Previous research based on many dream studies including children, adolescents, students, and adults in different cultures reported a “ubiquitous” sex difference in dreams: Whereas male dream characters are more prominent in men’s dreams compared to female dream characters, women tend to dream equally often about males and females. The present findings of 52% in a series of 3828 dreams recorded by a middle-aged male individual indicate that this gender difference might not be “ubiquitous” but depends on the pattern of waking-life social contacts. Studying the ratio of male and female dream characters might help to understand how social life is reflected in dreams.
Typical dream themes like falling, being chased, and being paralyzed are very common in many different cultures and time epochs and are, therefore, also termed universal. The present analyses included data from 4 independent, representative surveys carried out from 1956 to 2000 in Germany. Overall, 5941 participants reported as to whether they had falling dreams, dreams of being chased or being paralyzed. The most frequent topic was being paralyzed; about 26% of the sample reported this dream theme, followed by falling (18%), and being chased (12%). There were no differences between the studies and between age groups. Solely, a small but significant gender difference was found. The findings indicate the stability of these typical dreams, and future study should focus on their details, e.g., the chasing figures, as these might reflect cultural backgrounds. Moreover, it would be interesting to relate the occurrence of typical dream themes to waking-life emotions in order to test the idea that these dreams are metaphorical and dramatized expressions of emotions experienced in waking life.
Nightmares in which the dreamer performs a criminal act and is terrified of being punished have been reported in the literature. Systematic studies of “breaking the law” within dreams, however, are still lacking. Within a long dream series of N = 11,808 dreams, 0.80% of the dreams included some criminal activity often associated with the fear of being arrested; rarely with the feeling of remorse. Studying this dream type offers an opportunity to shed light on the options concerning how dreams might be related to waking-life: thematic continuity, e.g., being dishonest in waking-life and being dishonest in dreams; emotional continuity, e.g., the fear of being found out in the dreams is related to waking-life worries about possible negative evaluations by others; and/or metaphorical continuity, “killing” as a metaphor for ending relationships. Thus, this pilot study provided hypotheses for more in-depth analyses of larger dream samples.
The book of Josie Malinowksi is a well-written and informative introduction into psychological dream research. After definitions and a brief review of the history of dreaming, the author integrates many of the current theories about dream function, e.g., processing of emotions, Social Simulation theory, or dreaming as playing. In addition, clinical aspects, e.g., dream sharing, are reviewed with the interesting idea that working with dreams in waking might enhance the function of dreams. Phenomena like lucid dreams, precognitive dreaming, posttraumatic dreams, and sleep paralysis which are currently discussed widely are presented in a very concise format, clearly demonstrating the author’s knowledge that she has accumulated over more than 10 years of dream research. Lastly, the author emphasizes that dream researchers – like scientists in general – should also discuss the ethical implications of their findings, e.g., when influencing dream content with application of external stimuli.
The continuity hypothesis of dreaming postulates that dreams reflect waking life, e.g. preoccupations, experiences, thoughts; however, other topics like seasonal changes have been studied very rarely. A long dream series recorded between 1984 and 2015 (over 30 years) including 11,808 dreams showed that “cold” elements like snow, ice, and hail occurred less often over time and, thus, indicates that dreams might provide clues regarding global changes. Using modern tools for digital dream content analysis might enable researchers to validate this preliminary finding using other large data sets.
In several large-scale studies, sex is related to the frequency of dream recall, on average, women tend to recall their dreams more often than men. Studies on EEG analysis and its correlation with dreams in women are scarce. We aimed to evaluate REM dreams´ recall frequency and content and their emotional characteristics in healthy young women. 20 young women adults’, nonclinical volunteers, without any history pf psychoactive medication and psychiatric disorders performed two consecutive nights of complete Video-Polysomnography recording. REM awakenings dreams were collected, after 10 consecutive minutes of uninterrupted REM. For every dream described, we applied the Hall and Van Castle method of quantitative and systematic dream content analysis and compared to published normative Hall and Van Castle data. The differences of this Portuguese women group and normative USA data obtained in female college students concern mostly dreaming about family, with dead and imaginary characters, while having increased rates of failure and striving. The cultural influences are a possible explanation.
