I thought about writing another post about the holidays, but to be honest this is not my favorite time of year. I struggle with my depression and anxiety. It is just a hard part of the year for me. Despite my experience on Wednesday (Alone for the Holidays), I am doing a little better than other years. That is most likely a result of the support of my mental health team and esketamine treatment. As the years have passed, I have become better able to discuss my struggles during the holidays with my mental health providers. I also journal about it to get the thoughts out of my head.
Back to my topic for this post. A quick holiday reference. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carolfloated into my mind. Ebenezer Scrooge has the dreams we all know with visitors from the past, present, and future giving him messages. That started me thinking. What role do dreams play in mental health? I have a lot of dreams. Some I remember. Others seem real as they are happening, but then disappear from my awareness as soon as I wake up. What do my dreams mean? Are they giving me a message? Is my subconscious mind working through something? I have a lot of questions about dreams. So, I did a little research and thought I would share what I learned.
The first thing I found was that scientists do not have a definitive answer as to why we dream. The thought is we dream for more than one reason. Those reasons include memory processing, emotional regulation, creativity, and normal brain activity. Dreams may be helping us to organize and store memories. It is possible that the brain is reviewing what happened during the day. As it does this the brain strengthens important memories and lets go of less useful details.
When it comes to emotions, dreams may be processing feelings such as fear, excitement, or sadness in a safe way. This may be why we sometimes have intense or strange dreams after a stressful day.
During dreams our brain often makes unusual connections. These connections can lead to creative ideas. As we dream our creativity can take over and inspire new work. Sometimes I wake up from a dream and need to grab my journal to write. That writing often feels inspired by the dream.
Dreams can also be our brain practicing for real life situations. We can rehearse social interactions, challenges, or dangers without real-world consequences. Our brain gets to work preparing us for life.
Research indicates that the parts of the brain that handle logic and self-control are less active when we sleep. At the same time the parts of the brain that handle imagination and emotion are more active. The brain’s filter is not on allowing thoughts to be filtered in a different way. This is why we sometimes have weird dreams. The logic part of our brain is turned down. Since the prefrontal cortex, which usually checks logic is not as active, it is not saying, “that doesn’t make sense.” The prefrontal cortex is not questioning weird things. This allows our brain to imagine weird things. It is also why even bizarre dreams feel normal as they are happening.
Since the areas of the brain involved with emotion, memory, and imagery are very active during sleep we may have intense feelings, vivid images, and dramatic or symbolic scenes during dreams. The brain tries to make sense of these things by turning them into a story. The story may not follow real-world rules. That is why dreams may be weird.
Sometimes dreams blend recent events, old memories, and worries or interests. As they merge, weird dreams can occur. Dreams feel like they are happening to you rather than being something you are choosing because the part of your brain that controls deliberate decisions is quiet. So, to summarize, dreams happen because our brains are active, but not logical, emotional and imaginative parts of our brain freely mix memories while we sleep.
This all leads me to the questions how do dreams affect mental health and how is mental health affected by dreams? Dreams can have both helpful and challenging effects on our mental health. This is because dreams are closely tied to how our brains process emotions, stress, and memories. Dreams can reduce emotional overload by working through difficult emotions. When this work is done during dreams, it can make it easier to handle some emotions when we are awake. Dreams also help us settle down after stressful events. Dreams help provide creativity and insight. When this happens, we can see problems from new angles. This is a healthy way of processing problems.
What about challenging dreams? I know I often remember parts of challenging dreams more than other dreams. Nightmares or challenging dreams often reflect that we are going through periods of high stress, anxiety, or depression. The dreams reflect what we are going through mentally or emotionally. Dreams can let us know what is going on with our mental or emotional state. If dreams are balanced, we are usually in a good state of mental health. When dreams are stressful or intense, it is an indication we are going through a difficult time.
Here are some steps if you want to remember a dream. Wake up slowly. Dreams tend to fade fast. So, as you wake up stay still for a moment, keep your eyes closed, and ask yourself, “What was I just dreaming?” You might just catch a feeling, image, or color. That is a good start to remembering a dream. The next step is to record the dream right away. One good way to do this is to keep a dream journal by your bed. As you wake up, write down anything you remember even if it is just fragments. This helps to train your brain to remember dreams more often.
Another strategy is to set an intention before you go to sleep. You can tell yourself, “I want to remember my dreams.” Repeat this a few times as you are falling asleep. Setting an intention may sound strange, but it can work. I have not tried this to remember dreams, but I have set intentions before esketamine treatment. Those intentions usually follow me into the dissociation that results from the esketamine.
To process and benefit from dreams it is important to look for emotions rather than predictions. It is thought that dreams are not literal messages. Questions you can ask yourself include: “What emotions did I feel in the dream?” and “Do those emotions match anything in my real life?” Look for patterns. These might include places, situations, or feelings. Reading through your dream journal is a good way to find patterns. These patterns can point to areas of stress, worry, or goals your brain is working through. Next, you can reflect on your dreams. Do this in a gentle way. You should not overanalyze your dreams. Questions you can ask as you reflect on your dreams might include: “What might my brain be processing?” and “Is there something I have been thinking about or feeling a lot lately?”
Everyone dreams. Our mental health can benefit from dreams if we reflect on what our dreams are processing and what we are feeling. If the reflection becomes overwhelming, we should take a break from our reflection. It can help to discuss dreams with a mental health provider. Dreams are our brain’s way of processing our emotions. It is not necessary for us to understand every dream. Sometimes we need to let our brains process what they need to process and not worry about what it all means.
Going back to Ebenezer Scrooge. His dreams helped change his ways. Dreams can change us if we reflect on them if we recognize that our brain is creating, and dreams are not reality. We are not likely to experience a life-altering change the way Dickens’ Scrooge did, but dreams can help us understand a bit more. Dreams can provide some clarity and serve as an emotional release. I encourage all of us to reflect on our dreams, but as we do that, remember that dreams are our brains processing what they need to process to help us. Do not overanalyze a dream. If you have a disturbing dream, share what you remember with your mental health provider. Do not fear dreams. If we are dreaming our brains are working to help us.
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