When you were a student you probably had dreams of studying, sitting for your exam or even failing your exam really badly! On the day before a tooth extraction, you probably had a dream of the dentist pulling out the wrong tooth! Not every dream is unpleasant or scary, but everyone will have at least one nightmare during their lifetime. Not all dreams are connected with the real-world. They take us to a world of fantasy. What are these dreams? Why do we see them and what do they mean? Can I predict my future? Many people wonder about these questions.
Wish Fulfillment Theory
Ever had a dream of flying high above the sky? Climbing a stairway? Crossing a bridge? Entering a room? Or riding an elevator? Can you guess what they all have in common? According to Sigmund Freud’s theory of unconscious wish fulfillment, they all mean you want to have sex! Freud said that every dream has two components; Latent content which is the true meaning of dreams and the Manifest content which is the dream we see. Freud believed that dreams are a way of wish fulfillment and represents our unconscious desires. Because these wishes and desires are threatening to the dreamer’s conscious awareness, they are disguised.
By identifying the connection between the latent and manifest content, we can guess the hidden meaning of our dreams. So when you want to express your desire to have sex, you simply take to the sky!
Freud carried out his research to prove this theory by discussing people’s dreams and trying to connect those symbols in dreams to past life experiences. He believed that certain symbols that we see in our dreams have universal meanings. Here are a few examples.
| Symbol (Manifest Content) | Interpretation (Latent Content) |
| Crossing a bridge, climbing a staircase, entering a room, flying, walking down a hallway, travelling through a tunnel | Sexual intercourse |
| Apples, peaches, grapefruits | Breasts |
| Bullets, fire, snakes, sticks, umbrellas, guns, hoses, knives | Male sex organs |
| Ovens, boxes, tunnels, closets, caves, bottles, ships | Female sex organs |
As interesting as it seems, many psychologist now reject these Freudian interpretation of dreams. They believe that dreams are a direct projection of our concerns and not unconscious desires. A study was done to prove this theory, in which the subjects who were sprayed with water reported seeing dreams that involve water like floods, rain etc. Others who were not subjected to this treatment did not report such dreams. This has more credibility as we ourselves have experienced similar incidents like dreaming of a bell ringing and to see it actually is our alarm clock going off.
Dream for Survival Theory
This theory stages that dreaming is a gift from our ancestors. Their brain capacity did not allow them to process sufficient information during waking hours. So dreaming is seen as a mechanism which allows the brain to reprocess and reconsider the information that is crucial and important for our survival. Dreaming literally enables the brain to process information 24 hours a day! Consistent with this theory, dreams are mainly about our uncertainties, concerns, problems, ideas, and desires. So these theorists believed that dreams are manifestations of our daily experiences.
Research has supported this theory suggesting that certain dreams that involve motor skills (how-to-do-it memories) help people to focus, remember and consolidate memory. In one such experiment subjects learned a visual memory task late in the day and they were sent to bed and were awakened many times during the night. When their sleep was interrupted at times which did not interrupt their dreaming they showed good performance in the memory task the next day. But when they were awakened during REM sleep (when they dream) their performance declined. So the theorists say that dreaming helps us remember information to which we have been previously exposed to.
Activation Synthesis Theory
Psychiatrist J. Allan Hobson said that brain produces random electrical energy during REM sleep and this random electrical energy randomly stimulates memories lodged in various parts of the brain. Because we always strive to make sense of what we see, these random memories are weaved into a logical storyline. But he also believes that the memories which are randomly stimulated during sleep represent our fears and desires.
There are a number of other theories that try to explain what dreams actually mean. But till this day nobody has been able to propose a clear-cut explanation supported by evidence which answers our most basic questions like, why do we dream? What do they mean? In the effort to find a biological explanation of dreams, many researchers have proved that the parts of the brain associated with emotions and visual imagery are strongly activated during REM sleep. These results are consistent with Freud’s theory. High activation of emotional centers of the brain during dreams makes it more believable that dreams reflect our unconscious desires.
Also, the fact that the brain regions responsible for rational thought are inactive during REM sleep suggests that ego and superego are hidden permitting unconscious desires to dominate. While scientists rattle their brains debating on dream theories, I hope you enjoy your dreams. 🙂
