Day Fifty-eight: A Different Kind of Dream

"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives." ~William Dement

My sleep is often filled with extremely vivid dreams. This can be amazing, terrifying, extremely frustrating and every nuance in between, as there is often no method to my dream madness. It can also leave me feeling exhausted when I wake up, as if I'd been super busy all night instead of actually sleeping (which drives me crazy)! 

I can't make myself dream things I'd like, nor can I control the nights when my mind conjures up images that are frighteningly real and stay with me long after I've woken up. There is also no predicting who or what will show up in my dreams on any given night, ergo frequently I wake up and think, "What in the world made me dream about ______ (insert random person or scenario here)?"

For the last several days my sleep has been rocked by some pretty powerful dreams that have stayed with me well after I woke up; so in light of that I thought I'd share some interesting facts about dreams. Today, my "happy" is that when I close my eyes at night, my mind opens up to opportunities that frequently inspire me, which is why I keep a "Dream Journal" by my bed. I am also grateful that my really scary dreams don't come true.

From the article: 7 Mind-Bending Facts About Dreams
Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
http://www.livescience.com/17290-facts-dreams-nightmares.html

"Psychologists' interpretations of the meaning of dreams vary widely," study researcher Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said in a statement. "But our research shows that people believe their dreams provide meaningful insight into themselves and their world."

Scientists have long wondered why we dream, with answers ranging from Sigmund Freud's idea that dreams fulfill our wishes to the speculation that these wistful journeys are just a side rapid-eye-movement, or REM, sleep. Turns out, at least part of the reason may be critical thinking, according to Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett who presented her theory in 2010 at the Association for Psychological Science meeting in Boston. She has found that our slumbering hours may help us solve puzzles that have plagued us during daylight hours.

No surprise here, men are more likely than women to dream about sex. And comparing notes in the morning may not be a turn on for either guys or gals, as women are more likely to have experienced nightmares, according to doctoral research reported in 2009 by psychologist Jennie Parker of the University of the West of England.
In her study of nearly 200 men and women, ages 18 to 25, Parker found that women's nightmares could be broadly divided into three categories: fearful dreams (being chased or life threatened), dreams involving the loss of a loved one, or confused dreams.

According to Jayne Gackenbach, a psychologist at Grant MacEwan University in Canada, video gamers are more adept at lucid dreaming. "If you're spending hours a day in a virtual reality, if nothing else it's practice," Gackenbach told LiveScience in 2010. "Gamers are used to controlling their game environments, so that can translate into dreams." Her past research has shown that people who frequently play video games are more likely than non-gamers to have lucid dreams where they view themselves from outside their bodies; they also were better able to influence their dream worlds, as if controlling a video-game character. That level of control may also help gamers turn a bloodcurdling nightmare into a carefree dream, she found in a 2008 study. This bar of sorts against nightmares could help war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after combat, Gackenbach reasons.

---