What we dream about is only of interest to the dreamer, so I won't go into my dreams in detail here - just be assured that if I did, I would be the exception to the rule and you would be fascinated. Why we dream and what we dream about has always interested me. I am not alone in this, there are thousands of books on the subject and there is an entire field of study devoted to it, 'oneirology', although it looks at the process of dreaming rather than analysing the surreal content of our dreams.
Thirty years ago a friend gave me a dream dictionary and I still use it. If the interpretation is favourable, I think of it as accurate. If the interpretation is negative, I completely ignore it, much as I do with horoscopes, allthough I have not yet ignored a horoscope on the basis that it was probably caused by something I ate or drank. Favourable or not favourable, I like dreams and I feel a bit cheated if I wake up and cannot remember anything of them. I feel equally cheated if the alarm wakes me from a particularly good dream.
Some people claim to never dream, but it may be that they just don't recall their dreams. I pity them, it is like your own personal film inside your head every night, who wouldn't want that? It has been put forward that everyone dreams and scientists (not Russell Grant and co., actual scientists) also propose that all mammals and birds dream too (link to article). My dog used to run and bark in his dreams, he was blind so I always hoped he could see perfectly in them. My eyesight is horrendous, but I have never dreamt that I needed to put my glasses or contact lenses on.
Thinking about having 20/20 vision in my own dreams made me wonder about people with different disabilities and whether their dreams reflected that. Studies have shown that people born blind have visual experiences in their dreams and the profoundly deaf hear spoken language whilst dreaming. Recent studies indicate that paralysed people dream of moving about without their disabilities, whether they have been paralysed since birth or whether paralysis occurred later in life. They dream about walking less than able-bodied people (link to BPS summary of study here), 46% compared to 64%, but the study proposed that this may be because they dream about dancing more. I love that aspect of dreams, your legs work, you can do anything with them and so people dance. Equally I would like to hope that the deaf here nice things in their dreams and not party political broadcasts.
It was previously thought that we dream mainly in black and white, but more recent studies show that most people dream in colour, but older people mainly dream in black and white. A hypothesis put forward for this (here) is that their initial exposure to television would have been black and white television. This seems a bit far-fetched and even the study itself proposes potential biases in reporting by the dreamers as possibly impacting the results. Did everyone have silent dreams during the silent era (1894-1929). What about people who have never watched television or films? Everyone dreams, so how do their dreams differ?
Part of the aspect of dreams that I like so much is the fact that it is unconscious and therefore may be free of many of the shackles that bind us. If the physical aspects of life that handicap us are not always present, then it is to be hoped that some of the mental fears and blocks are also absent. I like to think we are more free in dreams. Flying is one of the most common dream subjects, which makes me wonder what birds dream about as an alternative. Perhaps it is downing aircraft or forming a bird army and eradicating cats once and for all. I originally put 'rising up and eradicating cats' there, but it isn't the rising up that birds have an issue with.
Lucid dreams fall outside of this lack of awareness (more information here). Lucid dreams are dreams in which we are aware we are dreaming and can control the dream, or as I think of it 'cheating'. Is it a proper dream if you are controlling it, or is it a fantasy? Lucid dreams require a level of consciousness or awareness, sleep requires us to be unconscious. I have on occasion woken myself from a nightmare on the basis that it is 'just a dream'. I see that as a protection mechanism, rather than the dream becoming a lucid dream. My opinion and dismissal of lucid dreams are not based on any research at all, merely that I like dreaming and I like the lack of conscious control I have over dreams. However scientists who have done considerable research into this, such as Dr Patrick McNamara and Professor Malcolm Norman (link here) are sceptical of the existence of lucid dreams, seeing it more as a phase of brief wakefulness. There is of course other research supporting the existence of lucid dreams, but that detracts from my enjoyment of dreams so for now I will leave that alone.
As with the dream dictionary and horoscope readings, I am picking and choosing the research on dreams that fits in with my own understanding of them. It is a fascinating subject and any research that involves me sleeping for long periods is something I would be happy to sign up for. This is the most research I have actually read up on since finishing my OU Psychology Degree and I have really enjoyed it.
(If you are wondering whatever happened to Gabrielle, she is still recording according to Wikipedia)
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