Definition Essay: The Power Of Dreams

Dreams are the series of storyline images we experience as we sleep. Dreams can be entertaining, frightening, or unusual. Dreams can occur anytime during sleep, however, REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is when most vivid dreams occur which is when the brain is most active. Apparently, we can dream from four up to six times per night, according to some experts. We all dream - even if we forgot our dreams as soon as we wake up. Dreams aren’t always easily comprehended, neither are they instantly remembered in a clear manner. They are however cleverly symbolic, our dreams relate different things to provide a message, with elements that are processed quickly by our brains. For example playing a game of hangman, where you display symbols and reenactment

Daydreams tend to involve the familiar details of our daily life—perhaps picturing possible scenarios, or replaying personal encounters we relish or regret. REM dreams—“hallucinations of the sleeping mind”(Loftus & Ketcham, 1994, p. 67)—are vivid, emotional, and bizarre—so vivid we may sometimes confuse them with reality. Awakening from a nightmare, a 4-year-old may be sure there is a bear in the house, for example. We spend six years of our life in dreams, most of that time is reserved for negative encounters. For both women and men, 8 in 10 dreams are marked by at least one negative event or emotion (Domhoff, 2007). Common themes are repeatedly failing in an attempt to do something; of being attacked, pursued, or rejected; or of experiencing misfortune (Hall et al., 1982). Aggression is the most frequent type of social interaction reported in dreams, friendliness and sexual interactions are also quite common. Dreamers are involved in about 80% of the aggressions in their dreams, and when they are involved they are more often the victim than the aggressor (Domhoff, 1996; Hall & Van de Castle, 1966). After suffering a trauma, people commonly report nightmares, compared with non-musicians, musicians report twice as many dreams of music, compared with city-dwellers, people in hunter-gatherer societies more often dream of animals. We usually dream of ordinary events and everyday experiences, most involving some anxiety or