Have you ever wondered if you dream at all?
And I know that it's kind of a silly question, but it's no surprise that a good number of the
country's population has reported having no recollection of ever dreaming after a
good night's sleep. Today I'll be dishing out some psychological facts about dreams
you never thought possible. Things like how every human has about seven different dreams per night.
Even if you don't remember them, why do nightmares awaken us from our sleep? So stay tuned to find
out some of the psychologically fascinating things about dreaming you've been dying to know.
13 Men and women dream differently.
There are endless reasons why men and women are so different, and to add on top of that list,
is their way of dreaming. Following different research results, it has been concluded that
there are distinctive differences between women's and men's dreams. Men's dreams are
commonly associated with lots of violence and physical activities like running, driving and
fighting. Women, on the other hand, have dreams that elicit an emotional response rather than
physical. Those are associated with events that leave them feeling excluded and rejected.
More interestingly is that men's and women's dreams are no different from their daily lives.
Where men are attracted to weapons and women are knee-deep into anything fashion-related.
They interestingly carry these same traits into the dream world.
Making each of them dream about the things that they fancy. Another thing that researchers
realized was that women have much longer dreams when compared to men. And in these dreams,
the women have more people in their dreams, who can unbiasedly be either male or female.
Men, however, have more male characters in their dreams compared to female characters.
One common similarity amongst the two genders is that every character who visits the dreamland
is supposedly a familiar face. I know it seems strange because you can probably bet
your life you've never met a good number of the people you dream about, but facts never lie.
12 Everybody dreams
If you are like me and you like to probe people about their dreams,
then you've most likely heard this phrase countless times I just don't dream.
Contrary to the belief that there's a special type of people who never dream.
Science has proven that everyone, without exception, does indeed dream. Actually, one
person can have up to several dreams in one single night. This is because your whole brain never
sleeps at the same time. During the day, the most active part of the brain is your conscious side.
While at night, your conscious brain rests, and the subconscious part takes over. As you sleep,
you go through different sleep stages and dreaming usually occurs in the REM sleep stage.
So even when you wake up with no recollection, be sure that you spent about 2 hours of your
night dreaming. It just happens that you forgot what you dreamt about.
Fun fact: Did you know that if you are lucky
enough to live to a ripe old age, you'll have spent a good six years of your lifetime dreaming?
11 Not all dreams are coloured.
Did you know that in 1940 only about a fraction of the population reported dreaming in colour?
This phenomenon is associated with environmental exposure.
It is said that because there weren't any coloured TVs in those days,
dreams were set up in mostly black and white. However, the percentage of people
who only dream in black and white is very low and accounts for only 12% of the whole population.
While the remaining 88% are lucky to experience coloured dreams.
Scientists noticed something mind-boggling as they researched dream psychology
which was that most of the colours associated with dreams were soft. This included pastel
colours of light pink hues and mild blues, which made dreams very peaceful. HD dreams
are considered an upgrade from back and white ones because of the invention of coloured TVs.
10 You can control your dreams.
Up until today, I didn't know that I could control my dreams. Psychology expounds into the
depths of dreams resulting in lucid dreamers being equipped with the ability to control their dreams.
Not only that, but they are also fully aware that they are inside a dream. Good news is that both
you and I are qualified to be in control of our dreams. The only limitation is that we need to
be in a deep state of limbo where our subconscious mind will be alert, for us to possess this power.
Dr.Gackenbach insists that video game addicts are more capable of entering the Lucid dreams.
In that state, they usually imagine themselves outside their bodies. The ability to control your
dream gives you an added advantage, making you turn a horrific nightmare into a harmless dream.
Being able to control dreams also plays a big role in assisting recovering PTSD veterans. And I'm not
sure about you, but to me the ability to control dreams is just the best, or what do you think?
9 Negative dreams are more common.
Like the mind, the heart never falls asleep, and this might explain the roller coaster emotional
train we experience during dreams. Sleep studies have revealed that people experience
a mirage of emotion while sleeping. They can be frustrated, heartbroken, anxious, happy,
feel loved, or stressed. But even with a list full of emotions,
the subconscious mind picks the most negative emotions more often than the rest. That means
you're five times more likely to have negative emotions as you dream compared to positive ones.
They've also listed some things that steer the dream train wheel, to the negative side due to
stress in real life. More interesting is certain things like how your room smells can affect
which emotion you'll experience in your dreams. According to research, green light and diffuser
oils such as camomile or lavender promotes sleep and can lead to a better sleep experience.
8 Your pet also dreams.
It's not uncommon to see your dog or cat jacking its feet in thin air while they're asleep.
Besides that, you can wake up from a terrible claw attack from your pet
as they sleep in your bed. Only for you to realize that it was not in any way a premeditated attack,
and they are actually fast asleep. That's a sure sign that your pet is dreaming.
