Infos About Dreams
Dreams and the Subconscious
The truth shown by tests and research conducted in sleep laboratories is that almost everyone has 4-5 dreams a night and an average of 5 years of our lives are spent dreaming. When we look at the phenomenon of dreaming superficially, we may think that dreams are some meaningless and messy images; But when looked at deeply, it is seen that our dreams point to our mood, some events we have experienced in the past, things that affect us, and issues that we try to avoid thinking about. Everyone dreams; People who say 'I am not dreaming' are those who do not remember their dreams. Most of the people who remember their dreams need to interpret the images they see. The subconscious, our innate essence, filtered through billions of years of life experiences, appears most frequently during dreams.
Think of your whole mind as an iceberg. The conscious mind is the small part of the iceberg above the water, while the subconscious mind is the huge part that remains under the water. The part that is active when we are awake is our conscious side, while when we are asleep the unconscious mind emerges, which is the part that is most active in our lives. The subconscious mind, which is active 24/7, does not sleep; the conscious mind continues to work even while asleep. You may think that the subconscious, which controls all involuntary body functions, is a kind of autopilot, a memory store. The subconscious is the part of us that works unconsciously without us being aware of it and ensures our body functions while we are asleep. Despite its extraordinary capacity, the subconscious is pure; He believes what consciousness tells him. For example, if you believe that a food item makes you nauseous, your subconscious mind will make you detect the smell of that food item at all times and in every situation, and will make you notice it even if it is so light that no one notices it.
The main reason why we have difficulty understanding our dreams and why we need to consult dream interpretation books and sites for these images that affect us is that we look at them through the eyes of daily language, the conscious mind. However, our dreams speak with the language of the subconscious, which is also the language of nature. Dreaming gives people some clues about the emotional traffic and mood they experience. During periods of your life when you are under negative influence, restless and distressed, these effects are reflected in your subconscious, and the dreams you see are often disturbing and distressing, and evoke negative emotions, even if they are not scary. Being under positive influences and feeling good is reflected in your subconscious in the same way, and most of your dreams during such periods are dreams that evoke good emotions, relief and happiness.
Nowadays, there are doctors who use the dream analysis method to treat some patients. Although dream interpretations are seen as phenomena belonging to the superstitious world, in our times many scientists benefit from dreams, especially in the treatment of some psychological problems. This scientific practice, which uses a different approach to dreaming, is of course not based on the idea that dreams may inform the future. Dream analysis, a psychiatric treatment method based on revealing negative records buried deep in the subconscious, is an attempt to reveal these records that seem to be forgotten but have a negative impact on people in some way. According to psychiatric science, the things that disturb and cause illness are not the things that are remembered, but the things that are not remembered; They are those who have been pushed into the dark regions of the subconscious. Many scientists believe in the healing properties of this method.
It is accepted that dreams, which we can think of as letters coming to us from our soul, are the language of the gods that is extremely rich in meaning, depth and metaphor, and that they direct us from sleep to the state of awakening to life. An American scientist named Arnold Mindell took a different approach and called the subconscious 'dream object' and sees it as a dream that flows without interruption like a river. According to Mindell, our dreams are photographs taken from this totality. Psychologist Erich Fromm says that dreams are a forgotten language and that dreams and visions are among the most important expressions of our mind.
Many things hidden by the curtain of consciousness are released from their bonds while we are asleep. Dreams come to us as symbols or direct images from the hidden realities of our self or the universe that we do not yet know. Psychologists reach the messages of the subconscious more easily when a person is asleep; Because the subconscious is not under our control during sleep and sometimes it reveals itself completely.
What is Sleep?
Humans and all other mammals, birds and fish need sleep to perform their daily functions. One third of human life is spent with this natural form of rest. During the sleep process, which naturally takes place within the 24-hour cycle of the day, the body rests and memory is restructured. Sleeping is also necessary for psychological renewal. During this process, we are cleared of the confusion of thoughts we experience while we are awake, our nervous system rests and the immune system deals with repair work. Our body and mind must be healthy in order to overcome the events, activities and problems we encounter in daily life. We have to sleep to achieve this.
The conditions observed in a sleeping person are that the person is mostly lying down and his eyes are closed, he is breathing more slowly and rhythmically, his muscles are completely relaxed, and he does not hear anything unless there is a very loud sound. During the sleep process, the person's heartbeat also slows down and dreaming occurs. Dreams have always been considered one of the most interesting experiences of sleep, and many people who do not forget their dreams feel the need to have dream interpretation after waking up in order to give meaning to their dreams. A sleeping person is indifferent to most of what goes on around him; However, it differs from a person in a coma in that it can wake up in case of sufficient external intervention.
