Essay on Dreams: Psychology and Emotions

Submitted By tj9387
Words: 538
Pages: 3

What are dreams and why do we have them are often questions that are easy to ask but difficult to answer. The question of whether dreams have a psychological affect has yet to be determined. These factors haven’t stopped scientists from researching and brainstorming ideas. There are several approaches as to why we dream. One is that, dreams go hand in hand with sleep to help the brain sort through everything it collects throughout the day. Scientists have still not determined the purpose of dreams or their functions but, we do know that know that it occurs during the REM stages of sleep. The article by Ernest Hartmann, a professor of psychiatry, discusses how dreams might go hand in hand with our emotions. As Hartmann goes into explaining the contemporary theory of dreaming; he pinpoints the focus we hold when we are conscious and then transition into dreaming our mental processes. In this stage, we become less focused and delusional. Emotional influence comes into play during these stages. The emotions we are feeling control what we experience when we are dreaming and this could alternate depending on the trials and tribulations we face. I agree with Hartmann’s theory that our emotions play an important role in our dreaming. During the day, I believe our brains are working hard to make connections to achieve certain functions. One example was when I was faced with a difficult math problem. I went to sleep without solving it and it had me puzzled of the certain outcomes it can be. I dreamt later that night of possible numbers surrounding my cloud of thought. Useless equations and problems were irritating me, and I soon woken up from the dream a little later on with a headache. Patterns of stress relating to the problem I believe were linked with my headache. I then realized that our brain is incredibly focused on that one thing.
One thing I have learned that may connect with sleep is the circadian rhythm .From this I know that body function slows down at night. We aren't required to focus on anything during sleep, so our brains make