Dreaming Example

Dreaming Example Dreaming – Article Example Personal Impression about Dreams The psychology of dreams remains a complex phenomenon, as many explanations and debate exist in an attempt to explain the causes, process, meaning and interpretation of dreams. At one point, I have been involved in one or two dreams during my sleep, some of which have been disturbing, fascinating, scaring or confusing. As much as I have tried to interpret and find meaning to my dreams, one challenge always confronts me and this is the fact that I always forget the form and content of my dream upon waking up. Despite the difficulties associated with understanding and interpretation of dreams, many psychologists have performed several studies to determine the reasons why people dream and to determine the meaning of such dreams through dream analysis. In his book, Hobson (1) attempts to answer the obvious questions regarding the causes of dreams, the reasons why dreams appear so strange and why we tend to forget most of our dreams upon waking up. He obse rves that most of the historical studies and interpretations about dreams had focused on the content rather than their inherent forms. Based on the formal analysis, he defines dreaming as a mental activity that occurs while an individual is asleep. He holds the opinion that brain activation during the sleep reflects our concerns regarding our previous experiences and uncertainties in future (9). In attempting to explain why we tend to forget most of our dreams upon waking up, Hobson argues that our cognition changes due to release of chemicals in the brain and selecting deactivation of the brain during sleep and upon waking up (10).According to Hobson(15) psychoanalysis of dream content as proposed by psychologists such as Freud was biased and failed to because it was subjective in nature. This kind of analysis could not provide a clear interpretation of dreams because it involved an exploration of dream on the assumption of disguised symbolism, censorship and metaphors. An objectiv e view to explain the working of dreams according to Hobson is to explore the activation of the brain in sleep (32). This analysis would enable us to derive associations, make connections with our past and be able to predict our future. Work CitedHobson, J. Allan. Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press, ` 2002. Print.