The Nexus

Like usual, Courtney Strickland (12) was taking notes, listening to English teacher Josh Cottrell lecture as she sat in his philosophy class. However, this day wasn’t as ordinary as she believed it to be. On Mr. Cottrell’s couch sat a strange woman dressed in a brown toga.

Her hands moved swiftly as she created voodoo dolls of Strickland and her classmates. Not knowing who this woman was, Strickland quickly ignored her presence and continued to take notes. As her hand began to write again, a disturbing shriek came from the woman on the couch.

Strickland looked up in fear of the broken silence. The woman would scream sporadically as if she was having a seizure, causing Strickland to wake up in hysteria.

Strickland had no idea where this dream, or the woman in her dream, had come from.

Our curiosity about dreams and the psychology behind them have triggered many to research the whys and hows of the miniature movies that go on in our mind at night.

Before our mind drifts off into the fantasy world that it sometimes craves, our bodies must go through the four different stages of sleep, each one causing the body to react differently.

The first stage of sleep is when one begins to fall in and out of sleep, and can be easily awoken, and the eye and muscle activity begin to slow down.

In stage two, the eye movement of the sleeper comes to a complete stop, and brain waves begin to slow down.

As the sleeper enters stage three, there are slow brainwaves and fast brainwaves that begin to intermix, and there is no sign of any body movement.

Stage four is similar to stage three, because this is when a sleeper enters a deep sleep, where it is harder to be woken up. This is when many experience night terrors or sleepwalking. A calm breathing pattern is established along with no muscle or eye activity.

After stage four comes a state called the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage. In the REM period, breathing becomes more shallow and most of the time irregular. While the sleeper’s eyes are closed, the eyes begin to jerk rapidly and limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed. The brainwaves in this period are at the same level as when one is awake. The heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, and the body sometimes loses its ability to control its temperature.

This is the period when most dreams occur, and if the sleeper is awoken during this period, they will likely be able to remember their dreams.

Since there is no set reason as to why we dream, Spanish and Psychology teacher Christian Michel, who studied psychology at the University of San Diego, said there are four main theories that produce the most controversy.

“First, our dreams represent our physiological state,” he said. “So if you’re hungry while you are sleeping, and you don’t consciously know it and something goes off in your mind that reflects your body state, you dream about food.”

Michel said that another reason scientists believe we dream is so that the brain can clear itself out.

“It’s like a computer defragmenting itself,” he said. “It condenses its information. During sleep, the brain is locking in and storing memories from the day. Thereby, dreams help facilitate learning, remembering, memory, understanding, etc.”

Another possible reason we dream is because they offer a way for our minds to resolve unsettled issues. They work out solutions to problems that occurred during the day or the past.

Strickland’s dream most likely fits into this theory. She said that the stress she is enduring from the rigorous classes she is taking this year triggers her to dream about something going wrong during her classes.

“The best analogy for this theory is that dreams are like an iceberg; small on top of the surface of the water, yet under is a glacier more than five times the size of the top of it,” Michel said. “Dreams could be the released information from the unconscious mind, surfacing up by dreams. It is a safe way for the conscious mind to deal with stored information as we sleep.”

The last, and perhaps most controversial reason why we dream, is the Freudian theory.

“[Freud’s] theory was that dreams are expressions of unfulfilled desires and wishes that are uncomfortable or unsettling to the conscious mind,” Michel said. “[Freud said that] our needs, issues or desires are so physiologically uncomfortable that our minds consciously store and repress those thoughts.”

A close example of Freud’s theory could be seen in Westview baseball player Brian Attard (11), who dislocated and broke almost every bone in his ankle last year during a game. After being told it would take two years for a full recovery from surgery and physical therapy, Attard’s disappointment began to affect his everyday life.

“While I was still in the boot and on crutches, I had this dream where my ankle was okay, and I was able to run and play baseball,” Attard said. “But within minutes of doing whatever activity I was doing, my ankle would start hurting. I didn’t know it was broken, but I’d start to cry in my dream because I understood I couldn’t go any further.”

Attard’s disappointment in not being able to play baseball became a stress in his mind. Even though when he was awake and active he didn’t realize it, it was on his mind for a majority of the day.

Psychology professor Tim Rickard at the University of California at San Diego said that dreams mainly reflect activation of memories from everyday life.

“Even bizarre dreams can be understood and [be] sort of a collage of memories,” Rickard said. “Ongoing personal concerns (such as anxiety about school) are also commonly incorporated into dreams, though often indirectly.”

The fact that Strickland had a dream about only a part of her day, and Attard dreamt about a situation that affected his entire life, demonstrates the intricacy of the psychology behind dreams.

“When I woke up, I didn’t feel sad,” Attard said. “It just made me realize that this is a part of my life that I have to deal with, and if I keep letting it affect me the way I did every day, then it would have made the situation a lot worse. The dream was like a wakeup call that I can’t always be upset with what I’m going through.”

If we are able to remember our dreams, they have the power to affect our entire day, causing us to feel disgusted, excited, confused or it can easily slip our minds.