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| Carey, Benedict. "A Dream Interpretation: Tuneups for the Brain ." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 09 Nov 2009. Web. 24 Apr 2010. |
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Lucid dreaming
(Source #1) |
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In fact, research suggests that only about 20 percent of dreams contain people or places that the dreamer has encountered. Most images appear to be unique to a single dream.
Scientists know this because some people have the ability to watch their own dreams as observers, without waking up. This state of consciousness, called lucid dreaming.
Lucid dreaming occurs during a mixed state of consciousness, sleep researchers say — a heavy dose of REM with a sprinkling of waking awareness. |
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| Anyone who can remember a vivid dream knows that at times the strange nighttime scenes reflect real hopes and anxieties: the young teacher who finds himself naked at the lectern; the new mother in front of an empty crib, frantic in her imagined loss. |
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| But people can read almost anything into the dreams that they remember, and they do exactly that. In a recent study of more than 1,000 people, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard found strong biases in the interpretations of dreams. For instance, the participants tended to attach more significance to a negative dream if it was about someone they disliked, and more to a positive dream if it was about a friend. |
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| In studies, scientists have found evidence that REM activity helps the brain build neural connections, particularly in its visual areas. The developing fetus may be “seeing” something, in terms of brain activity, long before the eyes ever open — the developing brain drawing on innate, biological models of space and time, like an internal virtual-reality machine. Full-on dreams, in the usual sense of the word, come much later. Their content, in this view, is a kind of crude test run for what the coming day may hold |
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Cadman, Brie. "Six Reasons We Have Bad Dreams." Divine Caroline. Real Girls Media Network, Inc., n.d. Web. 9 May 2010. |
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Stress & Anxiety
(Source #2) |
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| Anxiety and stress, often as the result of a traumatic life event, are sometimes the cause of nightmares and bad dreams. According to the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD), a major surgery or illness, grieving over the loss of a loved one, and suffering or witnessing an assault or major accident can trigger bad dreams and nightmares. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is also a common cause of recurrent nightmares. |
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Spicy Foods
When and what we eat may affect our nighttime rest, if not our tendency toward bad dreams. A small study published in the International Journal of Psychophysiology had a group of healthy men eat spicy meals before bed on some evenings and compared their quality of sleep on nights where they had non-spiced meals. On the spicy nights, the subjects spent more time awake and had poorer quality sleep. The explanation is that spicy food can elevate body temperatures and thus disrupt sleep. This may also be the reason why some people report bad dreams when they eat too close to bedtime. Though few studies have looked at it, eating close to bedtime increases metabolism and brain activity and may prompt bad dreams or nightmares. |
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Fat Content of Food
(Source #2) |
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| Though far from conclusive, some research has indicated that the more high-fat food you consume during the day, the greater the chance that the amount and quality of your sleep may suffer. A small study published in 2007 in Psychological Reports found that the dreams of people who ate a high amount of organic food differed from those who ate “junk foods.” The authors hypothesize that certain foods may negatively influence dreaming. |
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| Though alcohol is a depressant that will help you fall asleep in the short term, once its effects wear off, it can cause you to wake up prematurely. Excess consumption can also lead to nightmares and bad sleep; nightmares are also a common occurrence for those going through alcohol withdrawal. |
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| Some drugs, including antidepressants, barbiturates, and narcotics, can cause nightmares as a side effect. For instance, a 2008 study published in the journal Pyschopharmacology looked at ketamine, a drug used in anesthesia and recreationally, and found that compared with a placebo, ketamine use resulted in more dream unpleasantness and increased the incidence of bad dreams. Similarly, anyone who has traveled to a country where malaria is endemic may have taken Lariam and had some interesting nightmares associated with it. Nightmares usually cease once the drug is cleared from the system. |
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| Illnesses that include fever, such as the flu, can often trigger nightmares. And other sleeping disorders, including apnea and narcolepsy, may also increase the incidence of bad dreams and nightmares. |
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| "Types of Dreams." What Causes Dreams. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 May 2010. <http://www.types-of-dreams.net/index.html>. |
