Why do we have dreams? Why are they so often crazy?

Question

by crazy, I mean disjointed etc.. -

Answer 1

Only you can decipher your own dreams. This is fact. However I will tell you what I know about dreams. There are different kinds of dreams. Every interpreter has a different way of grouping them. I find this way works for me. It is important to write down your dreams first thing when you awaken. Within 10 minutes 90% of what you remember is gone like dust in the wind. Make note of your mood when you awaken. Then go on from there. Sometimes my dreams are so long lasting and deep I carry a booklet around with me for when a revelation comes to me.

1. PROPHETIC DREAMS where you see the future. For example, the dreams Joseph saw and took to Pharaoh. They are always in colour and action follows a logical sequence.

2. RELEASE DREAMS. Since your dreams sound like Release Dreams I will go into more detail. These dreams are the most confusing of all. Chaotic, preposterous, disturbing. Emotional exhaling. Some are silly but many can be nightmares. Despite the stress, they are important for us. Good way to work out fear angers frustration and stress.

Without nightmares, btw, we would easily all end up crazy. Usually they are jumbles of images and as turbulent as the negativity they are helping one dispose of. What we are doing in these dreams is working out fears, frustrations, stress and anger during the night so we don’t have to carry this with us during the day. Without release dreams we would be chronically stressed out or completely psychotic.

There are different types of release dreams. The first are time warp release dreams. These most frequently occur when we are questioning our life choices, successes, etc. These lend themselves well to reprogramming. Think of a revised ending; think upon it as you fall asleep.

Then there are the chase release dreams. Usually you are being chased by something evil – post-traumatic stress, personal tragedy. The key is to stand firm and meet your pursuer’s eyes and say with courage (whether you are feeling courage or not) “Be gone! Go back from whence you came.” And feel your strength.

The worst case scenario is the most awful thing that could happen. These scenarios allow us to release these fears of the worst and concentrate on something more manageable. Release dreams allow us to get rid of unresolved or unexpressed issues.

They place these issues into the spotlight and subconsciously we act out whatever frustrations, anger, regret, guilt, resentment, betrayal, embarrassment, shame we have been carrying around with us. These are hard to shake off when we wake up and can definitely affect our mood.

3. WISH DREAMS. These are just as the name says. We dream of what we want or think we want and usually awaken from them with a feeling of satisfaction.

4. INFORMATION AND PROBLEM SOLVING DREAMS. You fall asleep chewing on a problem and wake up knowing the solution. Or know something we could not have known before we went to sleep. The advice “Sleep on it” is very valid. Did you know the Theory of Relativity came to Einstein in a dream? Or that Mozart received his compositions while he slept? The invention of the light bulb and the sewing machine also came from dreams. Dr. Salk got his ideas for the polio vaccine in a dream.

5. ASTRAL VISITING DREAMS. These are usually telepathic dreams or astral travel dreams.

Lucid dreams can be any of the five types above. When a dream is lucid, you realize within the dream that you are dreaming. When this happens, you can take control of the dream. You can be in control of your own reactions. This of course is best when you have a release dream and wish to face some aspect of it.

Answer 2

I think dreams are sort of like data compression or at least defragmentation. We experience so many things in a lifetime and we cannot ever remember it all. So I think common threads and similar data are merged for storage efficiency. So as the data moves around the images stored there are invoked, and emotions are often triggered.

The craziness in a lot of the dreams could be our worse fears coming out. Some of the fears that come out in dreams are dying, wrecking, falling, getting arrested, getting punished, losing property, etc. A lot of times, dreams are a reflection of your recent thoughts. If you watch a frightening movie before bed, you might dream about it.

A lot of weird dreams are also based on what happens while you are sleeping. If you leave the television on, you might just dream you are somehow in the plot. I once left a sci-fi type program on because I was too tired and lazy to turn off the tv and I had a dream about being kidnapped by aliens and being aboard their ship. I knew the nationality of the aliens and everything.

Also related to stuff happening to you while you are asleep, there was the time when I was asleep and the building manager was spraying bug spray in the hallway, you know, the kind that smells a bit like kerosene. My dream was about being in a Catholic church. I'm Baptist, but I had recently visited a Mass service. As I was leaving the church in the dream, I apologized to the priest for how I smelled, explaining that I was doing some extermination before I got there. Then I awoke to the smell of bug spray.

