This topic is meant to help readers learn how to understand their dreams and to use them to better their lives by providing convenient and objective information on the subjects presented. This first post is an introduction to the content. I've tried to format it in a way that will be easier to read. Simply look at the bold text and you know what that section is about. If its not interesting you can skip on down to the next without any trouble.

For the most part these are just my thoughts. I do not dictate myself as an authority in any of this content. It is, however, based on years of learning, practice and legitimate higher education. As a psych major I have taken courses on dreams, interpreting them and understanding their psychological relevance. I have been using real techniques (that I will share at some point) to help people interpret their dreams for about 3 years now.

As always this is not my thread. Anybody who wishes to contribute may do so (If fact I kinda hope some of you help out as it would be easier on me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) ) So if you have any articles or information to share it would be welcomed.

1. General Physiology: Dreams are a state of mind where the body is mostly paralyzed, unconscious and the brain fires neuro pathways at random. This random firing of brain cells produces the affect of a dream. A dream in and of itself is regarded as nothing more than the random formation of images and sensations. Any five of our senses can be experienced, though smell is the rarest, despite its connection to memory. There is no data proving or disproving that dreams carry any denotative meaning. Also there is no known single location where dreams originate in the brain. One can experience dream like sensations at any time in the sleep cycle. But the most vivid dreams occur during REM (rapid eye movement). REM lasts for a period of about 10-30 minutes during the stages of sleep. While the REM stage of sleep only lasts for part of the night, people can expect to go through 90 minutes cycles and experience this stage several times in one night. It is believed some times dreams may actually resume, as though set on pause when REM is over and then continues where it left off when a person reenters REM. We could get into the stages of sleep but they have little to do with dreaming (at least in laymen's terms) and its really boring.

Everybody dreams. Some, like about 10-12%, dream only in black and white. Most people actually have dozens (possibly even hundreds) of dreams in a single night even though the over all period of time that we dream only lasts for about 2-3 hours. Most dreams are short lasting, going from only a few seconds to minutes. Some last up to 15 or 20 minutes and only on rare occassion do they last longer than 20 minutes. It is estimated that people will have from over a billion to possibly even a trillion dreams in a life time. The problem with gauging this is in knowing when a dream begins and when it ends. Over half the total population experiences reoccuring dreams.

Dreams are strongly linked to memory formation and processing. The vast majority of people, something like 2/3, do not remember many of their dreams and for the most part of their life do not regard them as important, even though they spend about 6 years of their life dreaming. When a person wakes they lose about 90% memory of their dreams in about the first 10 minutes. People can be taught to remember how to remember, even control/manipulate their dreams. The most vivid dreams occur either in the latest stages of sleep (like early in the morning) or when people take naps in the afternoon.

Despite common belief only about 10 percent of dreams are of a sexual nature. The reason why these kinds of dreams are thought to be common is because they are the easiest to remember (who'd of thought that?).

When it comes to sleep disorders the only common ones are insomnia (too little REM) andf hyposomnia (too much sleep). Its estimated that 1/3 of the population will suffer from some form of insomnia or sleep apnea (episodes of snoring) in their life time. Other commonly known disorders, parasomnias, such as sleep walking/talking/eating (in rare cases even driving or sexual activity) only happen in a very small portion of people and they very seldom remember such occurances. Despite popular belief narcolepsy is not a sleep disorder. Its a neurological condition that results in sudden sleeping spells caused by brain seizures.

2. Why do we dream?: Really we don't know why for certain.

There are many theories. For example some believe that dreams serve as an occupant to the mind; the mind gets bored and it produces dreams to stay occupied. The thinking is that if the brain produces dreams it pascifies the body as a whole and makes it less likely to react as though it were under attack, in danger or dying.

Some believe we dream because the mind uses them as a mechanism to process sensory information. Sort of like rebooting a computer. In this way dreams are like an organic cataloging system and information we take in is committed to memory based on the degree of experiences.

Another theory is that the mind never really looses total consciousness and that dreams are forms of expression we are not capable of or willing to show. Thus under this model dreams serve to facilitate the basic human need to express itself in a way that doesn't cause harm or where such expression could cause harm in real life.