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| When we are awake, we associate this with being who we are. It is the part of us in charge of all the decision making we do in the day. It is who think we are as an awake human. But in a dream state, our waking consciousness is normally turned off, so all the important faculties such as analytical abilities, logic and questioning tend to be dormant. But in a lucid dream, you literally walk a door from physical reality into one of pure mental existence. Your thoughts effortlessly paint the dreamscape and you have full mental faculties as you would if you were awake. You extend your conscious existence into a realm where you are the creator. Your abilities to imagine are increased to quantum levels where the very thought of a building can create architecture unlike anything imagined in our physical world. This is a place where you discover just how real and unlimited your imagination can be. |
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Precognitive Dreams
(Source #3) |
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| Precognition is an ability to know and experience a future event before it ever occurs. Not everybody has had a precognitive dream that they remember, but many do. And déjà vu is the shadow of such colossal events in human consciousness. A part of you just skipped the time/space continuum to check out what it will be doing in some later date. Seldom controlled, these dreams are spontaneous, faint and ghost like. |
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| These dreams hold the paralyzing fears we have stored layer after layer in our jumbled consciousness. It's the realm of demons, monsters, goblins, aliens, freak shows, murder, insanity, darkness. It's the realm of our deepest human fears struggling with our moral mind as to why we think what we think. |
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| Daydreaming is the spontaneous imagining or recalling of various images or experiences in the past or the future. When you daydream, you are accessing your right brain, which is the creative and feminine side of your personality. Worrying about something creates visual images in your brain of the worst outcome that you are imagining and is a form of daydreaming. By repeating these negative images in your mind, you are more likely to make them happen. So the next time you start worrying, try to think of a positive outcome. Positive daydreaming is very healthy and acts as a temporary escape from the demands of reality. It is also a good way to release built up frustrations without physically acting them out. |
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| Mann, Molly. "Life in Your Words." Seven Common Dreams and What They Mean. Real Girls Media Network, Inc., n.d. Web. 9 May 2010. |
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| Chase dreams are one of several common dream themes, stemming from feelings of anxiety in your waking life. Flee and flight is an instinctive response to a physical threat in the environment. In these dreams, the scenario features you being pursued by an attacker, an animal, a monster or an unknown figure, who wants to hurt or possibly kill you. Consequently, you run, you hide or you try to outwit your pursuer. Your actions in the dream parallel how you would respond to pressure and cope with fears, stress or various situations in your waking life. Instead of confronting the situation, your dream indicates that you have a tendency to run away and avoid the issue. Ask yourself who is chasing you, so that you can gain an understanding and insight of the source of your fears and anxieties. |
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As with most common dream themes, falling is an indication of insecurities, instabilities, and anxieties. You are feeling overwhelmed and out of control in some situation in your waking life. This may reflect the way you feel in your relationship or in your work environment. You have lost your foothold and can not hang on or keep up with the hustle and bustle of daily life. When you fall, there is nothing that you can hold on to. You more or less are forced toward this downward motion without any control. This lost of control may parallel a waking situation in your life.
According to Freudian theory, dreams of falling indicate that you are contemplating giving into a temptation or impulse. You maybe lacking indiscretion.
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Becoming mortified at the realization that you are naked in public, reflects your vulnerability or feelings of shamefulness. You may be hiding something and are afraid that others can see right through you. Metaphorically, clothes are a means of concealment. Depending on the type of clothes you wear, you can hide your identity or be someone else. But without them, everything is hanging out for all to see. You are exposed and left without any defenses. Thus your naked dream may be telling you that you are trying to be something that you really are not. Or you are fearful of being ridiculed and disgraced. Such anxieties are elevated especially in situations where you are trying to impress others. Perhaps you are in a new work environment or in a new relationship. You may be expressing fears or apprehension in revealing your true feelings in such situations.
Nudity also symbolizes being caught off guard. Finding yourself naked at work or in a classroom, suggests that you are unprepared for a project at work or school. You may be unprepared in making a well informed decision. With all eyes on you, you fear that some flaw will be brought to public attention. You fear that people will see through your true self and you will be exposed as a fraud or a phony.
