The Scientific Literature of Dream Problems

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school in psychology. He was born on May 6, 1856 and died on 23 September 1939. During his life time of 83 years, he has found many novel theories in many fields. Dream analysis is one of the most interesting teachings among them. As it is a huge subject, this article is about what we can basically understand about the scientific literature of dream- problems by reading his book "Interpretation of dreams" which was published in1913.

When we hear the word "dream", a feeling that cannot be expressed in words comes to our mind (mental processes). It is something that we cannot feel in the real world or in our waking state. There is a mysterious feeling about dreams. Because of that, we have become very curious about knowing what actually makes us to see dreams and how it happens.

People who were in the past also had this enigma about dreams. They had their conceptions of universe and of the soul. By mixing the idea of dream with these kinds of conceptions, they believed that dream is something supernatural which predicts the future and also believed it as a message from god. They thought of two classes of dreams. One is the dreams which influenced only by the present or the past. The other one is on the other hand, the ones which determine the future. This belief was there for many centuries.

But in the later periods, the scientific interest in the phenomena of dreams was improved.

There is a problem about the relation of the dream to the waking state. After we woke up, we feel like the dream we saw is from another world, though it is not. We feel like that because the dream is something entirely different and alien from the things that we concern in the waking state. Or else, there can be some few elements we had in the waking state. Our normal behavior and the consciousness are entirely lost in the dreaming state, therefore the dreams brings out the complete unencumbered isolation of the psyche. Also at least a little part of it has to be somewhere in our real experiences.

Sometimes we can see the dreams which we feel that we have never known in the real world. It can be about a place or a person or anything that we cannot reminisce that we have known in the waking state. Not only that, but also there can be so much of knowledge in the dreams that we cannot remember in our actual life. That is the knowledge and the memory of our unconsciousness. The things which we see in our dreams can be the materials which were entered to our memory in our childhood. Most of them are caused to product interesting "hypermnesic" dreams.

When concerning about the stimuli and sources of dreams, it says that a dream is a result of such a disturbance which occurs to disturb our sleep. Dream is a reaction of our mental processes against that disturbance. There are four categories of stimuli.

1) External sensory stimuli.

It means objective stimuli. For an example, a strong light may fall upon eyes while we are in a good sleep. As it disturbs to our sleep, it can be a stimuli for a dream. In our dreams it can be made us see as we walk alone the beach in a sunny day.

Sometimes we can see different dreams for the same stimuli. It is because there are some memory images in our mind at that particular time we get the stimuli and the most suitable image which goes with the objective stimuli is taken to produce the dream.

2) Internal sensory stimuli.

A dream cannot be produced only by the external sensory stimuli, because the entire external sensory stimulus which comes while we sleep, cannot make a dream or support to originate a dream independently. There has to be some internal facts too. Therefore we have to consider about the internal sensory stimuli also. Subjective sensations which we see or hear in our waking state are important in dream illusions. The subjective stimuli are independent of external accidents. They are, so to speak at the disposal of the interpretation whenever they are required. The main proof of this stimuli is that the hypnogogic hallucinations. They are very obstructive but changeable pictures which people see while falling asleep. Some may linger for a while even after we opened our eyes. If someone wakes up shortly after having that kind of an experience, it will be oft possible to trace in the dream pictures, the ones s/he saw before falling to the sleep. It also can take as a "hypnogogic" hallucination. Not only that, but also auditory hallucinations may also occur and then can be in the dreams.

3) Internal (organic) physical stimuli.

Our internal organs are reminds us their existence. That also causes for a creation of a dream. If there is a disease, it can become a source of most painful sensation. Psyche become more conscious of its physicality than the waking state and it receives some stimulating which are originating in the parts of our body. Diseases of heart and lungs may be subject to the nightmares. Stimuli proceeding from the interior of the organism, from the nervous system, apply at most an unconscious affect on our mood during the day time. But, at night, that effect of the impression which was had at the day time is no longer active. The impressions that came up are able to force themselves to get our attention. They are drowned by the other external affects at the day time.

4) Psychic sources of excitation.

People dream of what they do in the waking state and of their interesting things. That interest is not only a psychic bond, but also joining the dream into the real life. If an interest which we have during our waking state, together with the internal and external sensory stimuli that occur during sleep, enough to cover the whole etiology of the dream. But the interests in our waking state are not very influential to say confidently that every one who dreams are continuing these interests of the waking state.

We all have experienced that dreams are forgotten after waking. They fade away when we woke up. We can recall it after waking but most of the times we cannot remember the whole complete exact dream. Sometimes we know that we have dreamed during the sleep but do not remember what we dreamed of. But the dreams manifest a peculiar power to be in the memory. Some dreams are last in the memory for a long time such as for 35 years, without being forget a little part of it. And also without losing the freshness of that dream.

This forgetting is a complex phenomenon. The factors which cause to forget in the waking state are can be the cause to forget the dreams also. In waking state, we forget such a lot of things, may be because they are slight to remember or there can be a slight amount of emotional feelings. But we can remember the strong important things obviously. This is true for the dreams also. In dreams, most of the scenes are lack of order and lack of sense. This also causes to forget because we easily forget the things which are not in an order and lack of sense. The relationship of the dream to the waking state is also important in forget dreams. If that dream has a great relation to the waking state, it will not be forgotten. Also when we are waking, our attention suddenly rushes to the sensations of the real world. Therefore, only few dream-images are capable to be in the memory by force with that rush. But the people who are specially interested in dreaming, can remember the dreams more easily and also they dream more than other people.

As we know, the hypnogogical hallucinations (even in their content) they are identical with dream pictures. Transformation of an idea into a hallucination is not the only departure of the dream from the corresponding waking thought. It can make a suitable situation from a hallucination. It shows us something as in actual.

In this book, "Interpretations of Dreams", Freud discusses about the ethical sense in dreams too. He considers about the dream as a sub problem, to what extent the feelings and the moral bonds of the waking state affect the dream life. Some writers assert that there is no influence to the dream life from the moral obligations. But some, on the other hand emphasis that the moral bond which are related to man persist even in the dream life. Of course there are such immoral dreams that no one denies. But we have to know how they originate. All the ones who consider about this problem, have recognized a special psychic source for immorality of dreams. We are not responsible for our dreams. Dreams take us to the reality of our lives. But if someone can cleanse his/her mind morally before s/he sleep, that person might not see immoral dreams.

Since dreams have become something biological, there were many incomplete theories about dreams, such as; "Dream is something which was sent by god to the man..." Scientists' and medical writers' most favored theory is that only a fragment of psychic activity paralyzed by sleep finds expression in dreams. It can be identified as the most popular theory of dreams.

The relation between dreams and mental diseases is another important section that Freud has discussed here. When we talk about this relation, we have to concern about three things.

1. Etiological and clinical relations as when a dream represents a psychotic condition.

2. The changes that the dream life undergoes in cases of mental illnesses.

3. Inner relations between dreams and psychoses, analogies that point to an intimate relationship.

After having an idea about these things, an abnormal morbid phenomenon can be considered as an increase from time to time recurring normal dream state. The unequivocal agreement between dreams and mental diseases goes to characteristic details also.

According to Freud; "It is very probable, however, that a modified conception of the dream must also influence our views regarding the inner mechanism of mental disorders, and hence we may say that we are working towards the explanation of the psychoses when we endeavor to elucidate the mystery of dreams." (p.102)

Freud has explained this subject in a really interesting and a broad way with a lot of experiences as examples. When we study about these things, our curiosity and the interest of the subject are developed. It encourages continuing the study.

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