No dreams

[johnnycakes]

This is more of another nature of a dream problem.
I have not had a dream in over 4 years not one.
does anyone know what this mean I have been wondering, and can't find out. :confused:

[moonjava]

everyone has about 6 dreams a night..the reason why you can't remember them could be plenty. too much caffeine, or other drugs, irregular sleep patterns/not enough sleep. blahblah on and on...also, if you'd like to start remembering your dreams more there are a ton of things you can try!
one method is before sleeping, repeat to yourself "i will have dreams tonight and i will remember then when i awake" several times-really make sure it gets in your brain. as soon as you wake up, grasp onto the fragments of memories you have of you dream(s), immediately write down everything. lie in bed for a while, letting your mind drift on what you can remember, don't think about other things...
if you want more tips tell me and i'll try to help you!! it takes a lot of practice :( so you've got to be sort of dedicated if you want to remember all your dreams.
peace and love

[mountain*luna]

I am a psychology student and I have read some very interesting things about dreams. I thought I would give you two different takes on dreams from two different psychologists.

Sigmund Freud:
"According to Freud, a dream is caused when the events of the day activate unacceptable impulses in the unconscious mind, causing them to seek conscious expression. At night, as the person sleeps, these impulses continue to seek conscious expression, but the ego realizes that if the contents of a dream are too threatening, they will cause the dreamer to awake prematurely. The ego, therefore censors the impulses by driving them back into the unconscious. If these unacceptable impulses are ever to be consciously recognized they must be at least partially camouflaged."

Alfred Adler: (this one is troubling for me to think about, because I am a frequent dreamer! ha!)
"For Adler, dreams are always an expression of one's lifestyle and must be consistent with it. To Adler, however, the occurrence of dreams almost always suggests that the dreamer has a mistaken lifestyle. Dreams, according to Adler, offer emotional support for mistaken lifestlyes. "Dreaming is the adversary of common sense. We shall probably find that people who do not like to be deluded by their feelings, who prefer to proceed in a scientific way, do not dream often or do not dream at all. Others who are further away from common sense...have very frequent dreams." Typically dreams support a faulty lifestyle by creating an emotional state that will carry over into waking life and will JUSTIFY (keyword here) actions compatible with the dreamer's faulty lifestyle. For example, if a student unconsciously wants to create a distance between himself or herself and an important exam, he/she may dream of being chased by criminals, fighting a losing war, or of being forced to attempt to solve insolvable problems. The student awakens from the dream experiencing such emotions as fear, discouragment, or helplessness; the very emotions that will support a decision to delay or avoid the forthcoming exam.

In summary, Adler believed that most dreams provide the self-deception necessary to maintain a mistaken lifestyle, and therefore people with healthy personalities dream little or not at all. That is, healthy persons require no self-deception and therefore do not require the irrational, emotional support provided by dreams."

Crazy huh? I know it's a lengthy post, but I find this stuff amazingly interesting. It's not too specific but some things to think about!

These exerpts were taken from a personalities book called "An Introduction to Theories of Personality" 6th ed. by B.R. Hergenhahn and Matthew H. Olson. I'm sure no one will be running out to buy this, but just in case.. haha!

fita :D

[johnnycakes]

So they are saying I either have a very good straitforward mind or the oppposite a troubled demented mind. Is that it?

[mountain*luna]

Ha, unfortunately yes. It just depends whether you follow what Adler believes the general principle of dreams to be or if you follow Freud's ideas. Everyone has a different perspective on what dreams, or lack thereof, really is and what it really means. But now you have two different perspectives from which to consider. To me, dreams are what you make of them, and not having them is not a good or a bad thing. :-) ;)

[Chixor]

I used to have really bad sleeping problems and.. I kept have reoccuring nightmares to the point that I was hallucinating all the time.
And I don't do any drugs, or even have much caffeine intake...
My doctor told me that waking up from dreams is what makes you remember them. That if you don't wake up during the dream you'll just forget it.

He also said that dreams are created in a different part of your brain than your memories, and if you don't think about what you've dreamed as soon as you wake up, sometimes writing it down helps, then you won't remember it. You have to force yourself sometimes to remember it.

But that's really weird that you didn't have any or don't remember them or whatever...

[NeverNeverLand:)]

Freudians are funny,but in this case I have to agree with them.
If u ask questions about it u already placed yourself in a category.
But sometimes u can turn the table let´s hope that´s the way to go.
Good luck!

[lucyindisguise]

When I was a kid I had a nightmare that scared me badly and for years I fought sleep every night and never dreamed. When I got older I became more comfortable with sleeping but still never dreamed (or tried to remember anything when I woke). The I got pregnant and quit smoking pot, and started having some really strange "direction of life" type dreams - people out of my past who had died were coming back to me in my dreams and trying to give me direction in my life. I know this sounds weird and I have no idea what it all means, if anything, but if anyone else knows what it means or has any thoughts on it, I appreciate it.