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Dream Interpretation

December 7, 1999


It Was Only a Dream

She awakens in the night, the visions from her mind still vivid. The dream was amazingly realistic. A long hallway stretched before her. Several doors lined the hallway, each with a padlock. A ring full of keys weighed heavily in her hand. What did it all mean? Did this hallway symbolize her life? The doors could have meant many things, possibly the choices she faces daily. As she drifts back to sleep, thoughts of the dream cloud her mind. She hopes to remember it in the morning and search for answers.
The description of this woman could match any number of people. Years of research have produced findings that everyone dreams. While not everyone may remember his or her dreams, sleep studies have shown that each person does dream as he or she progresses through the stages of sleep. Whether or not these dreams contain any significant meaning for the dreamer is a source of arguments today, as well as in years past. An in depth study of dream interpretation will reveal the benefits of exploring the meanings behind dreams.
To begin this study, it is helpful to first understand the different aspects of sleep. In Atkinson's Introduction to Psychology book, she states that sleep contains five stages, including "four depths of sleep and a fifth stage, known as rapid eye movement (REM)" (193). In various sleep studies, most adults go through all stages during their normal sleeping hours. While they drift from one stage of sleep to another, activity in the brain increases and decreases. However, this study is interested mostly in the fifth stage, REM sleep. Individuals incur a great amount of details during the course of any given day, including dates, places, times and people. "During REM sleep, the brain creates a story line that allows this large volume of events to be stored and remembered in a coherent form, albeit at an unconscious level" (Chopra 107). REM occurs at different times throughout an...