For thousands of years, philosophers and scientists have been intrigued by the subject of why do we dream. Despite scientific research into the purpose of dreams, we still don’t know why humans experience them. While there is still a lot of mystery surrounding dreams, many specialists have created hypotheses on what dreams are for, with fresh empirical study offering more insight. What are dream theories that are really famous?
A dream is a collection of sights, ideas, and emotions experienced while sleeping. Dreams may be very emotional or vivid dreams, or they might be ambiguous, transient, perplexing, or even uninteresting. Some dreams are happy, while others are scary or depressing. Some dreams seem to have a definite storyline, while others appear to be completely illogical. There are many dream theories in history. But what are the 3 theories of dreaming? Let’s find out.
What are 3 Dream Theories?
Let’s look at the most famous dream theories of psychology. They include the Freudian theory, Jungian theory and the modern scientific theory behind dreams.
Freudian Dream Theory
Dreams symbolize unconscious wants, ideas, wish fulfillment, and motives. According to Freud, people are motivated by repressed and unconscious longings, such as aggressive and sexual inclinations. Dreams are “disguised fulfillments of repressed desires.” He also differentiated between obvious (visible) and latent (invisible) information in dreams (1).
Despite the fact that many of Freud’s dream interpretations have been discredited, research reveals that there is a dream rebound effect, also known as the dream rebound hypothesis, in which suppressing a thought leads to dreaming about it (2).
Jungian Dream Theory
Sigmund Freud, Jung’s early mentor, taught him numerous crucial concepts. Dreaming, according to Jung and Freud, is a meaningful outcome of unconscious processes in the psyche with profound origins in our species’ evolutionary history. Dreams are significant partners in the recovery of those suffering from different types of mental illness.
The most significant distinction between Freud’s and Jung’s dream theories was that Freud’s method looked backward, focusing on the causal roots of dreams in early life events. Jung’s method focused on the future, deciphering where dreams may go and what they might say about a person’s future life development.
Modern Dream Theory
The most recent theory of dreaming is that it is used to solve problems. If we are having challenges at work or in a relationship, our dreams may examine these issues while we sleep and may even provide us with a solution. When individuals say they’re going to “sleep on” an issue, they’re implying that they’re hoping for a solution while they’re sleeping. Why do humans dream? The “problem-solving theory” seems to be pretty credible.
If you want to decipher the meanings behind your dreams and understand your unconscious better, try the Dreambook App today. In the app, you can keep your personal dream journal digitally, so you can take it everywhere. Categorize your dreams through themes, personalize your journal and do more in Dreambook!
References
1: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01553/full
2: https://www.verywellmind.com/why-do-we-dream-top-dream-theories-2795931