Dream Report

Dream Report

On many instances, dreams are elusive and are lost soon as the individual wakes up. Besides, the individual can recall the dream but be unable to make meaning of the dream. To aid in making sense of a dream, some steps must be followed. The individual wishing to decipher the purpose of a dream has to ensure that they can make associations. Concerning making associations, Robert Johnson, a dream analyst, says that the subconscious keeps the memory of a dream alive and thus, the information required to make meaning of a dream exists in the individual’s mind. Generally, dreams are symbolic of our thoughts and the situations we live through. The key to understanding the symbolic meaning of a dream is, therefore, within the dreamer’s mind. Secondly, one has to connect the images in the dream with their ideal day-to-day thoughts, people, situations and realities they face on a daily basis. Subsequently, one has now to make an interpretation of the dream having sought the association and made a connection. Lastly, the individual should engage in a ritual to concretize the dream.

I have some non-dream nights, on other nights I dream and on others I dream but I am unable to recall the dream. Some dreams are so bizarre and so vivid that they feel like the actual reality. One of the vivid dreams I remember was during the night of 14th January. I dreamt that my husband and I had received a call from my step-son’s school. Upon arrival, they take my husband to a private room to speak with him in confidential. He returned after a while and seemed shaken though he was trying to maintain his composure. I somehow overheard their discussion and thus, could make a few conclusions and from what I gathered from one of the school workers is that my step-son had some altercation with another child and pushed the child injuring him in hand and would only be alive for only 24 hours. Looking at my step-son, however, seemed as happy as always. We continued with our stay at the school all this while, my husband was becoming a wreck and watching the other family was slowly killing him.

I also vividly recall another dream I had involving my son and me on 18th January. It was a bizarre dream and was probably as a result of the anxiety because I was having concerns about my health. I dreamt that I had visited a waterpark in South America with my son. This waterpark had a large area inhabited by water and snakes were all around us swimming with us. The snakes through poisonous went about their businesses not attacking anyone. Though I was afraid of the snakes, I had to follow my son into the water. Suddenly, the scene changed to some type of an old theatre show. We sat at the solid pews, but there was no performance. Turning around to see the audience, I met with a familiar face; a girl who I went to kindergarten with. When I spoke to her, she told me that she had been sentenced to jail for three months for something she had been alleged to have committed. I comforted her telling her that she would be okay. My alarm woke me up.

To begin decoding a dream, one has to make associations. To form associations, you have let your mind roam freely, putting together the pieces of your dream. One has to look for meanings attached to the images or the people he/she dreamt about. The meanings could be things relatively familiar to us or may have a distorted message that has a shared purpose. If the dream is about a close family member, then freely associate with whatever comes to mind about the family member. Dreaming about a step-son, one has to ask themselves why dream about a step-son? Could it be that the individual has been alleging the husband to have an outside affair? Could it have anything to do with family disagreements? Could it be the anxiety due to the sickness and thus, worrying about the family brought the illusions of a step-son? In the second dream, associations such as past experiences in a theatre hall could be made or experience with the snakes and thus, provoking the dream. The other part of the dream about a former classmate could be significantly associated maybe with an encounter during the old days while in school. There many scenarios that could play out and it is often advisable to write down all the associations down as natural as possible.

The next step would be to connect the images appearing on a dream to your daily routine and situations faced with on a regular basis to identify any connection between the images and the realities. One way of identifying the relationship would be to associate with your inward self: the thoughts, emotions or any internal struggles you have been having before having the dream. The image of a step-son could be connected to the idea of thinking that the husband was probably cheating and hence, had another child out of marriage. It could that the husband does not have time for the family and that he is always out even when the family need him. It is, therefore, necessary that a myriad of connections are left to play out in mind before settling on either because eventually, it was a dream and not a reality. The fact that it is only the hubby who is called to the room could be taken to mean that the individual was not recognized as being a parent and thus, it can be connected to the feelings towards the husband. The snakes in the second dream could have alluded to fear of snakes may be from childhood days.

