The Interpretations, and Reflections of Dreams

There is a certain tediousness and strain that comes with every day; the stress of school, work, family, and others that pile up on our shoulders. So, at the end of the day, going to sleep not only provides us with physical comfort, but also allows our minds to take the break it needs, and drift away into some otherworldly place. Or does it? The father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, explains that the ‘dream realm’ is not really another realm that our brains conjure up when sleeping; it is in fact the product of our memories, personality, body, surroundings, and much more. In his esteemed book, The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud breaks down his research regarding dreams and shares his conclusions, although he leaves us with an important reminder; dreams can never truly be confined to a set of rules, and can only be observed. 

Freud first notes that dreams seem to be deeply rooted in reality, despite the concept that falling asleep can transport the dreamer into a seemingly different dimension. What really happens is this: our minds take individual experiences which coalesce into a vision (including the events that are experienced but quickly forgotten by the conscious mind). Freud describes one example, where one of his patients dreamt of ordering a drink with a name that was completely unfamiliar to him. The person could not recall how they knew of the drink’s name, and additionally stated that he had neither heard of, nor ordered it before. Later, he found out that the drink’s name had been posted on a sign that he had frequently passed by for several months. This form of retrospection was termed “dream hypermnesia” by Freud, who suggests the unconscious mind has “at [its] disposal recollections which are inaccessible to the waking state” (9). Consequently, it can be concluded that dreams are the only key to unlocking forgotten memories.

There is still more to dreams than accessing someone’s past. In fact, in primitive times, people believed that some dreams presaged the future, such as those with symbolic meaning and required analysis, or even direct prophecies. Freud’s research in The Interpretation of Dreams takes a slightly different stance. While dreams cannot prophesy the future, they can reveal a lot about the dreamer’s unknowns, like their present health. Freud found that when someone was being ailed by an illness, their dreams tended to follow certain patterns. For example, people suffering from diseases of the heart often had dreams that were brief in length and had frightening endings that would jolt them awake. Likewise, those who were suffering from respiratory illnesses often dreamed of suffocation, or being in crowded places (28). This revelation was significant because it suggested that dreams can convey information about the dreamer that they themselves are completely unaware of.

Similarly, dreams can detect temporary conditions of the body. Freud recorded that those who had nightmares of their teeth falling out may have been experiencing dental irritation at the time. The sleeping mind’s ability extends beyond detecting illnesses and ailments, however; it can even sense the changes of one’s body positioning. The most universal dreams are often created from the movement of one’s body while sleeping. Dreams where the individual was flying may have been the mind’s interpretation of the rising and descending of the sleeper’s lungs, and dreams involving falling may be inspired by an arm falling from the sleeper’s chest or the sudden extension of a knee (31). One’s posture during sleep may also impact what they dream of; common examples include dreams of hugging someone due to hugging a pillow, or dreams of impeded movement due to odd positioning of limbs. In addition, odd positioning of limbs can also transform into monsters or animals in one’s nightmares.

Finally, dreams are ultimately layered, so various interpretations can be made regarding one’s experience. The basic makeup of a dream is called the manifest content, which is essentially the plot of what happens in one’s dream. But the latent content of the dream is what really opens up the field for interpretation, as it presents underlying meanings about the psyche and subconsciousness of the dreamer. For example, the common dream of being naked in public is considered the manifest content of a dream. The latent content, on the other hand, could be that the dreaming individual fears exposure and vulnerability. It could also be perceived that the dreamer feels guilt and inferiority, and lacks attention in their life. Therefore, the interpretation of dreams is often up to every individual’s analysis, most importantly, in relation to their own life. 

Unfortunately, dreams are often forgotten after the sleeper wakes. This is due to a variety of reasons; a unique experience, a small emotional impact obtained, an non-uniform storyline, a disinterest in the dream, and more. People tend to remember experiences more vividly after encountering it multiple times, over and over, reinforcing it into their minds. However, dreams are typically quite nonsensical and do not repeat themselves, while within them, people will come across a situation in which they have never faced before. Due to the confusion and inexperience, most will forget what happened in the dream unless it had a significant emotional impact. However, there have also been many cases where people have remembered these nonsensical dreams; but their memory of the situation changed after they woke up. This is because humans will tend to add as much logic as they can even to a completely illogical sequence of events. Hence, a large percentage of actually recalled dreams are altered in some form or another. Due to the uncertainties presented after waking, accurate, authentic dreams are very difficult to obtain for research. As Freud says, “In this manner the dream-structure rises, as it were, from the soil of our psychic life, and floats in psychic space like a cloud in the sky, quickly dispelled by the first breath of reawakening life (Interpretation of Dreams, p. 87).”

The “Dream World” itself is not actually another dimension our subconscious takes us to during sleep; it is instead a last minute film project our minds put together using our memories, imagination, surroundings, feelings, interests and more. Yet, this doesn’t make the so-called “Dream World” any less vast or unexplored; it has instead opened doors to countless possibilities regarding the creation of dreams and what we can discover about humankind through them. 

Works Cited:

DiGiulio, Sarah. “So That's What It Means When You Dream about Being Naked in Public.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 24 Feb. 2017, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dream-being-naked-public_n_58ab242de4b037d17d2a08aa. 

Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. G. Allen & Unwin, 1915. 

Kluger, Jeffrey. “What Your Dreams Actually Mean, According to Science.” Time, Time, 12 Sept. 2017, https://time.com/4921605/dreams-meaning/. 

Zhang, Wei, and Benyu Guo. “Freud's Dream Interpretation: A Different Perspective Based on the Self-Organization Theory of Dreaming.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 6 Aug. 2018, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01553/full.