or her dream without consulting others or reading dream dictionaries which usually contain generalized meanings. Basically, dreams originate from different sources. In biblical and historical context, dreams contained signs or prophecies that guide people. In contemporary times however, it is believed that dreams are symbolic. They have non-literal meaning which may be unique for each individual. Say, if one has dreamed of a monster chasing him, it might mean that he is trying to escape from problems that scare him in real life, or perhaps, is denying an emotion or feeling that he has to face.

Due to phenomenological perspective, it is believed that dreams tell us how to solve our problems, or they could just serve as an extension of unfinished business in real life. For example, if someone argues with a lover before sleeping, that person could dream of arguing with a lover, too. One funny but real explanation is that, dreams have sensory origins. This happens when you dream of looking for a comfort room only to find out that you are actually peeing in real life. And sometimes, stimuli outside become part of your dreams, too, as when you dream of answering a telephone and you find out that your alarm clock is beeping.

Because of technological advancements, scientific researches had been conducted to study the mechanisms of dreaming. In neurology, it is assumed that dreams are just the product of the activation of brain cells or a result of random neural firing within the pons varoli. It is also assumed that dreams occur as a result of our brains' mechanism to get rid of the excess baggage in our minds. That is, as we dream, our brains continuously rearrange memories, retaining the necessary and dumping out the unimportant. Evolutionary perspective however claims that dreams help us to survive and adapt to daily life's situations. This happens when someone dreams of reviewing lessons, only to realize that they actually are preparing for an exam the next day, or by simply practicing basketball when in fact, they are rehearsing for a near tournament.

Everyone is given the chance to avail a good night sleep with free dreams of different subjects and themes. Whatever the image or symbol it may present, it is still the person dreaming who has the sole responsibility of interpreting the contents of his or her dream.

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Sleep and Dreams

Did you get enough sleep last night? Do you know your body and how much sleep is needed? As an adult you should have a pretty good idea of how well you feel with the right amount of sleep. My wife gets headaches if she sleeps in past 8am. I could sleep till noon if my job wasn't in the way.

Most adults should get 6-8 hours of sleep per night. Your lazy teenager that stays up all night and sleeps all day is actually obeying his sleep hormones. His sleep messengers don't kick in till about 1am. Ours, as adults, kick in around 10:00pm.

Sleep is closely tied to good health. But experts and scientist don't know exactly why we sleep. They know for sure that all mammals sleep. But why? Maybe to regenerate our bodies and brains. The reason we know sleep is so important is because those who suffer from any of the long list of sleep disorders can attest to the health issues tied to there sleep disorder.

Disorders include but are not limited to:

Sleep ApneaSnoringInsomniaSleep DeprivationRestless Leg SyndromeNight Terrors (Sleep Terrors)

Any of these disorders can cause sleep problems for both the person who suffers from it and their partner.

Did you know that you can accumulate a sleep debt? A sleep debt occurs when you do not get enough sleep, night after night. Think of it like a bank account. If your sleep account is balanced at 8 hours of sleep per night and you go out with your friends for 3 or 4 nights and only get 4-6 hours of sleep you are now sleep deprived, your account is low. Symptoms of being sleep deprived include being drowsy during the day, nodding off at your work station and needing a greater amount of stimuli to stay awake. Some people have physical problems like stomach upset and decreased appetite. The only way to bring your account current is to sleep in, let's say, on Sunday. Once you are well rested you need to go to bed early enough to keep your body well rested in the next week.

Are you thinking to yourself, "I do go to bed on time and I still fall asleep at my desk. I need 4 cups of coffee to keep me going in the morning." You, my friend, may have an addiction to caffeine. Being reliant on stimulants like coffee and nicotine will cause your body to rebel until the drug of choice is fed to your starving addiction.

Do you dream at night? Do you have nightmares? A dream can be described as "a vivid, complex, hallucinatory experience generally accepted as real by the dreamer." ( Dement ). Scientist know that all mammals sleep but do animals other than humans dream? The answer is yes. MIT scientists studied rats and found that their brain waves, while asleep, exhibited the same brain waves as when they were awake running on a circular track.

