Dreams Blog

We dream in several stages of our sleep, and it doesn’t necessarily have to occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage. However, constantly depriving ourselves of the REM stage due to losing the last couple of hours of sleep means losing the opportunity to view the images that may have significant definitions in how we live our life.

According to experts, dreams are there for a reason and have some purpose in a way. Images could serve as clues for solutions that we may need to implement to live a more meaningful life.

Certain patterns may be discovered when we dream. In fact experts have linked those who dream often to have productive tendencies during their waking moments – such as writing more creative stories.

Despite these admirable observations, dreams are useful to all people regardless of their profession as these images have significance only to the individual.

Interpretations on the actual definition of dreams can be made but the answer always lies to the dreamer.

For those with severe sleep apnea, there’s a silver lining, there’s a lesser occurrence of bad dreams based on the research conducted by medical experts.

Dr. Jim Pagel, one of the lead researchers of a medical study that was published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, said that they discovered that patients with severe sleep apnea have fewer nightmares. He added that this is one of the first studies that clearly support the findings. This gives the medical experts more understanding of this condition.

Pagel is the director of the Sleep Disorders Center of Southern Colorado and he is optimistic that further studies and research will be made in the topic of sleep apnea.

He said that sleep apnea becomes more interesting now that it has tie-ins to dreams and nightmares and they will explore more on this aspect in their upcoming researches.

Students who took the Sleep and Dreams class at the Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington has conducted dream research via their own sleep patterns in a bid to test common ideas about this state.

The researchers were taught on the general mechanics of sleep and the aspects of their own sleep. This was shared by Associate Professor of Psychology Noel Wescombe, the course instructor.

The students were instructed to measure their sleep by putting on a headgear that can transmit data wirelessly to a device called Zeo, a gadget that’s similar to an alarm clock and can be placed beside the sleeper’s bed.

The graph produced by the Zeo reveals the stages of sleep by the student which could range from interrupted sleep or rapid eye movement (REM) or deep sleep.

Skipping sleep could result to an individual losing the level of REM sleep. Wescombe said that for participants sleeping four hours or less, they may likely have had deep sleep but still lacked REM sleep.

A man suffering from a rare sleeping disorder reportedly killed his wife during one of his nightmare dreams after he decided not to continue with his antidepressants.

According to reports, the man believed that the medications were affecting their sex life which led him to discontinue the process.
59-year old Brian Thomas strangled his wife, 57-year old Christine while they spent their holidays in Wales.

Court documents revealed that Thomas stopped taking three drugs, including one which controls his vivid dreams.

Prescription drugs expert Dr. Paul Skett said that Thomas would experience nightmares if he won’t continue taking drugs. One of the antidepressants is said to control Parkinson’s Disease while one of the drugs stops rapid eye movement sleep.

The defendant is seeking a not guilty verdict because of “insane automatism.” The defense attorneys stressed that the marriage lasted 39 years and there’s really no reason why Thomas would maliciously kill his wife.

The quest to find the meaning of dreams continues to fascinate everyone, regardless of age of gender. After all, there’s this unavoidable yearning to know if the images seen during sleep have significant meaning when it comes to daily living. There are different approaches on dealing with the dreams based on how it was interpreted by the dreamer.

A new study by sleep expert Allan Hobson came out recently wherein the expert stated that one of the main functions of these dreams that dreamers encounter is that it tunes up the brain for day – whether at work or home. These findings have caught some criticisms from others because it portrays the dreamers as “self-deluding.” Hobson has also stated in his study that dreaming is “a parallel state of consciousness.”

Despite these findings, at the end of the day it is the dreamer who will be dealing with these images and if something positive can be done out of the meaning of dreams. One thing is for sure if you will have a more comfortable sleep if you wear comfy nightwear and have comfy sheets.

Constant stress and depression can affect sleep cycles of individuals which lead to long term conditions such as insomnia. If there are several incidents where you wake up at night and find it difficult to fall back to sleep again then there’s a big possibility that you are suffering from this sleep condition.

Experts have classified insomnia into four types: Psycho-Reactive Insomnia where a dreamer’s mind constantly wakes him because of constant worries; Endogenous Insomnia where a person suffers discomfort such as indigestion during sleep; Exogenous Insomnia where outside forces such as noise affects a person’s sleep and Functional Insomnia where irrational fear prevents a person from going to sleep.

Despite the seriousness of this condition, there are no recorded deaths or illnesses caused by lack of sleep. It is because the body and mind instinctively gets the minimum amount of rest.

One of the best ways to deal with this condition is to determine what time in the evening a person is most exhausted. An hour before that target time, a warm bath is recommended to soothe the body. Drinking of warm beverage that doesn’t contain caffeine is also preferred. Relax the mind and forget the stressful situations for a while. Before long, sleep can be achieved with wonderful dreams to boot.