Dreams Blog

A dream research conducted by the European Science Foundation (ESF) revealed that there are similarities noted in the brain activity during psychosis and lucid dreaming which only strengthened the link between Psychiatry and dreams.

Lucid dreaming means that the person is aware that he is dreaming. Having such, according to the researchers, shows distinct electrical activity patterns in the brain. They noted that the patterns have similarities with psychotic conditions (like schizophrenia). Making this discovery is a big step in determining new ways of diagnosing neurological disorders.

Ursula Voss, a researcher from Germany’s University of Frankfurt, said that the brain is in a dissociated state during lucid dreaming. Having this dissociation means losing that conscious control over the mental processes (emotional reaction or logical thinking).

Some experts are now reconsidering the revival of dream therapy which was widely discredited in the past. In the past, people having nightmares are usually treated by having them trained to dream lucidly in order for them to wake up consciously.

Dream researcher and psychiatrist Allan Hobson said that a lot of dreams can play a role in the learning process and may not be threatening at all. It’s all about determining these factors before doing any treatment.

It is actually very interesting yet difficult to do researches on dream symbology or signify the importance of any dream. Dreams arise out of the subconscious, as it is the conscious which we use in our waking state. It is extremely tough to make dreams come true, or to try and influence them in any which way, as here, there is no independent variable to stimulate. There are however, many researches being carried out, and extensive work done on dreams and their significance in human life.

It is rather difficult to do an objective research on dreams, as they cannot be viewed, and neither can the dreamer report precisely, event by event of his dream. Content Analysis is the hot keyword to study dream analysis. Here, we have to classify and categorise people, animals, things, and events from our dreams. We have to have separate categories like social interactions, characters, striving, and emotions.

The research on dreams is a slightly technical area of study. Dreams are nothing less than an ethereal experience, be it a telepathy dream, recurring dream, lucid dream or any other one. To study them objectively takes a great deal of skill, technique and effort.