Dreams are images, sounds or emotions experienced by the mind while in sleep. The specific purpose of dreams has not been understood completely, though there has been quite an interest in this field. The scientific study of dreams is called Oneirology. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, who established the psychoanalytic school of psychiatry, has contributed significantly towards research and interpretation of dreams. Freud did a phenomenal job in explaining the operation of the dream in simple and concise terms. He has also spoken about the content of dreams and how we must understand them.
[...] Dreams as tools to express unfulfilled desire Freud even sees a parallel between the darkness of some repressed dreams and the ideas they seek to express. The dreams are confused and obscure and are an illustration of an unfulfilled desire. Anxiety in a dream must be understood as the indirect expression of a repressed desire. The dream is an expression of what we would have liked to happen and we still hope to see happen. In analyzing dreams made by children, Freud realized that they expressed the satisfaction of an unfulfilled wish during the day, in virtually all cases studied. [...]
[...] The three types of dreams Freud distinguishes three types of dreams based on the relationship between latent content and manifest content. The first set of dreams that are "sensible and understandable". These are dreams whose existence does not bother us. Then second set consists of "consistent dreams that show a clear direction". Such dreams produce a disconcerting effect because they are much less palatable than the first type of dream. These are dreams that disturb the people having such dreams. [...]
[...] However, Freud notes that the intentions or the main thought of the dream are mostly vague and hidden behind the details. Moreover, we note that the displacement influences the complexity of the dream. The more moving a dream is, the more complicated it is to analyze. Visual processing The dream uses a system of individual expressions. It does not use the same linguistic forms as that of thought. It prefers more symbolic forms, and imaged comparative figures of speech (metaphors, similes, symbols). [...]
[...] Unconscious and preconscious Freud distinguishes between unconscious and preconscious. The unconscious stage is a store house of thoughts that escape the consciousness. The preconscious stage is also a source of thoughts, but unlike those present in the unconscious, they have access to the conscious mind. These two are separated due to the difference in their access to the conscious mind. The unconscious therefore uses the preconscious to gain access to the consciousness. However, all the repressed thoughts in the unconscious can not pass into the preconscious. [...]
[...] Freud notes that when dream seems absurd and confusing, the patient is more reluctant to talk about. Findings Freud bases his work on the studies he has made on several patients suffering from psychological illnesses. Among them, the expression of the unconscious is certainly unintentional, but more developed than in a normal human being. After studying the function of dreams, Freud concludes that a dream is a substitute of the thought, which occurs during the state of sleep. He noted that the dreams are shorter than the thoughts they express. [...]
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