When we close our eyes at night, we drift into sleep and we call whatever we see in this sleep–a dream. For centuries, psychologists such as Sigmund Freud have been trying to define this phenomenon and have developed theories to what this might be. Behavioral sleep medicine expert Michelle Drerup explains, “Freud thought dreams are repressed content, ideas or themes,” (Cleveland Clinic)
There is an ongoing debate between experts in the field of neuroscience and psychology on why we dream. Different theories of why we sleep include: building memory, processing emotion, mental housekeeping, instant replay, and incidental brain activity. Building memory, also commonly known as memory consolidation, is the strengthening of memories by replaying and reorganizing new information into long term storage. Processing emotion is during rapid eye movement(REM) sleep, reviewing traumatic experiences in a low-stress environment (UCLA Health). Mental housekeeping is the cleaning up of unnecessary information to prevent cognitive overload. Instant replay, also called memory reactivation, is a distorted replay of the day’s events to solidify memories. Incidental brain activity suggests that dreams are merely an effect of random neural firing in the brain stem during sleep. Even with experiments conducted to discover what happens in the brain during sleep, currently there is no way to prove any theory for why we dream (Suni and Dimitriu). The studying of dreams is in a variety of ways, most commonly within “the psychoanalytic framework of revealing unconscious thought processes considered to be at the root of neuroses” (Purves et al.)
Psychoanalytic Dream Theory
Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, first published in 1900, explains the complex connection between the conscious and unconscious mind and thoughts. Freud’s theory also suggests that the psyche consists of three aspects: the id, ego, and superego. The id is the entirely unconscious mind, the ego operates in the conscious mind, and the superego operates in both conscious or unconscious (Cherry). In his book, he wrote, “It is true that there are dreams the manifest content of which is of the most painful nature. But has anyone ever tried to interpret these dreams – to discover their latent thought-content? If not, the two objections to our doctrine are no longer valid; for there is always the possibility that even our painful and terrifying dreams may, upon interpretation, prove to be wish fulfilments.” (Freud) He mentions his Theory of Dream Analysis, the belief that dreams are “the royal road to the unconscious”. The manifest content of a dream includes all the actual content of the dream: the events, images and thoughts (Cherry). On the other hand, the latent content of a dream includes the hidden symbolic meaning within the dream. Although Freud’s theories have strongly contributed to the studies of dreams, psychoanalytic approaches have been disagreed with in recent years and there is no conclusive evidence that dreams have the profound meaning that Freud and his associates attributed to them.
Read The Interpretation of Dreams here: https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Freud/Dreams/dreams.pdf
Jungian Theory
Other than Dr. Sigmund Freud, Carol Jung is the only psychoanalyst that influenced dream studies as much. Jung has rejected Freud’s theories that dreams were designed to be secretive, but instead “a natural expression of our imagination” and mythic narratives–a straightforward language at our disposal (Hurd). Naming the process of “Individuation”, Jung suggested that dreams integrate the conscious and unconscious minds. In his mythic world, the realm of archetypal images, Jung explains that these images seen in dreams may be derived through centers and organs of the body. Many discuss the traditional viewpoints in contrast to Jung’s: “The psychotherapist’s role is to provide hope for this order by helping the client make sense of their night visions and how they relate to waking life. In Jung’s reckoning, the psychotherapist is like a modern shaman or priest who helps the individual create a personal mythology that works by throwing out maladaptive patterns and establishing healthy ones in their place.”(Maxwell Purrington). Popular applications including the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI), the lie detector polygraph test, are directly based on Jung’s research (Hurd).
REM Sleep
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is generally assumed to be the stage of sleep in which dreams occur. According to research, REM-related dreams tend to be more vivid and fantastical whilst non-REM dreams are more solid and tend to be colored black and white (Ellis). People awakened from REM sleep have reported that they recall vivid, elaborate dreams while those awakened from non-REM sleep report fewer, more conceptual dreams (Purves et al.). Especially in REM-related dreams, the brain’s emotional center is highly active while the logical center is slowed down, causing these dreams to appear surreal. The theory of evolution, “the process by which species adapt over time in response to their changing environment” (National Geographic Society), suggests that dreams may be a way to learn how to deal with challenging situations in a safe manner.
Anxiety Sleep
Research shows that people are more likely to remember their dreams when they get poorer sleep quality and wake up in the night frequently (Ellis). Further studies show that people with insomnia tend to have dreams focused on current life stress and anxieties, leaving individuals with a low mood on the following day. Although vision is completely absent and our bodies’ senses are desensitized during sleep, strong sensory information is sometimes incorporated into our dreams. Especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns, people were experiencing dreams with stress, depression, and anxiety. According to Elizaveta Solomonova and associates, “Growing evidence suggests that dream content has a bi-directional relationship with psychopathology…death were associated with higher levels of stress, as well as with greater symptoms of depression and anxiety.” (Solomonova et al.)