Still some believe that dreams are nothing more than a bi-product of natural human functions that serve to maintain the greater health of the whole body. Most theories agree that sleeping in general is a restoritive measure for the body. It is also known that if the body is deprived of REM sleep long enough, it dies. If the body is depeprived of its senses through sensory deprivation long enough, the mind goes insane and creates its own reality. Likewise, some researchers have looking into neuro-feedback for therapy purposes.

3. Do dreams have any meaning?: There are two main schools of thought for this. One dreams do not have any intentional/biological meaning at all. In other words we just dream and then give them meaning when we are conscious as a sort of way to justify their purpose.

The second theory is that dreams do have meaning, or more over purpose, that being to process information and act as a sort of second consciousness to help the greater mind realize repressed memories along with their emotions and desires. Under this theory, dreams act as a sort of diagnostic tool bringing physical and mental issues to the attention of the greater mind.

4. States of consciousness: There are four basic levels of consciousness during dreams.

- No awareness or control at all. The vast majority of dreams (about 90%) are spent at this level. These dreams are usually not the ones you remember - you can be not very commonly. In these kinds of dream the content tends to be wild and more like static from a radio than coherent imagery with detail and possibly meaning. People have no control over their actions within dreams at this state and do not know they are actually dreaming.

- Little awareness and control. Of the dreams people do remember these are the most common. They generally take place in a generic theme; like a school, church, home, favorite park, outerspace or under water. In this state people sometimes report flying, falling, talking or writing they cannot understand or see familiar faces. Also people are engaging is some activity like doing the dishes or taking a test, walking a dog - basically any common activity. Most people do not have control in this state but sometimes they get like a "burst" of awareness that allows them to control very simple details.

- Lucid dreaming; some awareness, some control. At this state a person is aware enough to realize they are dreaming. For the most part elements within the imagery and content is still out of control and random. But people at this state can control specific details by willpower alone. These kinds of dreams are vivid and easily remembered but tend to be shorter and only last from a few seconds to minutes. This is because once the mind is aware, its no longer unconscious and it begins to wake up. These kinds of dreams are also very rare, occurring in most only 3% of the time. Incidentally one of the most common themes for lucid dreams in men around the ages of 15-35 is sexual in nature.

- High lucid dreaming; total control, total awareness. In this state a person is able to control every detail, interact with their dreams, change dreams even explore theoretical ideas like magick and astral projection. Like lucid dreams, without practice, they last only a short time but are extremely vivid. However these kinds of dreams only occur naturally about 1% of the time.

5. Psychological relevance:

- Therapy. Psychologist have linked dreams to memory and memory function. It is believed that with the aid of council a person can recover repressed memories that can shade light on hidden desires, emotions, thoughts, experiences as well as help in the healing process of dealing with traumatic events. Dreams may be able to help amnesiacs recover lost identities, be used to help people with Alzheimers or other memory loss. Dreams in general can be used as a medium by therapists to facilitate recover from mental disorders - even schizophrenia - but especially with depression and anxiety and other mood disorders.

- Recreation. Dreams can be a good source of relaxation. In high lucid dreams one is basically God of their mind and can do anything they want; anything they can imagine.

- Exploration. We have machines to monitor brain waves and pin point what happens where and this gives some insight into the secrets of the brain. But to really understand the brain, more over unlock its secrets, we'll need to actually explore dreams themselves to gather empirical data. Consider this: intellect and memory could be related to our ability to dream. Now consider the really good stuff: Dreams might be able to help us understand paranormal sciences and do so irrefutably - things like psychic abilities, telepathy, shared dreams, astral projection, even telekinesis and mind over matter could be unlocked through our dreams.

- Self diagnostic. Dreams can alert us to health problems if we are able to recognize the proper patterns in our dreams.

6. Mystical/occult relevance: Dreams have long been associated with magickal powers. Shaman thought of the dream world as its own reality independent of this world in which supernatural beings existed and could be contacted for service. Dreams could be the keys to understanding metaphysical existence. We may be able to tare down the doors of perception and see the universe in a way that truly shows us reality for what it is. Dream magick in general is considered a powerful tool and its highly flexible, anybody can do it without having to be a master at some craft.

[edit] Information updated

This post has been edited by Acid09: Feb 24 2008, 08:00 PM