A lot of scientists theorize that dreaming doesn’t have a direct function but it comes because of many biological processes happening when we are sleeping. There are others who believe dreaming actually serves a primary purpose. Here are some of the schools of thought on why humans dream.
- Memory Processing – When you are sleeping, your short term memory will be processed into long-term storage. Therefore, when this is happening, you will be dreaming thus your brain aids in the transference and further learning of the whole process.
- An Extension Of Your Consciousness – Regardless of whether you are in the deepest cycle of sleep, your mind is still awake. Therefore, while you are sleeping you are likely to dream because it is an extension of your consciousness. Basically, you are reflecting on the experiences of your waking life.
- Creating A Balance – When you are awake, you would rather avoid thinking about the bad things. However, when you are sleeping, the dreams are a way for your mind to work through the complicated, difficult and unsettling emotions, thoughts or experiences. That way, when you are awake you can achieve the emotional and psychological balance required.
- Response To Bodily Changes – As mentioned, although you are still asleep, your body is still awake just in a relaxing mode. Therefore, there are some biochemical changes happening as well as electrical impulses going through your body when you are sleeping. All these can be proven by your dreams.
- A Form Of Consciousness – No matter how long you have been alive, you have gone through so many things in the past and the present. Therefore, you need to prepare yourself on how to handle the future. Remember, while you are awake, you might be deviating from making huge decisions or coping with the past. That’s what your dreams can do for you as you sleep. They can be viewed as a form of consciousness that allows you to merge the past, the present and the future effortlessly.
- For Protection – When you are awake, you might not have a proper strategy in place that allows you to face dangers, challenges or threats accordingly. Well, dreams have been thought to be a way for you to prepare your body for any of these impending dangers and act accordingly whenever something happens.
Since nightmares are also dreams, you might experience them whenever you are feeling stressed or anxious. You might not know it when you are awake but if you are constantly having nightmares, there is something wrong with your day to day life. However, there are cases where people have nightmares because of sleeping disorders.
Although there is no specific school of thought that can be termed accurate regarding why we dream, everything blends in together to come up with some sort of understanding. Note that, there are a few things that might influence your dreams such as health conditions, foods and your daily activities. If you want to avoid nightmares, you need to check these things every day and find ways to handle your stress effectively.
