Sigmund Freud And Freud's Theory Of Dreams

Dreams have been around for centuries and are such a strange phenomenon that many have ventured into discovering the meaning behind them. Everyone dreams, even those that say they do not. People commonly have from three to five dreams per night, even if they don 't remember all or any of them. Scientists have no explanation why some individuals can remember more than others. There are many different kinds of dreams: ordinary dreams, false awakening dreams, lucid dreams, and day dreams. The most frightening among them to experience are nightmares, sleep paralysis, and even night terrors. All types of dreams can be experienced any time you close your eyes to get some rest.

Dreams date back as far as 5,000 years ago to the Ancient Egyptians. There

Freud developed the theory, now referred to as the Freudian theory, which argued that personality is formed through conflicts of the three core structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and super ego. The id is our born instincts, ego is our sense of reality, and superego is our morality trigger. Freud amplified his theory by developing psychoanalysis, also known as the talking cure. Freud would encourage his patients to talk freely on his couch and clear their minds. Their disturbing and sometimes symbolic explanations of their unconscious thoughts launched his study into dreams. He concluded that when you are awake, the desires of the id are suppressed by your superego. Through dreams you get a glimpse into your unconscious. Because your body is relaxed, your mind can run wild. Your unconscious takes the opportunity to act out the hidden impulses of the id. His theory also inferred that the reason you struggle to remember dreams is due to the superego doing its job to protect the conscious mind from the desires created in the unconscious. Different dream theories have been developed and studied, but psychologists are still intrigued by some of the things that happen in the subconscious part of our minds. (McLeod,

Lucid dreaming is when you become self-aware while dreaming, and you can manipulate all aspects of the dream itself. Lucid dreaming also occurs during REM sleep, but only about 51% have admitted to experiencing lucid dreams. (Long, 2007)

Daydreams are the most talked about and commonly known type of dream. They are entirely different than normal dreams, because they occur while you are awake. Drowsiness is usually the cause behind your mind wandering and creating a dream in your fully conscious body. Rarely, people begin to daydream too often and mistake dreams for reality. This is when individuals start having hallucinations, which eventually leads to Schizophrenia, a disorder that affects a person 's ability to think, feel and behave clearly and correctly. (Long, 2007)

Nightmares are actually more common than most people would like. Individuals experience disturbing images that cause your heart to race and your body to sweat. If the dream is "scary enough," it may even force you awake. Nightmares trigger your brain to emit emotions of fear, anger and sadness. These emotions are expressed because of an immense stress response to the images in the brain. Nightmares can evoke emotional terror if a person is forced to face deep seated fears or unsolved problems from the darkest part of the subconscious. (Long,