Dr. Naiman makes the point that
sleeping and dreaming are dimensions of our general health that are largely
overlooked (despite the fact that more than 100 million American adults
suffer from various sleep and dream-related conditions). Aside from the proven
health benefits of sleeping well, he explains that good dreaming contributes
to our psychological well-being by supporting healthy memory, the healing of
emotional wounds, cultivating positive mood and the expansion of ordinary
consciousness into broader, spiritual realms.
In Dr. Naiman's view, your
complaint of feeling tired the day after dreams disturb your sleep is not
usually the result of dreaming, per se, but of attempting to deny, resist or
fight the dreams. It is this struggle that can leave you exhausted. He notes
that occasional bad dreams and even nightmares are a normal part of one's
dream life. If they become frequent, he suggests discussing them with a
therapist trained in dream work. (You should be able to find one through the
nearest chapter of Friends of Jung, try a Google search for
"Friends of Jung" along with the name of your city or state.)
Meanwhile, he urges you to keep in mind that even a negative dream can have a
positive effect on one's life.
To foster healthy dreaming, he
advocates the following:
- Limit your exposure to artificial light (this
includes television because its blue light restricts the production of
melatonin, a key neurotransmitter that regulates biorhythms and induces
sleep).
- Avoid excess alcohol and medications that suppress
dreams (including sleeping medications).
- If you suffer from sleep apnea, treat it.
- View dreaming as a type of psychological stretching.
- Keep a dream journal and discuss your dreams with
family and friends.
Dear Vivid Dreamer,
Freud said that
“dreams are the royal road to the unconscious,” but he said nothing about how
they may be related to feeling rested in the morning. There are many possible
explanations for your sleep pattern.
- It could be that your restlessness is causing you to
remember more of your dreams.
- It could be that your dreams are contributing to your
restlessness (this is the least likely).
- It could be that some other factor is influencing
both.
- It could be that the two (feeling unrested and having
lots of dreams) are only coincidentally related
You ask if having more
dreams at night means that your sleep is less restful. Possibly, but not
necessarily. Some background: Research indicates that people dream 4-6 times
per night during an 8 hour sleep cycle, with most dreams occurring during
“lighter” stages of sleep. You’ve probably heard of Rapid Eye Movement (REM)
sleep. This is one level deeper than the lightest stage of sleep that you
experience as you fall asleep at night. As you cycle through the various five
stages of sleep, you enter REM sleep about four times and you’ll spend
anywhere from 5-30 minutes in REM sleep each time. During REM sleep, the
brain is very active. If for some reason you are spending more time in REM
sleep than is typical, it may be that you are not sleeping as deeply as you
are during those months when you aren’t remembering your dreams. Most people
also have non-REM dreams, too, especially during the last hour or two of
sleep each night, as the brain becomes more active than it was in the deeper
stages. It is worth noting that some people don’t dream at all, so during
those periods where you aren’t having dreams, it could also be that you
simply aren’t dreaming.
It is also possible
that you simply don’t remember your dreams most of the time. Research
indicates that most people forget about 95-99% of their dreams, primarily
because they are not attending to them. Much in the way we may not attend
closely to daily activities that don’t require much concentration (e.g.
brushing teeth, driving to work). Thus, the times when you recall dreams, it
may be that some other factor is causing you to pay more attention. It may be
helpful to pay attention to the emotional aspect of these dreams that you are
remembering. People remember emotionally difficult dreams more than pleasant
or neutral dreams. Upsetting dreams may be in indication that (though not
always) something in your real life is also making you anxious. It may be
that some external disturbance is awakening you during REM sleep and thus
interfering with your deeper stages of sleep. This disturbance could be any
of several things: environmental factors (such as noise or temperature),
emotional or psychological stress, or medications. The regularity of the
symptoms is also interesting — it could indicate that it’s linked to
something recurring in your life (midterms and finals?) or something
hormonal, such as the menstrual cycle.
There are some things
you can do to minimize the chance of external factors awakening you:
- Using the bed only for sleep or sex (avoid falling
asleep on the couch or at the desk).
- Keep a regular routine before bed.
- Try to go to bed and waking up at consistent hours
across the week.
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine four to six hours
before bed.
- Avoid spicy, sugary, or heavy foods four to six hours
before bed.
- Avoid exercise two hours before bed.
- Keep the bedroom at a comfortable temperature.
- Block out external noise and light (darker opaque
curtains, earplugs).
It may be helpful to
pay close attention to what’s going on in your life when these periods of
feeling unrested occur. Keeping track of things such as stress, life changes,
changes in habits (e.g. eating, exercise) medications, etc. Consult a doctor
if symptoms don’t improve. It may also be helpful (and interesting) to keep a
dream journal by your bed and write down your dreams first thing in the
morning. Be sure to write down not only the content of the dream (what
happened) but also the emotions you felt at the time. These both may provide
clues as to what is happening that might be interfering with your sleep.
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