Have you ever woken up in cold sweats after a terrible nightmare? Or had a dream where you were falling but it felt like the most real experience? You may have wondered, why dreams feel so natural at times, whilst other times you can’t even remember more than a few fragments.
Regardless of the nature of dreams, it’s something that builds up curiosity.
So what exactly are dreams? There exists hundreds of theories as to what dreams really are. Some believe it is the working of our unconscious brains while others argue that they are mere projections of our most recent experiences when awake.
The most plausible argument is that dreams are projections of your mind in the form of sounds and vivid images when you’re deep asleep. You may surprisingly visit in your dreams places you’ve never been to or people you’ve never met. The dreams you experience can be pointless manifestations of your active brain or they may feel like well-targeted episodes, designed to frighten you.
While the intensity and nature of the dreams vary, it is not certain that you always dream. Especially vivid dreams, which are only experienced during the most active part of your sleep – the REM (rapid eye movement). The REM phase in an adult only comprises of 20-25 percent of the total sleep. But even the most vivid dreams last only for a few minutes. So even the longest dreams which felt an hour long were ran only for a couple of minutes.
Consider watching this video to know more about how long does a dream last….
Multiple studies have been carried out to understand the causes behind dreaming and why it differs for different people. For a fact, did you know that some people dream in colours whilst some have only ever dreamt in black and white. And even a more surprising fact is that even blond people are capable of dreaming. People who are blind by birth may not see images, they might only hear sounds.
In one particular study, it was found that people who had worn red goggles before going to sleep dreamt images mainly consisting of the colour red than people who slept without the goggles.
The study of dreams can be divided into major houses of theory. The first theory, as proposed by Dr. Sigmund Freud, is based on mere psychological wanting. Freud describes dreams and longings and desires that a person is unable to express socially. This may explain why you so often dream about finally taking that vacation to Bora Bora or why dreaming about marrying your favourite celebrity ignites a lively spirit inside of you.
The second theory, by researchers Allan Hobson and Robert McCarley, take a more scientific approach. They portrayed dreams as results of random electrical brain impulses. The imagery in the dreams is derived from our memories and they even argue that we don’t dream vivid stories. So the next time you recall a dream as trying to escape from a dinosaur, running on the streets of New York, that may only be your waking mind’s effort to make sense of the illusory images.
Dreams till date remain a topic that fascinates researchers and with new emerging theories every instant, it can definitely be said we have a long to way to go before we finally understand the workings behind a dream.
Until Next Time,
Team Doctor ASKY!