Psychology of dreams.

People sleep for about a third of their lives. Many people see dreams. Many people dream daily, or rather, nightly. Many people have several dreams per night. But only some can remember their dreams in the morning. What do dreams mean? What are they talking about?

The psychology of dreams is a complex and multi-disciplinary field that explores the various psychological processes that occur during dreaming. Dreams are a unique state of consciousness that occur during sleep and are characterized by a range of sensory experiences, emotions, and often bizarre or surreal imagery.

One theory about the psychology of dreams suggests that dreams serve as a way for the brain to process and consolidate memories and emotions from the day. During sleep, the brain replays experiences and emotions from the day and integrates them into long-term memory. This process may be why we often dream about events or people that we have encountered recently.

Another theory suggests that dreams provide a way for the brain to work through unresolved conflicts or psychological issues. Dreams may allow us to confront and process emotions and thoughts that we may have difficulty facing in waking life.

Freudian psychology suggests that dreams represent a disguised expression of unconscious desires, conflicts, and fears. According to Freud, the manifest content of dreams (the actual content of the dream) is a symbolic representation of the latent content (the hidden meaning behind the dream). Jungian psychology also explores the symbolic nature of dreams, but focuses more on the archetypal themes and motifs that appear in dreams.

The sleeping and dreaming are influenced by the events of the past day, some facts from memory and external stimuli. For example, at elevated air temperatures, a beach or hell can appear in dreams, at low temperatures you may dream about swimming in the sea or flying into space. The best temperature for sleeping is 20°C. It is possible to have it a bit lower; but higher temperature is not recommended because at higher temperatures metabolic processes are accelerated, which does not contribute to rest.

In psychology, it is customary to attribute dreams to the area of the unconscious, the area of hidden desires, attractions, fears and anxieties. Dreams have been interpreted since ancient times. It was believed that in a dream a person has the opportunity to contact the afterlife, communicate with the souls of the dead. And indeed, often people in a dream talk with deceased loved ones. But Freud developed the interpretation of dreams as a psychotherapeutic technique, considering dreams as repressed desires. In fact, in a dream, sexual overtones, hidden attractions often appear, but not only them.

There are several types of dreams:
• Dreams - repressed desires. This is exactly what Freud writes about. For example, a man is deprived of sexual relations for a long time; as a result, his sexual desires appear in a dream.
• Dreams that fulfill wishes. Dreams - repressed desires can be attributed to a variety of this group. For example, a woman who does not have children may dream of children, strollers, children's toys. A child may dream of ice cream or a doll, a toy that he dreams of. It's nice when dreams - wishes come true. But fulfilling a child's dream is much easier than an adult's.

• Nightmares , terrible dreams. Both children and adults see them. When a child dreams of a witch, she is usually associated with a negative image of the mother. Impressive children often dream of horror characters or heroes of bedtime stories. Often people repress, consciously forget stressful events, and they manifest themselves in a dream.

  For example, a patient who had experienced sexual abuse had nightmares in which she was subjected to such violence. Another patient with hysterical personality traits, grabbed her five-year-old daughter when she was behaving badly, and, poking her out of the window, threatened that if she continued to do so, she would throw her out of the window, because she was tired of her antics. The girl was very frightened, but quickly forgot this story. After some time, she began to have nightmares about falling from a balcony or a window.

• Dreams associated with unfinished relationships. Internal conflicts, contradictions, unfinished relationships with someone usually manifest themselves in a dream - and this is natural, since in a dream the brain continues to solve the problem, the puzzle which it is facing. If you do not know how to relax, unload yourself from serious problems, you risk getting insomnia. There is a saying "Morning is wiser than evening". Leave your troubles for the next day and, in order to sleep well, do not overload yourself physically or mentally three hours before bedtime. A short walk, a warm bath, pleasant music, sex, and so on will promote good sleep.

Dream books and other sources on the interpretation of dreams do not always give the correct explanation, which must be chosen not according to the dream dictionary, but strictly individually. Dreams are metaphors and always have multiple meanings.

Usually, when a psychologist interprets this or that dream, he offers you several interpretations, and you can choose the one that matches your inner feelings. Unfortunately, dreams are quickly forgotten. But they can be written down. Especially those dreams that you are very emotionally worried about, from which you have strong feelings when you wake up. It is necessary to remember or write down the feelings that the dream caused, as this is very important in its interpretation. It is difficult to interpret dreams yourself; dream books can help you get the correct answer.

Our dreams are an unconscious reflection of reality. Of course, they do not predict the future, but they point to weaknesses, problems that need to be addressed first of all.