Facts About Dreams
Dreams have been studied throughout history, and dream
interpretation has tried to make sense of these nighttime
visitations for as long as their have been people to dream.
People who could interpret dreams, and those whose dreams were
particularly vivid, where often thought to be imbued with divine
powers, and they were given a special place in their societies.
Even today, dream interpretation remains a highly sought after
art, and science is continuing to focus on dream interpretation
as a way to deal with all kinds of anxieties and other
underlying psychological issues.
There are some interesting facts about dreaming that you may not
be aware of. These facts include:
One third of most people's lives is spent asleep, and a
good portion of that time is spent in dream sleep.
In the average lifetime, a person will have spent
approximately six years in dream sleep, equivalent to more than
2,100 days of dreaming. Dreams have existed as long as
human beings. There are records of dreams going back over 4,000
years. Dream interpretation has existed almost as long
as dreaming, and Roman senators in the ancient world often
engaged the services of dream interpreters before making
important political and social decisions.
Every human being dreams. Even if you do not remember
your dreams, you dream between four and seven times a night,
every night. Many animals dream as well. All mammals
are thought to dream, and it is suspected that some lower
animals dream as well. What they dream about, however, remains a
mystery.
If people are prevented from dreaming, they suffer a
variety of personality disorders and psychological problems. The
exact function of dream sleep is still not known, but it is
known that dreaming is an indispensable part of life.
The average person spends two hours per night sleeping,
and has from four to seven dreams during that time.
Even blind people dream. The dreams of blind people who were
previously sighted sometimes contain visual images, while the
dreams of those who have been blind from birth do not. Vision is
not the only component of a dream, however. Dreams also contain
sounds, sights, smells and touch sensations.
Dreams are forgotten very quickly upon waking. It is
estimated that 50% of the content of a dream is lost within five
minutes of waking, and after 10 minutes as much as 90% of the
dream can be forgotten. The word dream is derived from
a word in Middle English. This word, dreme, translates to
"music" and "joy". It is therefore apparent that dreams have
long been looked at as a source of wonder and inspiration.
Men most often dream about other men, while women tend
to dream about men and women equally. Studies of brain
wave activity have revealed greater activity during dreaming
than during waking periods. People who are awakened
during dream sleep are able to recall their dreams vividly,
while those who wait until morning to wake often are not.
Everyone, men and women, seem to experience sexual
arousal during their dreams, regardless of whether or not the
content of the dream is overtly sexual. Smokers who are
trying to quit often report greater intensity in their dreams.
Studies have shown that toddlers do not dream about
themselves. In general, toddlers do not appear in their own
dreams until they reach the age of three or four. It is
impossible to snore and dream at the same time.
Children commonly experience nightmares, and these nightmares
usually begin by the age of three and last until the child is
seven or eight years old. More than 60% of people
surveyed have reported experiencing D