Better Sleep
Stress reduction before bed, keeping a constant sleep routine, and making sure the bedroom is free from anything arousing are common ways of reducing awakenings at night (Ellis). To specifically target stress and anxiety-related bad dreams, using the technique Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) can help treat nightmares in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although IRT gives the dreamer a sense of control over the dream, this hasn’t been studied enough on dreamers with anxiety and stress. Although IRT is based on the idea that traumatic experiences cause dreams, it alters dreamers’ viewpoints on nightmares, so they are viewed as habits or learned behaviors (“What Is Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)?”). The IRT practice starts with selecting a less intense nightmare so traumatic events aren’t triggering strong emotional responses, then changing the nightmare by giving it a happy ending or other maneuvers, and rehearsing the new dream 20 minutes a day for a week.
At the end of the day, dreams remain a constantly debated and studied phenomenon that sits on the borderline between neuroscience and psychology. While theories from Freud, Jung, and other modern dream researchers offer different explanations—the intense discussion of the conscious and unconscious mind—no single theory can explain why we dream. Hopefully in the future, continued research on brain activity and mental health can lead us closer towards the understanding of dreams and their true functions.
Works Cited
Cherry, Kendra. “An Overview of Sigmund Freud’s Theories.” Verywell Mind, 2024, http://www.verywellmind.com/freudian-theory-2795845.
—. “An Overview of Sigmund Freud’s Theories.” Verywell Mind, 2024, http://www.verywellmind.com/freudian-theory-2795845.
Cleveland Clinic. “Dreams: What They Are and What They Mean.” Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, 15 June 2022, health.clevelandclinic.org/dreams-and-dreaming.
—. “Dreams: What They Are and What They Mean.” Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, 15 June 2022, health.clevelandclinic.org/dreams-and-dreaming.
Ellis, Jason. “Why Do We Dream?” The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2020, theconversation.com/why-do-we-dream-135609.
—. “Why Do We Dream?” The Conversation, 14 Apr. 2020, theconversation.com/why-do-we-dream-135609.
Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. 1900.
—. The Interpretation of Dreams. 1900.
Hurd, Ryan. “The Dream Theories of Carl Jung | Dream Studies Portal.” Dream Studies Portal |, 25 Nov. 2009, dreamstudies.org/carl-jung-dream-interpretation/.
—. “The Dream Theories of Carl Jung | Dream Studies Portal.” Dream Studies Portal |, 25 Nov. 2009, dreamstudies.org/carl-jung-dream-interpretation/.
Maxwell Purrington. “Freud | 1. Carl Jung on Freud Youtube.” Carl Jung Depth Psychology, 26 Mar. 2020, carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2020/03/26/freud-youtube/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
—. “Freud | 1. Carl Jung on Freud Youtube.” Carl Jung Depth Psychology, 26 Mar. 2020, carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2020/03/26/freud-youtube/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
National Geographic Society. “Theory of Evolution.” Education.nationalgeographic.org, National Geographic, 19 Oct. 2023, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/theory-of-evolution/.
—. “Theory of Evolution.” Education.nationalgeographic.org, National Geographic, 19 Oct. 2023, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/theory-of-evolution/.
Purves, Dale, et al. “The Possible Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming.” Nih.gov, Sinauer Associates, 2016, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11121/.
—. “The Possible Functions of REM Sleep and Dreaming.” Nih.gov, Sinauer Associates, 2016, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11121/.
Solomonova, Elizaveta, et al. “Stuck in a Lockdown: Dreams, Bad Dreams, Nightmares, and Their Relationship to Stress, Depression and Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” PLOS ONE, vol. 16, no. 11, 24 Nov. 2021, p. e0259040, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259040.
—. “Stuck in a Lockdown: Dreams, Bad Dreams, Nightmares, and Their Relationship to Stress, Depression and Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” PLOS ONE, vol. 16, no. 11, 24 Nov. 2021, p. e0259040, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259040.
Suni, Eric, and Alex Dimitriu. “Dreams: Why We Dream & How They Affect Sleep.” Sleep Foundation, Sleep Doctor Holdings, 2 May 2024, http://www.sleepfoundation.org/dreams.
—. “Dreams: Why We Dream & How They Affect Sleep.” Sleep Foundation, Sleep Doctor Holdings, 2 May 2024, http://www.sleepfoundation.org/dreams.
UCLA Health. “The Importance of Dreaming While Sleeping.” Uclahealth.org, UCLA Health, 6 June 2024, http://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/importance-dreaming-while-sleeping.
—. “The Importance of Dreaming While Sleeping.” Uclahealth.org, UCLA Health, 6 June 2024, http://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/importance-dreaming-while-sleeping.
“What Is Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)?” Psych Central, 21 May 2021, psychcentral.com/blog/a-brief-guide-to-imagery-rehearsal-therapy-irt-for-nightmare-disorders-for-clinicians-and-patients#how-it-works.
“What Is Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)?” Psych Central, 21 May 2021, psychcentral.com/blog/a-brief-guide-to-imagery-rehearsal-therapy-irt-for-nightmare-disorders-for-clinicians-and-patients#how-it-works.
VICTORIA KIM
- VICTORIA KIM
- VICTORIA KIM
- VICTORIA KIM
- VICTORIA KIM
