Common dreams and
interpretations
By Skyla Bradley
Intro to Psychology
A3
Various theories about dreams
•
After many books were published about dreams and their meanings since the 1970’s,
many popular theories arose about the reasons why we dream and how we can
understand the hidden meanings within them
•
Sigmund Freudo
One of the most famous psychologists who believed that dreams occur from
repressed emotions that people cannot express in a normal society
o
The unconscious mind acts out the unacceptable behaviors, ideas, and desires
that, in the waking life, are stifled
o
He believed that dreams were most often based on symbolism for sexual
desires
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•
Carl Jungo
Carl Jung believed that dreams served as time to reflect on one’s self in the
“waking world”
o
Dreams could also help solve problems and are used to think about
particularly difficult issues
Allan Hobson and Robert McCarleyo
In 1973, these two researchers proposed an entirely new theory about the origin
and purpose of dreams
o
When sleeping, the brain pulls experiences and imagery from the dreamer’s
memory through “random electrical brain impulses” that form together as dreams
o
The researchers also felt that the images pulled from one’s brain do not actually
form a story, but the dreamer’s conscious mind creates a story in order to try and
decipher what happened in the unconscious mind, and this theory is known as the
activation-synthesis hypothesis
Various theories about dreams
•
•
Calvin S. Hallo
Calvin believed that dreams are formed from certain elements in a dreamer’s personal life
o
After studying over 50,000 dream journals to find various patterns and themes, Hall devised a
system that categorized the content of a dream
o
He believed that in order to understand a specific dream, there are certain aspects that are
needed to do so: the actions of the dreamer, the various objects and people, the interaction
between the characters, and how the dream transitions as well as where the setting is are all
necessary when defining a dream
o
His cognitive theory of dreams is based on the thought that ideas of one’s self, family, friends,
and environment are expressed through dreams
o
Through his many years of research, Calvin discovered that dreams of people from all across
the world are generally more similar than they are different
o
With sleep journals that spanned through generations, he concluded that dreams remain pretty
consistent, although the changes corresponded with the changes in waking life
G. William Domhoffo
A colleague of Calvin Hall who studied at the University of Miami
o
Through extensive research, Domhoff theorized that dreams were manifested based on the concerns, thoughts, and
emotions that a dreamer dealt with when his brain was conscious
o
He believed that dreams served as a great “psychological portrait” of an individual
o
“Give us 1000 dreams over a couple of decades and we can give you a profile of the person's mind that is
almost as individualized and accurate as her or his fingerprints.” –G. William Domhoff (the “Purpose” of
Dreams)
Top 10 common dreams
The Association for the Study of Dreams has done extensive research finding dreams that many
people of all ages and around the world have shared, and has studied the meaning and the feelings
behind the creation of those common dreams.

10. A car driving off a cliff or crashing
•
People of all ages can have this dream, not just people who can drive
•
This common dream includes the dreamer either being the passenger of the car or the driver
•
A few different scenarios could be involved in this dream: while driving, your breaks may fail, you lose
control of the steering, or you head over a cliff
•
Interpretation: The dreamer is feeling completely powerless over some situation in his life
9. Faulty machinery
• In dreams, many types of technology can show up, including
telephones that don’t dial, lose connection, or call the wrong number,
lost internet connection, or general broken machinery that does not
function as it should
• Interpretation: The dreamer is losing touch with reality or part of
his body is not properly functioning. Alternatively, the dream could mean
that he is worried about connecting with certain people in real life
10 top dreams continued…
8. Lost or trapped
• When a dreamer is lost, he is most commonly lost in a forest, a large city, or a building that feels and looks
like a maze
• Being trapped in a dream usually creates terror when you are unable to move, you are buried alive, caught
in a web, or trapped in some sort of scary situation
• Interpretation: When the lost dream occurs, the feelings of trying to make a decision or react in a
situation are usually prominent within the dreamer, and when the trapped dream occurs, the person may
actually feel “trapped” in some way when they’re awake, or they can’t seem to make the right choice
7. Missing public transportation
• A common dream is running to catch some form of public