To back up such findings, scientists claim that even animals go through the sleep stages of REM,
and Non-REM. Which makes them fully equipped to experience dreams.
It's unlikely though that they can experience this phenomenon, exactly like humans do,
since they can't remember people's faces. Neither do their dreams have a storyline that they follow.
7 Blind people dream visually.
You'd think that because someone is blind, they can't dream in pictures. The fact of
the matter is that even people who are born blind still undergo the REM process. It,
however, occurs at a reduced rate in people with visual disabilities.
Because of this, the likelihood of this type of dream occurring is one in about ten dreams.
I'm as baffled as you are wondering what the dreamers make of those dreams?
6 Our days inform our dreams.
As mentioned before, as we go through our daily activities, the conscious mind is more active.
It's busy trying to make sense of everything that is going on around us.
Additionally, it bears the tasks of deciphering the meaning of phrases
said while communicating so that one can efficiently respond.
They grasp different colours, places, and faces we interact with,
meaning that the conscious brain is always busy taking in information. While all this
is going on, the subconscious mind is on the sidelines, taking in the same information.
In the evening, as you go to sleep, your subconscious mind gets to work. Filtering through
all the information and experiences of the day. In case you experience something unsettling, your
mind will force you to tackle that matter head-on in your dreams. This process helps the brain get
rid of junk from your system to give way for new information tomorrow. When you wake up, the
process once again begins. This is also the reason why we have multiple dreams in a single night.
5 Longer dreams occur in the morning.
A tiring night most likely means a good night's sleep for many as you wander out into dreamland.
Immediately you fall asleep, you'll fall into the first stage, which is the REM. Which only
lasts for as long as five minutes before you fall into the other sleep stage of NREM.
Throughout the night, your mind and body will interchangeably fall into these two stages.
Surprisingly the more you go back into the REM stage, the longer it will last.
In the last third of the night, you'll experience the longest shift into the REM stage.
As this happens, you'll be in the right timing to experience longer dreams.
They'll be more vivid, and these are the dreams people are more likely to remember.
4 Entering another person's dream
Have you ever wondered why sometimes you have a hard time searching for sleep?
Well, scientists believe that if you can't sleep, the probable reason is that you are
awake in another person's dream. I am still trying to figure out how that works, but for now,
we'll have to agree without a doubt. So if you're getting insomnia frequently, you're
probably very popular in many people's dreams or even in a single person's vivid dreams about you.
3 Violent dreams are a warning sign.
Studies have clarified the issue of violent dreams. Concluding that the
recurrence of the common sleep disorder, where you experience violent dreams,
punch the air, or maybe wake up with a shrill scream, are all early signs of brain disorder,
including dementia and the other common Parkinson disease amongst boxers. If you have come across
such an element, or maybe you have experienced it, you must seek medical advice. Some people
suffer different brain disorders even without knowing until it's too late. If identified early,
the disorder is manageable through therapy and medication. Please don't shy away because of
what people might think of you, be bold and stay healthy. Don't worry if your sleep has
been interrupted with a bad dream before, but concern arises when the violent dreams increase.
2 You can't read while dreaming.
As bizarre as it sounds, we are incapable of reading while dreaming. Dreams take our minds
into a deep meditative state, if I may say making it impossible to act out anything unless you are a
lucid dreamer. Even for them, they are unable to tell the time or read though their subconscious
mind is alert and running. If you think it's a hoax, try reading inside your dream or even
check the clock while sleeping and let us know if it was possible to read or tell the time.
1 Dreams get more complex as the night unwinds.
A goodnight's sleep is what everybody longs for, especially after a long day.
The feeling of laying prostrate in your bed in the evening is just the best feeling,
no more stressing all away from the hustle and baffle remaining with only relaxation. What many
of us are unaware of is what transpires once we close our eyes and sleep. Some can remember
their dreams while others aren't. Those who sleep for longer hours get more in-depth dreams. Which
sometimes just gets weirder as time slowly passes by. Extended hours of sleep mean extended hours of
deep sleep where at this point, we can wander far and wild into the dreamland, allowing our mind to
face our fears and reorganize our thoughts and emotions. What is your experience when you sleep
for long hours? Did your dreams get weird along the way? Don't worry, dreams play an important
role in your brain, besides just relaxing your body. Without proper sleep, you are doomed to
face severe health problems like complications with the heart, amongst other underlying issues.
This winds up our topic for the day,
I hope it was educational to you? Let us know which psychological fact you find most intriguing,
and also if you might know other facts that we might have left out, do let us know.
So, thank you all so much for watching and before you go, remember to subscribe to the channel,
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have a great day and see you all in the next one!