Often times, when you realize that you are naked in your dream, no one else seems to notice. Everyone else in the dream is going about their business without giving a second look at your nakedness. If this happens in your dream, then it implies that your fears are unfounded; no one will notice except you. You may be magnifying the situation and making an issue of nothing. |
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Teeth falling out
(Source #4) |
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One theory is that dreams about your teeth reflect your anxieties about your appearance and how others perceive you. Sadly, we live in a world where appearance and attractiveness matter and your teeth help to convey that image. Teeth play an important role in the game of flirtation, whether it be flashing those pearly white, kissing or necking. Thus, such dreams may stem from a fear of rejection, sexual impotence or the consequences of getting old. Additionally, a dream research found that women in menopause have frequent dreams about teeth. This further points to teeth dreams as being related to getting older and/or feeling unattractive and less feminine. Teeth are an important feature to your attractiveness and how you are presented to others. Caring about how you look is natural and healthy.
Another rationalization for these falling teeth dreams may be rooted in your fear of being embarrassed or making a fool of yourself in some situation. These dreams are an over-exaggeration of your worries and anxieties. Perhaps the dream may be a result of you being unprepared for the task at hand.
Teeth are used to bite, tear, chew and gnaw. In this regard, teeth represent power. And the loss of teeth in your dream may be from a sense of powerlessness. Are you lacking power in some current situation? Perhaps you are having difficulties expressing yourself or getting your point across. You feel frustrated when your voice is not being heard. You may be experiencing feelings of inferiority and a lack of self-confidence in some situation or relationship in your life. This dream may be an indication that you need to be more assertive and believe in the value of your own opinion. |
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If you are flying with ease and enjoying the scene and landscape below, then it suggests that you are on top of a situation. You have risen above something. It may also mean that you have gained a different perspective on things. Flying dreams and the ability to control your flight is representative of your own personal sense of power.
Having difficulties staying in flight indicates a lack of power in controlling your own circumstances. You may be struggling to stay aloft and stay on course. Things like power lines, trees, or mountains may further obstruct your flight. These barriers represent a particular obstacle or person who is standing in your way in your waking life. You need to identify who or what is hindering you from moving forward. It may also be an indication of a lack of confidence. You need to believe in yourself and not be afraid. |
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To dream that you are taking an exam, indicates that you are being put to the test or being scrutinized in some way.Such dreams highlight your feelings of being anxious and agitated. You may find that you cannot answer any of the questions on the test or that the test is in some foreign language. Is time running out and you find that you can not complete the exam in the allowed time? Or are you late to the exam? Does your pencil keep breaking during the exam? Such factors contribute to you failing this test. These dreams usually have to do with your self-esteem and confidence or your lack of. You are worried that you are not making the grade and measuring up to other people's expectations of you. You may also experience the fear of not being accepted, not being prepared, or not being good enough. You feel nervous, insecure and tend to believe the worst about yourself.
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| "HealthScout." Sleepwalking. The HealthCentralNetwork, Inc., 01 April 2009. Web. 9 May 2010. |
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The cause of sleep walking in children is usually unknown but may be related to fatigue, prior sleep loss, or anxiety. Sleep walking in adults can be associated with mental disorders, reactions to drugs and alcohol, or medical conditions such as partial complex seizures. In the elderly, sleep walking may be a symptom of an organic brain or REM behavior disorders. |
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| The sleep walking activity may include simply sitting up and appearing to be awake while actually being asleep, getting up and walking around, or complex activities such as moving furniture, going to the bathroom, dressing and undressing, and similar activities. Some people even drive a car while actually asleep. The episode can be very brief (a few seconds or minutes) or can last for 30 minutes or longer. |
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| One common misconception is that a sleep walker should not be awakened. It is not dangerous to awaken a sleep walker, although it is common for the person to be confused or disoriented for a short time on awakening. Another misconception is that a person cannot be injured when sleep walking. Actually, injuries caused by such things as tripping and loss of balance are common for sleep walkers. |
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