The idea is nothing new, of course, since Sigmund Freud began talking about his theories of dreams back in 1899 and ancient aboriginals have been deriving meaning from the dream world for centuries.
However, new research confirms the opinion that analyzing dreams can lead individuals to inner awakenings, revelations and powerful healing.
"Sleep essentially is resetting the magnetic north of your emotional compass," reports Matthew Walker, director of the Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab at the University of California Berkeley.
According to recent research into the world of dreams, Walker and his colleagues determined that REM (rapid eye movement) sleep influences our ability to read emotions in other people's faces. Some study participants were asked to take a sixty or ninety minute nap, while others took no nap.
They were then asked to interpret people's facial expressions in photographs. The participants who reached REM sleep were much better able to correctly identify happiness, anger and fear than those with no nap at all. Even if no dream interpretation occurs at all, it is important that people dream and reach that level of sleep to feel truly refreshed and emotionally aware.
Dream research scientist Rebecca Bernert of Florida State University examines the relationship between sleep and suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Her study of 82 male and female psychiatric hospital patients from 18-66 years of age revealed that the presence of severe nightmares or insomnia was a strong predictor of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Over half of the study participants had attempted suicide at least once, with 17% attempting within the last month who also had dramatically higher scores in nightmare frequency and intensity.
Researchers are also assessing whether dream interpretation and analysis would be a useful therapy for depressed, suicidal and anxious patients. "It may be that nightmares present a unique risk for suicidal symptoms, which may have to do with the way we process emotion within dreams," Bernert says.
To read more Processing Human Emotions With Dream Interpretation
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