Dreams and What They Mean

Dreams and What They Mean

Psychologists seem to fall into two groups regarding dreams. The first group believes that dreams have no real purpose; while the second group believes they do have a purpose, although this group cannot reach a consensus on what the purpose might be.

Sigmund Freud is probably the most famous of the dream theorists. He believed that dreams helped to preserve sleep by keeping individuals from waking as a result of physical urges such as needing to go to the bathroom or feeling hungry. This theory was developed before the knowledge of REM sleep.

Carl Jung, an early follower of Freud, broke away from that theory to develop one about dreams compensating for under-developed areas of our personalities. This theory was disproved by Calvin Hall who did a study that shows that dreams are a continuation of our waking thoughts and behaviors.

Other dream theorists claim that the purpose of dreams is for problem solving. The thought is that dreams can deal with