Dreams could be considered as snippets of memory processed during sleep, to optimize conscious behavior. To comprehend the process of dreaming, one needs to clarify how memory is enabled. We discuss various proposals that were forwarded to clarify the physiologic basis of dreaming. Curiously in an age when mood altering drugs are the rage, psychoanalytic discussions of dreams, a la Freud, have avoided grappling with the neurochemical processes underlying the recall of dreams. We propose that dreams are derived from memory based on a chemically-based coding mechanism. The tripartite mechanism of memory involves the dynamic interactions of neurons with their surrounding extracellular matrix (nECM). Dopants (metal cations and neurotransmitters (NTs)) enable a chemical code, comprising metal-centered complexes representing cognitive units of information (cuinfo), with emotive states encoded by neurotransmitters (NTs). The neuron can decode the cuinfo as the basis of the memory that fuels dreams. Such a chemodynamic process is physiologically credible in that it involves materials and processes available to the neural net. During sleep dreaming, the chemodynamic “reading” of memory units (i.e. cuinfo) is disordered, scrambled and distorted. Sets of memory units (cuinfo) are decorated with NTs, to encode emotive states. Like a deck of randomly dealt cards, the neural “reading” of the cuinfo occurs without reference to temporal sequence or logical order. Rather, the integrated “emotive weight” of the cuinfo complexes determines their existential import during the dreaming process. Similarly, those with greater “emotive weight” are more likely to exert greater import in recall. Ultimately, the brain’s “affective calculus” during subsequent consciousness determines the dream’s impact and interpretation.
The purpose of the study was to identify how influential waking day stress, personality, and emotions can be on the frequency and distress of nightmares. It was hypothesized that higher ratings of waking day stress, neuroticism, and negative emotions would be associated with increased frequency and distress of nightmares. Participants included 52 individuals who filled out questionnaires such as the Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) and the Big Five Inventory (John & Srivastava, 1999). The study found that waking day stress, neuroticism, and negative emotions were significantly positively correlated with nightmare distress. In contrast, extraversion was significantly negatively associated with nightmare frequency, whereas openness to experience had a significant positive correlation with nightmare frequency. This study used self-report data in order to understand which aspects of waking day life can have an impact on nightmare frequency and distress. Limitations and future directions are also addressed.
Most bereaved individuals encounter vivid and profoundly meaningful dreams highlighting the presence of the deceased who can embody and influence the grieving process. In eastern society especially in Pakistan, psychological literature on dreams during grief has been generally ignored. The current study aimed to investigate the presence of recurring themes in the dreams that embodied the deceased child as a character. Semi-structured interviews were held with 4 bereaved couples in Pakistan. Their age ranges from 24 to 48 years. Causes of death include accident, homicide, illness, and suicide. Each of the respondents stated their dreams that occurred following the death of their loved one and volunteered to share it with the researcher. Thematic Analysis (TA) was used to identify and describe meaningful patterns from the interview transcripts. Considering the lack of research into this topic, the aim was to look for pragmatic perceptions. Keywords: dreams, grieved parents, deceased child, dream analysis, thematic analysis
What goes on in our brains while we dream? This book provides a very comprehensive overview of current, as well as past, research that has provided insights into the dreaming brain, and adds to these a new theory about the function of dreams. It also discusses limitations and ethical concerns in the field of dream research, making the book a holistic reference that can either be read cover to cover or used selectively.
One of the most famous case histories from Sigmund Freud is that of ‘Dora,’ who saw Freud in the final months of 1900. Freud published the case study in 1905 as Fragments of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria (‘Dora’). The case study addressed two dreams of Dora and had a draft title Dreams and Hysteria (p.39: here and following, page numbers refer to Freud, 1905/1977). The case study is important because Freud started writing it in the aftermath of mixed reviews of his (1900) The Interpretation of Dreams, and because it provides one of his first instances of publishing detailed examinations of full dream reports combined with considerable details of the life circumstances of the dreamer and of the dreamer’s free associations to the dreams. Dora is now known to have been teenager Ida Bauer, who was living with her family in Vienna when she had psychoanalysis with Freud, and her biography has been pieced together by various authors despite Freud’s aim to anonymise 120th anniversary event for ‘Dora’ telling her burning house dream to Freud
Early response to treatment in depressive disorder is a predictor for duration of illness, full response and remission. Dream anxiety is a common complaint about which patient is distressed and reports to the clinician frequently. There are no studies assessing the relationship between dream anxiety and early response to treatment. The aim was to assess whether change in dream anxiety levels was related to early response to treatment in patients with depressive disorder. 106 patients with depressive disorder were assessed using HAM-D, Van dream anxiety scale at baseline and at follow-up after 1 week. Patients’ adherence to treatment was evaluated by Morisky medication adherence scale-4 and those with high adherence were included for further assessment at follow-up. 41.5% of the study population had early response to treatment. There was 24.7% reduction in the dream anxiety levels after treatment. Improvement in dream anxiety scores (OR = 1.321, 95% CI = 1.079 - 1.618, p-value = 0.007) was significantly associated with early response to treatment. The improvement in dream anxiety was associated with early response to treatment in depressed individuals. Clinical assessment of change in dream anxiety levels could indicate to the early response to treatment, thereby helping in planning the management strategies.
