The dream doctor will see you now
We spend up to a third of our lives dreaming, but why? Neurosurgeon Dr Rahul Jandial unlocks their hidden meaning
Dreams have long been a source of mystery and captured the attention of humanity’s great thinkers from Aristotle to Nelson Mandela. They have inspired art, invention and medicine and have been seen as messages from gods and demons.
“Dreams affect us deeply because we experience them as real,” says neurosurgeon and research scientist Dr Rahul Jandial. “The joy we feel in dreams is physiologically no different from the joy felt when we’re awake, neither is the terror, frustration, sexual excitement, anger and fear.
“Run in your dreams and the motor cortex is activated – the same part of your brain you’d use if you were actually running. Feel a lover’s touch in your dream and the sensory cortex is stimulated, just as it would be in your waking hours,” explains Dr Jandial, author of This Is Why You Dream.
“Dreams are of the utmost importance. Many of us have the ability to dream from falling asleep to waking up, which means we could be dreaming up to one third of our lives.”
But why do they happen and what do they mean?
Dr Jandial reveals all.
DREAMING: THE LOWDOWN Why do we dream?
Dreaming is high-intensity training for the mind.
At night, we go through robust wild activities, imagining them, experiencing them – with emotion, vision and movement. This is the mind’s way of keeping every recess engaged, which doesn’t happen when we go to work or tie our shoe laces. Dreaming keeps our brains adaptive, and flexible.
Does everyone dream?
There are people who claim they never dream, but it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t know what a nightmare is. In reality, virtually everyone dreams though not everyone remembers them.
Why do we forget our dreams?
People forget their dreams to avoid “waking thought” and “dreaming thought” confusion. This forgetting gives the psyche a clear line between our dreaming lives and waking lives.
But we experience the occasional solar flare where we remember events, perhaps from a nightmare or a highly emotional dream.
Why do we have nightmares?
Nightmares in adults are a psychological thermometer, they tell you how you’re feeling emotionally.
The occasional nightmare is fine, but aggressive nightmares, or worsening nightmares that wake you up, that’s a red flag. It suggests there’s some worry or trauma you need to
address in your waking life.
Can we learn to control dreams?
Yes, some people learn how to rescript the ending of recurring nightmares through Imagery Rehearsal Therapy. This involves visualising more positive plots, with as many details as possible. Sometimes, these new narratives are written and read repeatedly, and over time, through effort and intent, the narrative of the negative dreams are replaced with more pleasant versions of the same dream.
What are lucid dreams?
A highly vivid dream, you’re aware that you’re in a dream while still asleep.
Some lucid dreamers report being able to control their actions within that dreamscape. This hybrid state reveals that the lines between waking and dreaming are blurry.
What are our dreams trying to tell us?
Dreams are a nightly dose of wonder and invite us to look deeper into ourselves. Spending time examining the meaning of your dreams can increase your awareness and your acceptance of emotions, and can lead to an important insight about your life, and a greater sense of wellbeing.
WHAT DO YOUR DREAMS MEAN? Exam failure
Dreaming about failing an exam is an anxiety dream, you may be due to take a test and this dream is signifying worry about it. But the same interpretation would also apply for dreaming about missing a flight, even if you’re not due to fly anywhere, or being late. These classic anxiety dreams suggest you’re feeling stressed about
something in your life.
Being chased
The scary experience of being chased is a typical nightmare, and it’s classed as a universal dream. Nightmares often reflect your mental state and can serve as a gauge to your wellbeing.
Dreams like being chased, or running away, are metaphorical. But if a nightmare is related to past trauma, or a replay of an event, it can alert you to how well you are processing what happened to you.
Cheating on your partner
Erotic dreams are very common, everyone has this type of dream at some point.
You may dream about cheating on your partner, but infidelity dreams don’t signify that you’re unhappy in a relationship, nor do they suggest attraction to the focus of your dream.
Erotic dreams are classed as a universal dream and simply the product of the imagination unleashed – and without judgment.
Meeting a loved one
Meeting an old friend you haven’t seen for years and waking up full of emotion, like happiness, is termed an emotional dream. These usually have a coherent narrative and central image. Upon waking you will feel elated, sad, angry, guilt – or any other kind of strong emotion.
These powerful dreams can provide a portal to how you really feel.
Dreaming of a baby
It’s no surprise that if you’re expecting you may dream about your baby – maybe even dreaming about your child announcing its own name. This has been dubbed a genre dream and is tied to a stage of life that changes you in profound ways.
Another common dream in this category is for people who are nearing death to report vivid dreams about deceased family members, loved ones and pets.
These dreams provide a source of hope, comfort, joy and serenity and may have a comforting presence.
End-of-life dreams can also bring peace and acceptance and lead to the dreamer getting their affairs in order and reconciling with family.
‘‘ They are a nightly dose of wonder and invite us to look deeper into ourselves