what causes dreams

Dream is a seies of images,ideas,thoughts or emotions that occur in mind during certain stages of sleep.We observe two types of sleep while sleeping one after another,that are rapid eye movement sleep(REM) and non rapid eye movement sleep(Non-REM).

Dreams occur while REM sleep which occupies a short time of our sleep just counting for 20% as compared to Non-REM sleep counting for 80%

of our total time of sleep.

We dream only during rapid eye movement sleep as the other one is a dreamless sleep.We have 3 to 5 periods of REM sleep per night,the one period may be as brief going for 5 minutes or maybe much longer going for over an hour.It means if you sleep for 7-8 hours REM sleep could be for one and half hour.

The basic difference between two types of sleep is that during REM sleep we have irregular breathing and irregular heart rate plus including rapid,low voltage brain waves on the electroencephalographic recordings(EEG) while during Non-REM breathing & heart rate are both slow and regular plus the brain waves on EEG are typically slow and of high voltage.

Dreams are mainly connected to our actions while awaking or others actions towards us.All humans dream ranging from the sweet dreams to nightmares.If a person didn't dream they would go crazy according to scientists studying REM sleep pattern.Dreaming is involved in learning and memory as the protein-synthesis is highly active during REM so staying in REM is a good move to learning and a good balance between slow sleep(delta or Non-REM)and fast sleep(REM) is important for learning.

Different people have given different reasons about dreaming but the question is still unanswerable.Psychoanalysts tell the cause of dreams as the suppressed desires of the dreamer.Some see it as the result of subconscious thoughts and desires.We remember a few of our dreams having a powerful or intense impact on us and forget others-- why?Also unknown.Lets review simply different theories and thoughts about dreaming.

Physiological theories explain that dreaming occurs as the active and awake brain stops working and dreams replace the function of transmitting and receiving messages that seizes while sleep.

Psychological theories put stress on the thoughts and emotions in our daily life of high concerns as the cause of dreaming.

Freuds theory -Freud said that our dreams were based on the activities that we do all day long which are combined with our wishes.

Carl jung theory-He explained the dreams as a result of personal experience also associated with collective conscious.He was the one who said that the dreamer could interpret the dreams by forming combined image of all the dreams and finding the common element among them.

Alfred Adler theory-Adler explains dreams as a problem solving device which are corerelated with the problems in our daily life to get control over our lives and believed in the interpretation of dreams to better understand and solve the problem.

Types of dreams:Dreams are of many different types because their has been given many different names but basically all of them fall under these categories.

• Lucid dreams:This type of dreaming is all in our hands,a lucid dream is one that can be controlled because we are aware of that we are dreaming and can decide what to dream before going to bed.

• Ordinary dreams:When we dream about seen or heard things in our waking time,such dreaming is the ordinary dreaming.

• Prophetic dreams:In prophetic dreams also reffered to as precognitive dreams,the dreamer sees something about the future.

• Nightmares:These are the frightful dreams causing the dreamer to wakeup anxiously.

• Recurring dreams:Repeated or recurring dreams are very common which repeat themselves with a little change in story.

• Daydream:Day dreaming is classified as a level of consciousness between sleep and wakefulness.We all have the tendency to day dream an average of 70-120minutes a day.

• Epic dreams:The details of such dreams remains a part of our memory for years.