No one knows why we dream. Some dreams are pleasant and we are disappointed when we wake up and the beautiful supermodel is gone. Some dreams are terrifying and cause panic until you awaken, relieved, to find we are not naked at school but home safely in bed. Why do we have these dreams? Again scientist hardly understand sleep so they have only theories concerning dreams.

One theory presented by Sigmund Freud was that dreams are latent sexual and physical/emotional desires. That theory is all but forgotten by modern psychiatrist. But that is where we get dream analysis. Like a horoscope, they are fun to read but they are not based in science.

Another theory by Harvard University psychiatrist, James Allen Hobson, is that the brain is randomly firing neurons as we sleep. These random neurons are interpreted by our brains as dreams. He does believe that we can think about the dreams we remember and relate them to our lives possibly making them useful.

Sleep is needed by all of us. Some enjoy it more than others. Leonardo da Vinci the greatest of DREAMERS believed he could get by on short 10-20 minute sleep intervals sleeping no more than 2 hours a day. I enjoy sleeping too much to give this a try but those who have tried it boast of the added free time. I would squander that free time watching more TV or playing video games.

Sleep and dream scholars are trying to learn the how's and why's of sleep. In the future, we may find the gene or part of the brain that causes sleep and dreams. Maybe our children will raise their children taking a pill that simulates sleep thus allowing them to work 18 hour days. How cool would it be if college students could take a "sleep substitute" pill giving them an additional 6-8 hours to study (party).

I don't look forward to the sleep substitute pill. I enjoy bed time when the house becomes quiet and the kids are in bed. It's then that I decompress from the day, read a little or watch something other than Nicktoons. Ultimately, I don't have to worry about a society that doesn't sleep. I don't think it will happen in my life time...or will it? There is already a pill for shift workers that find it difficult to stay awake through the night and sleep during the day. The affliction that is being treated is excessive sleepiness (ES) secondary to shift work disorder (SWD). The drug is used to combat sleepiness thus allowing the night worker to stay awake during his or her shift. The sleep substitute pill is coming!

Ray Antonacci
http://www.oururgentcare.com/
"Make our Urgent Care, Your Urgent Care.'
Visit us at the above link. If your in our area come in for all of your Urgent Care needs.

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How to Interpret Dreams

The process of assigning a meaning to your dreams is known as dream interpretation. This is a study that has gone on for many centuries in many diverse cultures. The first known research done regarding dreams and their meanings was by a neurologist named Sigmund Freud. His theories are still used to a core for many psychologists and spiritualists. Interpreting is attempting to explain something that is obscure; therefore, everyone's dreams will be analyzed as something different to different people.

Dreams are produced from our right brain which causes most of us to dream as symbols, meaning that if you visualize a snake, it may not be about a snake but something that the snake represents. They are not to be taken in the literal sense but rather, metaphorically, but in order to begin to analyze a dream; you should at first take it a face value and proceed from there.

The best way to begin a dream interpretation is to record all of the images you experienced while you were sleeping. It is a great idea to keep a voice recorder close by while you sleep so when you awake, you can record all of your thoughts and feelings. Later, these recordings should be transferred into a notebook making it easier to analyze later. When you have a good record of your dreams, you can begin to analyze them.

Most people turn to online aids such as dream interpretations and dictionaries. These tools will prove to be helpful, but they are generic and will not fit into everyone's life. If you find that these tools do not provide you with the insight you need, you may need to begin to break them down more specifically and ask yourself how they apply to your own life and current situation. Your dreams may be trying to tell you something, solve problems or simply be a memory of something from your past. Dreams are deeply personal to the person who has them, and no one will be able to decipher them better than the person who has experienced them firsthand.

You should review every aspect of your dream. Colors, location, people involved, situation, symbols and of course how you feel after having the dream. These are all important facts that will help you make a good interpretation. If you have a dream all of your teeth fell out, it may not mean that you are self-conscious about your appearance, it may be your brain attempting to let you know that you simply forgot to brush them. Your dreams will somehow fit into your current life or a past situation that has occurred, no one else's.

Don't fret if you are unable to make sense of your dream. For some people, dreams are a continuation of the thoughts you have had during the day. For others, it may be falling asleep with the television on and it transferred into your subconscious, it may be just a memory or caused because you talked about someone specific that day. Practice analyzing your dreams and eventually, it will become very easy to understand your dreams.

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