Skill can build a bridge to Heaven’s Gate, but Art alone unlocks it! This is not to downgrade skill, but to put it in its rightful place. Skill is one of the three pillars of art: Head, Hand and Heart. Yet more precisely, skill is a combination of the two pillars of Head and Hand. It’s not until an IDEA comes to the head that art begins, or more accurately, that the process of art makes itself apparent. But where do ideas come from? Not a question over which the artist generally loses any sleep. Yet occasionally he or she will acknowledge that it came in the middle of the night, which might lead us to surmise that it was spawned by a DREAM. It would certainly seem to be a most natural inference, especially since waking up at that time of the night with an idea that promised to catapult us into a fresh phase of creativity, could only have stemmed from a dream that was intimately bound up with what was in the head of the dreamer upon waking. My own research certainly confirms this and more. By this I mean that it isn’t just inspiration that’s dream-based, but life in general. Indeed, since life is transitory like a dream it must be seen as a form of dreaming and thus as comparatively illusive. What on the other hand is constant and real is consciousness. It is not only real and constant, but in fact the sine qua non of existence. Thus, being the ground of existence, it must also be the creative force that brings about the spectacle of the world; and since the artists are an intrinsic part of the world dream, they must be an intrinsic part of its creative impulse. In this light, artists are no longer independent creators of arbitrary works, but an interdependent channel of the creative impulse of consciousness. What is readily forgotten about this creative impulse is the fact that what it manifests is not a permanent entity, but like the dream, a transitory product. In other words, the emanations of consciousness are constantly reabsorbed into Absolute Consciousness, the matrix of existence. This process is intrinsic to the character of creativity whether it be that of the world dream or of the individual artist. In short, this innate principle of manifestation and reabsorption makes the work of the individual artists to a natural channel of reabsorption into the ground of existence with the result that not only the artists themselves are constantly drawn back to their origin, but also the ones that contemplate their work.
Summary. It is not clear that established dream theories adequately explain the purpose of something that accounts for such a substantial percentage of our time. Gewargis’s innovative theory - that dreams function to safeguard the organism during sleep - seems plausible and to have the potential to make an important contribution to a better understanding of why we dream. There are, however, a number of possible problems with it. In particular, the published literature is not used to substantiate the empirical claims upon which the theory is built; and this could be a major issue, as a some of these claims seem to be at variance with current scientific knowledge and/or to have limited face validity. This comment article draws upon the neurology literature to critique and suggest amendments to Gewargis’s theory; and proposes additional hypotheses relating to why and how dreams might act as a monitoring-alerting mechanism and protect the sleeper from a range of internal and external perturbations during REM and NREM sleep; and not just, as Gewargis appears to suggest, guard against inadequate blood flow to the brain or “oxygen-deprivation” to the lungs during REM sleep. A central argument in this comment piece is that to perform a range of functions, such as memory processing, the dream is where the sleeper’s consciousness is focused for much of the time asleep, and so it is also where the alerting-arousal messages need to be presented and processed during that time. In other words, and at variance with what Gewargis proposed, we don’t dream so as to provide a sleep defence mechanism, but a Dream Sleep-Defence Mechanism (DSDM) is needed because we dream. It addition, it argued that dreams - including through the use of broad categories (and, in particular, potential danger/not potential danger), rather than representational reflections of the reality in question - provide a cortical resource efficient mechanism. It is recognised, however, that support for a dream sleep defence mechanism is at best circumstantial and that the idea needs to be tested in experimental studies if it is to move beyond conjecture.
