Psych Special Series - Dreams
🧠240/300 - Psychology of dreaming about someone
Psychology of Dreams
Part ONE of Thought/Research Writing.
Context: While traveling last month, I came across this idea of writing about a few topics in psychology & give you the valuable insights of these ‘simple’ topics in our lives to help you wonder & question.
Disclaimer: This series is an attempt to understand the concepts of certain subjects through the lenses of Psychology.
These are very broader topics and hence, this is an attempt to compile the points surrounding them. Your feedback will play an integral role as always.
It is baffling to know that with information explosion, there are so many explanations of the same thing. And the more the data is, the lesser the odds of truth being evidently clear.
Giving the example of psychology, we have tons of ‘facts’ and so called ‘explanation videos’ talking about what dreams mean and they literally have no backing towards the claims made.
One of the most (in)famous subject we are going to talk about is ‘Dreams’.
Let’s start with the first question, What is a dream?
A series of experiences, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep. And most of the time, they are not supposed to make any sense.
So, why do we dream at all? Some of the pointers could be -
To process our emotions & experiences with people in our life
Often influenced by our memories, emotions, and current circumstances, and may not always have a deeper meaning.
Dreams contain interpersonal scenarios that mirror conscious behavioral experiences (Schredl & Hofmann, 2003);Â
The ‘‘continuity hypothesis’’ (Schredl, 2002) specifies that dream content corresponds to past events, in part due to salience in the mind (e.g., dreaming about an event after experiencing it while awake).
*This theory has received some supporting evidence (Schredl & Hofmann, 2003);
Another good aspect to dreaming is, when you dream about a person or someone. While there is no prominent theme of reasoning, there have been many associations to it. Again, some of them points given are -
It is your subconscious talking to you orÂ
These dreams are more about you and your life
Is subconscious talking to us is a way of interpreting things from the different perspectives of conscious self? Let me know your thoughts.
Related: Dream Telepathy
Sigmund Freud, a famous psychologist, talked about the idea of communicating through dreams in 1921.
He wasn't sure if it was real or not. He never had a telepathic dream himself. He didn't find any proof of it in his patients either.
So, he stayed neutral on the topic and explained it using standard psychological ideas like neurosis and transference.
Related: Affection towards people in Dreams
The experience of falling in love with someone after seeing them in dreams is a fascinating psychological phenomenon.
Dreams can evoke powerful emotions and create vivid scenarios that feel real. When you dream about someone, your brain might activate feelings of connection, familiarity, and attraction, even if you've never met them in real life.
This emotional response could be due to the brain's ability to simulate interactions and relationships, tapping into your desires and fantasies.
However, it's important to note that the love felt in dreams might not necessarily translate to real-life compatibility or feelings.
Dreams can provide insights into your inner thoughts and emotions, but building a real relationship requires genuine interactions, understanding, and shared experiences.
Your brain also looking for a ‘closure’ to allow you to heal and move on.
In Conclusion: Dream are magical. Live it. Feel it. Don’t overthink it.
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