I just remember that my dreams when I was younger appear to be more vivid than what they are now. Upon reaching adulthood, my dreams started to wane and at best I could not recall any dream upon waking up.
According to experts, in a typical lifespan, humans spend a total of six years dreaming. There is yet no consensus or established explanation why we dream. That is why, there are theories that try to explain this phenomenon.
I gathered some of these theories and came up with eight explanations why we dream:
- Adler's Theory. Dreams were a way of addressing our insecurities. In a dream we can safely face things that would otherwise scare us. We can try out strategies for overcoming our shortcomings or simply compensate for them via wish-fulfillment.
- Freud's Theory. Freud believes that we dream mainly because we want to fulfill our wishes. In other words, we dream mainly to fulfill our desires.
- Jung's Theory. He suggested that dreams may compensate for one-sided attitudes held in waking consciousness.
- Hartmann's Theory. Dreams, he said, function like psychotherapy. What someone cannot do during waking life, he tries to fulfill in his dreams.
- Griffen's Theory. Dreams provide a venue to satisfy an emotional expectation. This lowers stress on the dreamer.
- Hobson and McCarley's Theory. Dreams were simply the result of random electrical brain impulses that pulled imagery from traces of experience. Our brain tries to make sense of what these imageries mean and our mind creates stories out of it.
- Hall's Theory. He argued that a dream was simply a thought or sequence of thoughts. Dream images are the dreamer's own personal construct.
- Cayce Theory. More inclined on the spiritual explanations, he claimed that through dreaming, people are given access to their spirit. Well, these dream theories appear to point out that dreaming is a personal thing. Each one has a unique dream not dreamt by anybody else. And I would suggest that the best explanation to our dreams should come from ourselves.
Besides, we cannot dwell on our dreams. We have to face our everyday realities. If you dream good, enjoy it. If not, wake up!