After making associations and connecting the images of the dream to the associations, the next step is to decipher meaning by asking questions such what the dream could have been trying to tell you. In this stage, one has to uncover a lot of puzzles and thoroughly to question their recent thoughts and ideas in an attempt to make sense of the dream. Some dreams take longer than others to interpret, and in such cases, it is advisable to wait and not jump into conclusions based on makes an individual feel better. Instead, let the true meaning of the dream reveal itself. It would not be advisable to, for instance, take the dream to mean that the husband has an affair outside the marriage, and thus, the meaning of such an idea could take time to manifest itself. In the other dream, the act of following the son to the waters despite the presence of snakes could be interpreted to mean the affection of a mother to her son or reminder of the same.

Lastly, rituals which may constitute doing actual things towards making the dream to feel alive and hence, affirming the message coded in the dream. Traditionally, various societies undertook various ways that took the form of ceremonious celebrations. Seeking the help of a marriage counsellor could be one alternative in case there are doubts and mistrust in the marriage or whatever is causing the anxieties. Alternatively, talking to the husband about the dream could be another ritual to getting closures by having such doubts about outside marital affairs cleared from the mind. Calling the former classmate would be a significant ritual to undertake in affirming the message of the second dream. It could mean that she was facing some challenges, and the dream was a way of calling for help. Being sentenced to jail yet the person is innocent could signify an extremely challenging situation for the former classmate and thus, in need of help.

Sleep is of importance, especially to adolescents and generally for the well-being of all individuals. Sleep is crucial to the development of effective cognitive functioning and in regulating emotions.  Sleep duration will vary depending on the lifespan and has been shown to relate with age inversely. Sleep durations are crucial to aid in surveillance as well as in assisting in formulating intervention policies that seek to emphasize on healthy sleep behaviour. The amount of sleep is dependent on genetic factors as well as the prevailing social, physical and economic status of an individual as they determine to a great extent how healthy a person is at the moment.

An individual’s behaviour during the day and hours before bedtime can impact one’s sleep patterns, either positively promoting a healthy sleeping habit or negatively by causing sleeping problems. Drinking caffeine hours before sleeping, for instance, can lead to sleeplessness. The quality of sleeping is directly affected by what the individual eat, drink, the medications one takes as well as the routine one observes before going to sleep. To understand how sleep habits affect your sleep, it is advisable to keep track of your sleep patterns by recording daily entries into your diary. Sleep resistance and waking up at night are common sleep challenges. These challenges lead to difficulties in cognitive functioning. Sleep challenges suggest sleep loss or poor sleep habits. Behavioural sleep problems are common, especially during childhood. They result in short durations of sleep, and most cases may lead to chronic sleep disorders that may affect the development of children. Children may refuse to go to bed for several reasons. Among the reasons could include not feeling tired, fear of sleeping alone of other concerns alluded to nightmares. Also, if a child is resisting to go to sleep, it may result in shorter durations of rest.  Night waking occurs when a child wakes up and is unable to go back to sleep.

Good sleeping habits promotes optimal health and have effects on the hormonal levels, a person’s moods as well as their weight. Snoring, sleep apnea, insomnia, restless sleep and sleep deprivation are common sleep problems. In sleep apnea, an individual experiences regular breathing difficulties translating to disruption of sleep. Insomnia, on the other hand, refers to difficulties in sleeping; hence, stays awake (Palagini et al., 2016). Other sleep problems, including hypersomnia which means that the affected individual has trouble staying awake during the day. Epidemiological studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between the rate at which individuals contract diseases such as Diabetes, Hypertension and habitual sleep habits. The finding has supported the studies that short sleeping duration produces short metabolic by reducing glucose intake and causing increased appetite. Sleep duration is thus, considered a risk factor for chronic diseases, especially in people with pre-existing conditions.

Psychologists help patients with insomnia. The condition of insomnia is as a result of developing a sleeping pattern behaviour that affects good sleeping habits. Difficulties in sleeping are often as a result of stress, depression or anxiety. If you experience sleeping problems, it is recommended that one visits a psychologist. Psychologist aid in talking about your overall physical and emotional health and thus, help in identifying any underlying health or psychological causes of stress that may be causing the sleeping difficulties. Psychologists advise an individual to avoid caffeine, especially hours before sleeping, to be active during the day as well as creating a comfortable environment around the area of sleeping. Besides, it is advisable to avoid long naps during the day.