Why It's Not a Good Idea to Analyze Your Dreams
Dreams... What are they? Probably the easiest explanation is
your subconscious mind thinking and sorting information. But the
truth is no-one really knows what causes dreams and why some
folk seem to have vivid colorful dreams and others have short
uneventful ones.
Dreams mainly occur during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. REM
occurs every one and a half hours throughout the sleep cycle.
During REM the eyes move from side to side and the body is
relaxed and almost incapable of movement.
Have you ever declared, "I never dream."? Well you're wrong. The
fact is everybody dreams every night. You just may not be able
to remember your dreams.
Don't worry too much if this is the case. Not remembering dreams
doesn't mean you're abnormal in any way. While most people do
remember their dreams, the memory is fleeting and occurs mainly
when the sleeper first awakens.
If you really want to remember your dreams, the best way is to
instruct yourself to do this before falling asleep. This
programs the subconscious mind (where dreams come from) to hold
on to the memory.
When you wake up, try and hold the dream in your mind until you
have a chance to record it. The easiest way to do this is to
have a notebook and pen or a personal voice recorder beside your
bed, so you can write down the dream before it disappears and
gets 'buried' by the normal thoughts and concerns of everyday
life.
With a bit of practice you'll find little snippets of your
dreams beginning to reveal themselves. This procedure will also
work well for those who remember the occasional dream or those
who want to remember every dream they have.
Books on dream interpretation abound and many people believe
that dreams create a window into the subconscious mind where
they can find answers to their most pressing problems, or even
to see into the future.
This can be a dangerous practice. At best you can waste money
buying books which lean towards the esoteric and lack knowledge
in this area.
At worst, dream interpretation can be taken too seriously and
people can depend too heavily on finding the (sometimes false)
meaning of their dreams. This can lead to depression and even
paranoia. It's best to treat dream analysis as a bit of fun and
realize that there may be many different ways to analyze dreams
and their possible meaning.
If you have recurring dream or nightmares, it's best to contact
a therapist experience in this area. Don't go down the mystical
route of trying to analyze yourself by means of a book.
Nightmares may be caused by stress, so work on ways to relieve
this and the nightmares may disappear by themselves.
The information contained in this article is for educational
purposes only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat
or cure any disease. Consult a health care practitioner before
beginning any health care program.