transportation such as a train, bus, or plane, but it leaves right before the
dreamer reaches it
• Another variation of this type of dream is when an event is occurring,
and the person has to participate in it but he comes late and the event has
already begun without him
• Interpretation: In real life, a missed opportunity or an emotionally
taxing decision can cause this dream to manifest
Top 10 dreams
continued…
6. Failing a test
o
This type of dream is most common in people who have been out of school for a long period of time
o A test is failed in this type of dream when the person is late to the test, he becomes lost while trying to find
the testing place, he did not prepare for the material, or he does not have the proper equipment
o Interpretation: A dreamer could feel that he is being tested in some way in his life, or he is unprepared or
is not playing the proper and correct part in his life
5. Ill or dying
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This is a dream that includes seeing a loved one become ill or die, or experiencing it yourself
Interpretation: The person has been emotionally hurt recently or he is afraid something will hurt him
o If someone else is dying or is hurt in the dream, the dreamer is representing a part of himself in
that other person, and therefore he is watching a part of himself die or a part that he fears losing
4. Being chased
• The chaser in these dreams are monsters, a particularly frightening
person, or an animal
• This has been considered the most common nightmare theme
experienced in people
• Interpretation: Something in the dreamer’s life, whether it is a person
or even an emotion, makes the dreamer feel threatened
Top 10 dreams continued…
3. Missing or unhealthy teeth
• In this dream, when the dreamer opens his mouth, his teeth will be decayed and unhealthy or they will
begin to drop out of his mouth
• Interpretation: In a basic sense, dreaming about missing teeth can represent fear of becoming
unattractive or being found as ugly, but in a deeper sense, this dream could be manifested from
embarrassment or when the dreamer loses power
2. Dream nudity
• Despite what this type of dream is called, the dreamer is not always completed naked in them; instead he
can find himself partially undressed or wearing clothes that are inappropriate for his surroundings, such as
wearing a bathing suit to school
•
The most common feelings described with this dream are embarrassment or a sense freedom
• Interpretation: The person feels extremely vulnerable or awkward in his life, and he stays in a shell
instead of revealing who he is
1.
Falling or sinking
•
This is the most common type of dream that almost everyone has at some
point in their life
•
The scenario is usually falling through the air, but it can also be seen as
drowning in water
•
Interpretation: The person is insecure and does not receive the
support he needs, or the dreamer feels overwhelmed and almost wants to
give up
Differences between men and women
•
•
Research about the different types of dreams that people have has led to the discovery of how men and
women dream differently
Meno In one study, men were seen to have
more aggression occurring in their
dreams
o Men appear in a man’s dream twice as
much as women do
o Men are more likely to dream about
sex (85% of a male study claim to
dream about sex occasionally)
o The dreams are more frequently
located in an outside setting
•
Womeno William Donhoff concluded that women’s dreams
feature more details and characters than men’s,
and they usually last longer
o Women seem to dream about both men and and
women equally
o Seem to have more nightmares than men, which
can be broken down into three categories: being
chased, losing a loved one, or confusion
o 83% of women dream about being chased
o More likely to have a family member as a
character
Why study dreams?
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Although many people believe that studying dreams is pointless because dreams “don’t mean anything”, by
carefully observing someone’s dreams, a lot about the individual person as well as the brain as a whole
becomes clear
•
Freud believed that studying dreams can allow us to
possibly understand neurotic disorders more, and by using
dreams, we open the door into the mystery of the
unconscious mind.
o If many dreams from one person are analyzed, we
can use them to understand what is causing
abnormal behavior as well as what is altering the
person’s behavior
o “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a
knowledge of the unconscious” –Sigmund Freud
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Overall, by understanding dreams, people can learn the
mysterious signals that their bodies and minds are sending to
them about their wishes, desires, and emotions
Some people believe that if
someone experiences a recurring
dream, then the unconscious mind
is trying to warn the dreamer that
he is continually making the same
mistake in his life
Bibliography
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