Freud Interpretation Of Dreams Research Paper

Why do we dream? What do our dreams mean? Dreams are a sequence of images, ideas, and feelings that involuntarily occur most commonly during the REM stage of sleep. They come in a wide variety of types, from the peculiar to the downright terrifying; the dreamer has no control over what they experience in their dreams. Though neurologists have been studying the human brain for decades, we still don’t fully know why we dream or what their significance is. Some psychologists theorize that dreams are closely linked to our subconscious mind, expressing our deepest fears or desires, allowing us to be what we cannot be. Others believe that dreams serve no function at all and are simply our imaginations running wild. In the words of Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, “The dream is the liberation of the spirit from the pressure of external nature, a detachment of the soul from the fetters of matter.” (The Interpretation of Dreams)

Everyone in the world has had at least one dream in their lifetime. Most people do not think much about the dreams that they have, unless they are recurring. Dreaming is “a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during REM sleep.” Most people today wake up from a dream or nightmare saying, “thank god that was a dream,” or “too bad that was just a dream.” Many times these dreams or nightmares have more meaning than we may think. If people took more time to consider the meaning behind the dreams they have, then dream interpretation could be used as a means to help resolve issues in our awaken lives, including helping to

The article “In the Dreamscape of Nightmares, Clues to Why We Dream at All”, written by Natalie Angier, introduces various types of insight on nightmares and the reasons behind why they occur. Nightmares are dreams, able to jolt you awake. Although few suffer from nightmares so terrifying that help is sought, dreams are a universal human experience. A majority of our dreamlike states are spent negatively. As a result, numerous people have studied dreams and discovered that there may be reasons behind the existence of nightmares and dreams overall.

Psycho-analysis, the brain child of Sigmund Freud, is an attempt to conceive an entirely new field of science based on the constructs set forth by its creator, it deals with all manners of the human psyche, from the human ego, to our dreams, and to our unconscious and conscious minds. In his work, “Revision of the Theory of Dreams” Freud’s unwavering persistence to cement psycho-analysis, and his method of dream interpretation, as an established science becomes apparent. He implies that only a psycho-analysist is capable of correctly analyzing dreams, and in making this implication he commits a series grievous mistakes, he overestimates the value of the psycho-analyst’s interpretation and the values of the associations which the dreamer makes during the process, he then, in accordance with his newfound science and procedure, attempts to pass off these supposed analyses as definitive fact. These mistakes are a result of Freud’s own ego, in his desperation to prove the validity of his science he forgets about human nature and its impacts on the unconscious mind, which he claims to know much of, and the subjectivity of all interpretation.

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Sigmund Freud, the inventor of psychoanalysis, once said that “most dreams are a sort of way for the unconscious mind to express its desire” (Freud). Sigmund Freud thought as dreams to be an idea that people strive for in life or the answer to a problem. He also concluded that dreams are “the fulfilment of a wish” (Freud). Freud thought as a dream to be something that people desire in life, or want to conquer in life. To him, dreams were something that could fulfill one’s life. However, Freud also noticed “punishment dreams and anxiety dreams” (Freud). Instead of these dreams doing something good for a person, they could be doing the opposite. Overall, one belief is that dreams can complete peoples lives, or deteriorate lives.

Dreams have long fascinated the human race. This alternate reality, separate from the conscious world we see around us, has captured the interest of many people throughout history. In fact, mankind has been studying dreams since the invention of the written word. Perhaps the lure of dreams is that there seems to be some significance behind them. Most reject the idea that dreams are just random meaningless fragments of data. The vivid sensations that dreams create are just too powerful to ignore. The world of dreams is filled with peculiar phenomenon and unexpected events that beg our attention. Consider the following example of a dream:

The point of view of which Freud interprets and examines the manifest of dreams content to obtain their latent meaning is of a professional psychologist and clinical observer who looked for a way to explain how our minds work and how the individual psychology functions. He based his work on clinical experiences and clinical neurosis of the matter of his own interpretations to be able to confirm his theories as a proven fact. The result Freud gets from the patients he observes and interpretation of their dreams are stereotyped to the complete human condition.

In several of his books, including Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis and On Dreams, Freud combines the topics of forgetting a proper name and dream analysis, formulating a thesis that helps to clarify his theories on both. He describes in psychoanalytic terms the mechanisms behind forgetting of a proper name and how they relate to the methods used in dream analysis. By looking at the two topics from a joint perspective, we can gain a greater understanding of them and how they relate to other areas of psychoanalysis.

Have you ever had a dream that you had no idea what it meant? In the essay Excerpts from “On Dream” Freud discusses dream symbolism. He states that the dream thought we first come across, we proceed without analysis we often think those dreams are unusual. He goes on by saying that our dreams are employed by our thoughts. “The content of dreams, however, does not consist entirely of situations, but also includes disconnected fragments of visual images, speeches and even bits of unmodified thoughts.” This quote explains why I dream about that scary little girl from the horror movie commercial. We dream what we see throughout our day. Dreams seem to be composed of more than one experience or impression. “Wishful fantasies which are present

After a friend told me about some weird dreams he had been having I decided to research the meaning of dreams. I will focus on Sigmund Freud’s idea that understanding our dreams can help us to understand ourselves, and live a much happier and fulfilled life. Freud was known as “the father of psychoanalysis” and in 1899 he wrote his most famous work, The Interpretation of Dreams, and

The third and final article, Morewedge, and Norton (2009) “When Dreaming Is Believing”, a study done to study amateur’s beliefs about the importance of dreams, the way the person interprets their dreams, and the consequences of the interpretations they make on their behavior. The authors stressed that dreams vary widely across psychology, such as Freud’s “Royal Road” to that of a simple byproduct of an increase in brain activity. Morewedge and Norton (2009) suggest that amateurs take up the “Royal Road” look on dreams, that dreams hold information about oneself and their world, and that their interpretation of their dreams impact their waking lives.

Freud presented his theory about dreams in the book The Interpretation of Dreams in 1899. In it he sets out to prove "there is a psychological technique which makes it possible to interpret dreams" and that

Thesis: Understanding how dreams occur, how they affect our lives and what they mean to help us grasp what dreams actually are.

Hill, C. (2004). Dream work in therapy: Facilitating exploration, insight, and action. Washington, D.C: American Psychological Association.