When I decided I would write about this several months ago, I did some research. Apparently, several other websites have similar lists. So I compiled what I found very interesting. Hmmm. Anyway, let me still post my version.

Dreams always catch the attention of experts. It is the subject of many studies, trying to uncover everything about it. However, no matter how much they try, they can only give us so much information about dreams. They are still poorly understood, making them intriguing and fascinating. Although we are yet to learn more about dreams, here are ten interesting facts about them that the experts have uncovered.

10. Dreams are symbolic.

Most often, dreaming about a certain subject doesn’t mean that the dream is about that. For example, if you dream about a particular chicken your neighbor takes care of, how likely is it that the dream you just had is about that chicken? You can’t be in love with that chicken, can you? Dreams use a very symbolic language that can be very difficult to comprehend. This is because the unconscious mind attempts to compare the dream to something similar.

If you dream of something that bothers you, don’t expect anyone else to interpret it but you. Only you can decipher the code that your dreams give you. The things we dream about are often symbols for objects, places, people and experiences we have encountered or emotions we have felt. Dream dictionaries may help you but the meaning is specific to an individual.

9. Things around us while we sleep become part of our dreams.

Scientifically called “dream incorporation,” our mind interprets the external stimuli that our senses are bombarded with when we are asleep and make them a part of our dreams. This means that sometimes, in our dreams, we hear a sound from reality and incorporate it in a way.

For example, you may have heard a fire alarm in your dream, when in reality, your alarm clock just went off. Sometimes, what our bodies feel is also incorporated. For instance, you may have dreamt that you were drowning when in fact, you were just thirsty and your body desperately needs water.

8. Dreams prevent you from losing your mind.

Dreaming is not just a free movie your brain gives you after a long tiring day. It is actually essential for mental health. Believe it or not, dreams can prevent psychosis and schizophrenia. In a sleep study, students awakened at the beginning of a dream but still allowed to get eight hours of sleep suffered from irritability, lack of concentration, hallucinations and signs of psychosis after three days. Finally, when they are allowed their REM sleep, their brains increased the percentage of REM sleep tremendously. Having inadequate dream activity is also a sign of protein deficiency and a personality problem.

7. We dream for a reason.

As a child, you may have asked why people dream. There are several theories on the functions of dreams. Some people, including Freud, claim that dreams allow our repressed thoughts to surface and enable the parts of our mind to be satiated through fantasy. Some think that dreams express things that are usually suppressed in the “real” world. Some claim that they regulate mood. Some argue that dreaming works like a computer cleaning-up operation. Others believe that dreams allow us to take a sneak peek at the future.

6. Around 90% of are dreams are forgotten.

Have you ever experienced knowing you had a dream but could not remember what it was about? No, your memory is still intact. It’s normal. People normally forget 90% of their dreams. Five minutes after you wake up, you tend to forget half of your dream. In the next five minutes, another 40% is gone. Sometimes, no matter how “unforgettable” (gory, scary, funny or totally out-of-this-world) our dreams can get, all you need is a little distraction and it will slip from your memory.

5. Eight percent of dreams have sexual content.

Oh yes, you are not the only one in the planet who indulges in steamy dreams at night. The Hall data analysis revealed that 8% of dreams of adults (both men and women) have sexual content. However, these sexually loaded dreams show not more than 10% of the time. Sexual dreams are also more prevalent in mid-teens. In some cases, wet dreams result in nocturnal emission or orgasm, commonly called “wet dreams.”

Another interesting fact is that we all experience sexual reactions to dreams even when they are not sexual in nature. Men tend to set up a little tent on their crotch while they sleep while women experience a more active vaginal blood flow.

4. Men and women dream differently.

Everybody dreams. However, men and women have different dreams with different physical reactions. For example, believe it or not, men ten to dream more about other men. In fact, it is believed that around 70% of the characters in a man’s dream are other men. On the other hand, a woman’s dream contains almost an equal number of men and women. Aside from that, men generally have more aggressive emotions in their dreams than the female lot.

3. Our dreams don’t like strangers.

In other words, we only dream about the people and things we know. You may have experienced having a dream (or a nightmare) about a person you haven’t even met before. Well, that’s not true. You have met that person at one point in your life. The mind doesn’t invent faces. They are faces of real people you have seen some time, somewhere, but you just can’t remember. Throughout your life, you have encountered thousands, perhaps millions, of people. That’s a rich supply of faces for your mind to use as a character in your dreams.

2. Blind people dream, too.

The question that has long bothered us when we were young — do blind people dream? The answer is yes. Everybody dreams (except those with extreme psychological illness), even the blind. People who lost their sight after birth see images in their dreams. On the other hand, those who are born blind still dream but they do not see images. Instead, their dreams involve their senses of sound, touch, smell and emotion.

It may be hard to believe but ask any blind person you know and he / she will just prove this right. The body strongly needs sleep that it can handle any physical situation to make sure that you sleep and that you dream.

1. Some people dream in black-and-white.

Dreams are like free movies that the mind gives you while you sleep. Having said that, dreams, like movies, may be in full color or black-and-white. If you don’t believe this, you’ll be disappointed that there are statistics to back it up. Around 12% of sighted people dream only in black-and-white. Yes, ask around and there is a big chance that one in ten people around you have dreams with an 1920s film-feel. But wait, there’s more.

We also tend to have common themes in our dreams, like movies. Some of the common examples include running slowly, arriving too late, being chased, a person dying, flying and being involved in an accident. However, it is unknown whether the impact of our dreams are greater for people who dream in color than those in black-and-white.

It is a fact that a person has four to seven dreams a night. Some of them we will remember. A huge fraction will be lost in the deepest corners of our unconscious. We already know many things about dreams but they are still not enough for us to completely understand them. Truly, dreams will always be one of the most intriguing wonders of the human psyche.

image courtesy of childrenshospital.org, nic.com, eso-garden.com, dryicons.com

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