Based on the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, we have studied the effects of quarantine/isolation on the dreams of Italian adolescents during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 235 subjects (73.2% girls;ages 12–18 years, M = 16.08, SD = 1.7) was involved. Participants were asked to complete part of the MADRE Questionnaire, as well as to report their Most Recent Dream by responding to specific questions related to this dream content (e.g., positive vs. negative emotions, realism/bizarreness, and presence of sensory impressions). Results indicated that participants most strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic reported the strongest effects on their dreams, as well as longest dreams. Results also indicated that girls recall dreams more often than boys, in addition to reporting higher emotional intensity, predominantly negative emotions, and more nightmares, including recurrent ones. Finally, the most recent dreams were set in both indoor and outdoor settings, with many family members and friends present. They were marked by strong negative emotions, especially related to dangerous, violent, and frustrating situations. In sum, the findings of this study indicate that the method of quali-quantitative dream content analysis is a very informative approach for studying the effects of significant contextual and catastrophic events on people’s inner lives. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Psychotherapy for nightmares and sleep disturbances in refugees suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an unexamined area. This case study examines efficacy, acceptability, and patient experiences with Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) in 8 refugees with Middle Eastern background and PTSD-related nightmares. The aims of the study were to examine: A. if changes before and after IRT can be detected on measures of sleep quality, PTSD, level of functioning, and quality of life, B. if IRT is acceptable to refugees with PTSD-related nightmares, and C. patients’ individual and shared experiences through the three stages of IRT including changes in nightmare frequency on a sleep log. Qualitative (open questions) and quantitative methods (sleep-log, structured measures, drop-out, cancellation-, and no-show rates) were applied in order to create a thick description of the patients’ experiences throughout their IRT treatment process. Despite relatively high drop-out, cancellations and no-show rates; findings indicate that IRT is acceptable for the patients included in this study. Furthermore, a reduction in nightmare frequency, improvement in sleep quality and daytime functioning was indicated for most patients. IRT seems to be a good non-trauma-focused alternative to trauma-focused therapy for trauma-affected refugees and might also be used as an add on to standard trauma-focused treatment.
You may read, within my journey, of a resonant landscape in your dreams – perhaps intimations unheeded, messages waiting to be deciphered, signs worthy of your exploration, and curiosity. It is my experience that our inner and outer worlds share a common vein or seam, and that the two are luminously interwoven. Within, there is a hidden life that offers a rich resource for understanding, realignment and healing; within, the history in our bodies has a voice. Our dreams have the ability, and capacity, to forge a reconciliation with, and forgiveness of, the past – so that we can move forward into a more vibrant, graceful, and potent present, and future.
Dream recall frequencies exhibit large inter-individual differences, ranging from recalling a dream almost every morning to recalling a dream almost never. Although dream recall has been conceptualized as a stable trait, longitudinal studies in this area are scarce. Within the framework of a complex study, 279 women (mean age: 31.76 ± 4.73 yrs.) completed a brief sleep questionnaire three times (last trimester of their pregnancy, 6 month postpartum, and 4 years postpartum) that included a dream recall frequency scale. The findings indicate that dream recall frequency is quite stable over the four-year period, although the correlation coefficients were somewhat smaller compared to previous studies – probably reflecting the effect of major life transitions (pregnancy, giving birth, caring for small children). The lowest dream recall at 6 month postpartum was not explained by sleep variables (sleep duration, nocturnal awakenings) and favors the hypothesis that interest in dream that might have been low while caring for very small children and this might explain long-term changes in dream recall.
Anecdotal evidence that lucid dreaming might contribute to mental and physical health has been widely reported in the literature. Empirical research, though, is scarce. A brief questionnaire eliciting self-perceived benefits of lucid dreaming on mental and physical health had been completed by 386 participants who had lucid dream experi-ences. About 90% of the participants reported some benefit of lucid dreams on their waking life including mental and physical health. This benefit was related to higher lucid dream frequency, trait mindfulness, and spirituality. These prom-ising results should encourage researchers to develop a manualized lucid dream therapy and test its effect on physical and mental health in a randomized waiting-list pre-post design. Qualitative research can answer questions regarding the specific mechanisms, i.e., how does lucid dreaming contribute to well-being in waking life in the long run.
The cognitive theory of dreams, proposed by Calvin Hall in 1953, postulated that dream images serve to picture conceptions the dreamer has in his or her waking life. Dream settings, like stormy weather, might reflect the dreamer’s emotionally influenced conception of the world. In a long series (N = 11,777 dreams) rain dreams (about 1.40% of the dreams) were analyzed to study how rain in dreams affect the dream ego. Although rain had an effect on the dreamer in two thirds of the dreams and is often not accompanied by explicitly mentioned emotions, the negative emotions (48 dreams) outweighed the positive ones (4 dreams) indicating that rain dreams may picture negative conceptions of the world, i.e., the emotionally negative perceptions of their world experiences. However, the large variety of topics in rain dreams also support the idea that rain in dreams might depict a variety of different world-conceptions, from obstacles in waking life to “real” danger. Future research could link rain dreams to waking life events of the dreamer, e.g., loss of a friend (cf. the song “It’s raining again” by Supertramp) and provide empirical evidence of a representative continuity – in addition to the confirmative findings regarding a thematic continuity between waking and dreaming.
