What Is A Dream? Why Do We Dream? Know Some Interesting Facts About Dreams

A sequence of thoughts, ideas, emotions and different representations in the mind developed by the latent subconscious perceptions in the brain while you're sleeping is known as a dream. In simple words, they can be any description of stories, memoirs or pictures in your mind in the period of sleep. There can be different types to it, and it may change day to day and even from time to time. Some dreams can be intimidating whereas others can be gladdening.

Why do we dream?

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Dreaming aids learning process

Those who take a nap and dream about a task they've just learned, perform it better upon waking than those who don't sleep or those who sleep but don't have any associated dreams.

Dreams may appear at any moment during your sleep, but in different stages, you might experience the different intensity of dreams.

A Non-REM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep is the first stage of sleep which happens for a short duration of time, approximately for 10-15 minutes. It is also known as a stage of light sleep, during which you might experience non-vivid dreams as you are likely to wake up easily. On the other hand, during a REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is considered as a deep sleep cycle, you are probably experiencing acute intensified dreams. This usually takes place after an hour and a half of your usual sleep pattern and your brain becomes very active during this stage.

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Different psychologists believed in contrasting philosophies about dream analysis, Sir Sigmund Freud, known as a renowned dream analyst, believed that dreams are the attainment of desires which you are unable to fulfill during a conscious state of mind. Contrarily, Carl Jung concluded that dreams are the cause of external stimuli. Therefore, the unique idea behind why do we dream cannot be specified, but in general, dreams are known to impersonate different roles and appearances based on the way you think and how you act. You might think of something when you're wide awake with certain practical knowledge and sense of reasoning, this can have clear adequacy in determining the way you perceive your thoughts in your subconscious mind while sleeping.

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Dreams are stories your brain tells you when you are sleeping
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Facts about dreaming

While dreams can be distressing and delightful at the same time, there can be a few facts to follow through it-

1. You mostly dream in illustrations and images which usually takes place with a little audio along with discernibility

2. It is researched that about '12 percentages of your dreams are black and white'

3. Largely, the thoughts in your dreams are related to the situations you have experienced in your life recently

4. Researchers also say 'about 8 percentages of the general population experience sleep paralysis'

5. There can be many medicinal drugs which may determine the outcome of your dreams.

6. Even pets experiences dreaming.

7. You are more likeable to dream about the people you see in your daily life

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What are lucid dreams?

Did you ever encounter a thought while you were sleeping, where you were aware that it is a dream? Did you ever manage to administer or manipulate your dream? This kind of phenomenon is known as lucid dreaming. In a lucid dream, you usually are in the last phases of REM sleep cycle and experience largely vivid dreams. The intensity of vividness of the dreams can be varied according to different people and patterns of sleep as some can wake up immediately after the realization of a dream, whereas some are unable to do that.

All in all, dreams can be contrasting and altered based on different styles, but it mostly manages to create a unique mysterious experience for you every time you sleep.

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.