SLEEPS AND DREAMS

Why Do We Dream?

Some weeks ago, I used to pay no heed to dreams. But it has come to my knowledge that they are of great significance in our lives. They are meaningful, have a purpose, and even hold the answers to our questions. Dreams truly are a fascinating world packed with the psychology of human nature. 

Fifty-five years ago, the neuroscientist Nathaniel Kleitman discovered the different stages of sleep, including the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, during which our body is paralyzed. Many people thought that dreams were only present during that stage, but studies have shown that you dream in both REM and NON-REM sleep. What caught my attention, though, was the fact that 75% of REM sleep has negative emotions. According to the video, the amygdale, which handles intense fears, becomes activated during REM sleep, causing the negative feelings.

Some people think that dreaming is a way of keeping us asleep, while others believe that dreaming is a motivational system needed for the search of answers. In reality, dreams do tell much of our psychological health. Dr. Antonio Zadra had a mathematical way of deciphering dreams; he counted the number of times someone dreamt a certain thing. He concluded that 80% of our dreams have misfortune and that ¾ of our dreams are negative. Clearly, our dreams express our emotional and social concerns.

Although most of our dreams are negative, they do have a positive impact on our society. To a tribe of Canada, for example, dreams are noteworthy. Dreams are part of their culture; they are brought together by dreams every time they assemble to discuss their significance.

I firmly deem that dreams give us the answers to questions. In fact, thanks to his dreams, the famous Dmitri Mendeleev was able to sort out how to organize the elements in his recognized Periodic Table. Besides, dreams also are a learning method. Dreams link your past memories and their experiences for your improvement in memory. According to Dr. Antti Revonsvo, nightmares are also beneficial - they serve as a training system to prepare us for the real world.

Dreams are definitely an extraordinary world that has never ceased to puzzle us. Why do we dream? Whether it is to find the answers we have longed to find or whether it is to reorganize information, dreams hold the truth of the psychological nature of human beings. Dreams always say what they mean; they are the only ones that can justly reveal what is inside our mind without distorting whatever the truth might be.

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