Sleep Periods
When a sleeping person is observed, it is seen that sleep is not a very static event. The person who starts to sleep is initially a little anxious. He can be seen moving his feet and sometimes jumping. In case of a slight sound or warning, he immediately opens his eyes. He then falls into a deeper sleep and his sensitivity to external stimuli decreases. If you look carefully, you can see that the eyeballs under the closed eyelids are moving. These changes in sleep show a standard structure in the brain electrode, where the electrical activities of the brain are monitored. This structure is called the sleep cycle. An adult person completes 4 to 6 sleep cycles during the night, and each cycle contains 2 periods.
During REM sleep, the body is motionless and rapid eye movements occur under closed eyelids. During this period, when most of the dreaming events occur, the amount of blood flowing to the brain increases, and fluctuations in pulse and blood pressure are observed. The REM period, which occurs about 30-40 minutes after the person falls asleep, lasts for 10-15 minutes and the brain switches to the NREM period again. The Rem period, which is repeated every 80-100 minutes, is entered and exited 6-7 times during a sleep. This period is even longer in children.
The NREM period is the period in which eye movements are not observed during sleep, but there are few body movements. This period, in which heart and blood pressure decrease, blood flow to the brain decreases and breathing slows down, lasts for 1-1.5 hours and is divided into 4 phases: The first phase, which constitutes 5 percent of the total sleep time, is the sleep onset phase. Meanwhile, brain functions are 50 percent less and sleep is superficial. In the second phase, known as the light sleep period, sleep is superficial. Meanwhile, the brain prepares for deep sleep. The heart rate is reduced and the body temperature is low. The third and fourth stages of the NREM period are the deep sleep period.
Sleep Duration
Although there is much unknown about sleep, it is known that the repair of the body, the structuring of memory, psychological rest, and the synthesis of various substances and hormones occur during certain periods of sleep. Sleep duration varies depending on factors such as people's age, gender and weight. Children sleep more than adults. While newborn babies spend an average of 16 hours a day sleeping, a child of primary school age sleeps 9-10 hours. Adequate and regular sleep is of great importance for a child's growth and mental development.
People's sleep times vary depending on factors such as age, gender and weight. There are people who sleep for 12 hours, and there are people who sleep for 4 hours. But to give an average, most adults sleep between 6 and 8 hours. Most people acquire sleep cycles when they are 16-17 years old, which will continue until they are around 45 years old. Starting from middle age, sleep duration begins to decrease and the character of sleep begins to change. In this period of life, people's superficial sleep periods are longer and they sleep less in dream-related phases. For young people, the situation is exactly the opposite. Calculating the sleep time a person needs is done as follows: A person needs 1 hour of sleep for every 2 hours he is awake. At the end of a 16-hour day, the amount of time a young person needs to sleep is 8 hours. The situation changes with age; A person needs 45 minutes of sleep for every 2 hours he remains awake. In other words, an elderly person's sleep need after a 16-hour day is 6 hours.
Sleep deprivation occurs when not enough time is allocated for sleep. Insomnia causes sleepiness during the day, a slowdown in thinking and learning processes, and problems in the decision-making process. It has been determined that insomnia affects older people more than young people, and gender is also a factor that can change the effect of insomnia. Women recover faster than men after insomnia.
Sleeping Disorders
The first of the sleep disorders that occur in 3 main forms is insomnia, and this is an extremely common condition that negatively affects human health and quality of life. It is possible to treat insomnia when evaluated and diagnosed using scientific methods. Sleep disorder, known as daytime sleepiness, is caused by various sleep disorders, especially sleep apnea and narcolepsy. This problem can cause various diseases, some problems in business life, and accidents, and according to research, it also causes some traffic accidents. The third problem in the list of sleep disorders is unconscious movements during sleep. This condition, which is frequently seen in children and adolescents, includes problems such as sleep walking, teeth grinding, speaking, and nightmares during sleep. It has been understood that the occurrence of these conditions, which should be handled with careful treatment planning, in middle and older ages, is associated with some diseases.
Suggestions for a Good Sleep
For healthy sleep, certain conditions must be met. Sleeping hours should be regular, avoid drinking caffeinated beverages when there are a few hours left to sleep, and stop eating and drinking at least 2 hours before bedtime. When a person eats before going to bed, all his blood is collected in his stomach and his body continues to function normally. This means that the person constantly remains in the NREM sleep phase and heavy sleep; In other words, it causes the inability to go into REM sleep. The result of this is that when the person wakes up in the morning, he will feel tired as if he had not slept at all. Exercising regularly is also among the ways that make it possible to have a good sleep. It is not recommended to sleep during the daytime. It is necessary to sleep in a bedroom protected from sound, heat and light, and choose bed clothes that will not cause cold or sweat. Forcing yourself to sleep often causes further sleep loss. In such a situation, it would be better to read relaxing books or listen to soothing music. Taking a warm shower before sleeping also helps to have a good night's sleep. It is important to be in a mentally calm and relaxed state. Keeping feet warm can help induce sleep. (alert-success)
