Why do we dream?

Why do we dream?

Why do we dream?

Well, we dream for at least several different reasons.

We dream for several different reasons.

One key benefit is creativity.

The biggest benefit of dreaming for us is: creativity.

Sleep, including dream sleep, is associated with an enhanced ability to solve next-day problems.

Sleep, including sleep in dreams, is related to whether the problem solving ability of the next day is enhanced.

It's almost as though we go to sleep with the pieces of the jigsaw, but we wake up with the puzzle complete.

It's as if we go to sleep with a messy puzzle and wake up the next day with a finished puzzle.

The second benefit of REM-sleep dreaming is emotional first aid.

The second benefit of REM sleep is emotional first aid.

REM sleep takes the painful sting out of difficult emotional experiences so that when we come back the next day, we feel better about those painful events.

REM sleep frees us from painful emotions so that we don't feel particularly bad when we wake up the next day.

You can almost think of dreaming as a form of overnight therapy.

You can think of dreaming as a nocturnal therapy.

It's not time that heals all wounds, but it's time during dream sleep that provides emotional convalescence.

It's not time that heals everything, but the dreaming time in sleep that helps us calm our emotions.

Now, it's not just that you dream. It's also what you dream about that seems to make a difference.

This change depends not only on the dream, but also on the content of the dream.

Scientists have discovered that after learning a virtual maze, for example, those individuals who slept but critically also dreamed about the maze were the only ones who ended up being better at navigating the maze when they woke up.

Scientists have found, for example, that those who fall asleep after playing with a virtual maze and dream of a maze in their sleep are among the few who can walk the maze better when they wake up.

And this same principle is true for our mental health.

The same principle applies to our mental health.

For example, people going through a difficult or traumatic experience such as a divorce, and who are dreaming about that event, go on to gain resolution to their depression relative to those who were dreaming but not dreaming about the events themselves.

For example, people who have experienced difficulties or traumas, such as divorce, and have re-emerged in a dream situation, are more likely to eliminate their inner depression than those who have unrelated dreams.

All of which means that sleep and the very act of dreaming itself appears to be an essential ingredient to so much of our waking lives.

These all mean that the act of sleep and dreaming itself seems to be an indispensable part of our real life.

We dream, therefore we are.

I dream, so I am.