Answer 3

I think we have dreams and why they're so crazy is because our moods are crazy and every one wants entertainment even in our sleep which would be my reason why we have dreams. I also think that dreams are often crazy because most people have boring days and dreams are where we put are want for excitment at tthe end of the day.

Answer 4

We have dreams because our minds are free when sleeping. So the subconcious and unconcious part of us "process" the data, and the result would be a film made as dream. Dreams are not crazy, perhaps the dreamer is not informed enough to analyze the dreams and get the points! But I should also add that many dreams are offered in their own way, a natural way, often hard to understand completely.

Answer 5

I like to think of dreams as 'spring cleaning' for the brain. In the course of everyday life we are constantly recieving and processing information, though much of it on a subconscious level. I think dreams are a way to clear out the clutter. They take a lot of the extraneous information we gather up during our day to day routines and compile it all together so that it can be delt with and purged from the brain and thus getting rid of some of the mental clutter. This is why they seem random and disjointed - because they are made up of all this random information. That is my wild and wacky theory anyway - lol

Answer 6

they are a reflection of our subconscious mind and as such reflect the things which we normally would never do in real life.my fab dream has been flying. our dreams reflect our anxiety's,fears,joys and griefs. Sigmund Freud analysis-ed dreams toward the late 19th century and believed that dreams showed our hatred for our father. keep in mind a pink elephant some times is just a pink elephant. besides the dream side of our mind is an enigma,wrapped in a riddle, covered by a question. dreams are a safety valve for all the emotional baggage that we have to deal with on a daily basis. like a boiler engine we have to release some steam from time to time to keep from blowing up. our sanity and physical safety depends a lot on getting enough sleep. pleasant dreams.

Answer 7

Dreams are basically a jumble of things our minds can't really put in the right order. Things that we've either seen or thought about recently that sneaks from our conscious thought into our subconscious. The most interesting thing is that our dreams are actually only seconds long - like slide-show on fast forward - but when we wake up and remember them they are forced into our conscious thought and THAT'S what makes them seem so long and crazy (because our minds are trying to make sense of them).

Answer 8

There is no proven fact as to why we dream. Some theorize that we dream because our mind is processing what stimulates it during the day or days. There is also a theory that without dreaming a person goes insane. According to http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=00072867-D925-1F0E-97AE80A84189EEDF&ref=rss, there is no answer to this question

The dreaming mind sees the world in a different way than when we are awake.

http://www.som.org/1dreams/why.htm says we dream to relieve stress. This is just one reason.

Dreaming in summary is another way of processing information.

Answer 9

Quote >> We dream to resolve issues which have not been resolved in reality, thereby helping to preserve sanity.

I'm not sure I agree with that. I recently had a dream where someone wrecked my car, and I remember saying to my "what am I gonna do?!" feeling all worried and stuff. I also had another dream recently where I was at a party, and everyone got pissed off at me for being a smart-***. Not sure how that helps me resolve issues, since I'm not usually that type of person.

Answer 10

Dreams are not actually disjointed. Your brain activity during REM sleep is truly alive for you at the time. However, once you wake the memory patterns use different chemicals in your brain so that the dream state is almost "dream like" because we need all of our waking memory for the complicated process of wakefulness. Therefore, you "remember" snippets of the dream. If your complicated brain remembered all that you process during sleep you would truly be unable to distinguish between wake and sleep. Some religions and philosophers may hint that there is no difference...but I say the dream is just the bonus...would you truly be as happy without the occasional dream to reel you in?

Answer 11

Nobody knows for certain why we dream but we all dream every night. It is my belief that dreams unlock the hidden part of ourselves and reveal our secret wishes and desires. By paying attention to our dreams and interpreting dreams we can gain greater self-knowledge and lead better, more fulfilled lives. In addition dreams give us access to area of the mind that has immediate intuitive knowledge of the past, present and future. Learn to interpret your dreams and you may also unlock your clairvoyant potential.


There are no limits to the human mind's ability to generate an infinite abundance of dreams but amongst this mass of imagery are a few common dreams that happen to almost everybody. Have you ever dreamed of falling, being chased or dreamed of losing your teeth? Most people have. Dreams like this are part of shared human experience that cross the cultural divides. They remind up perhaps that we are there is only one race- the race of humanity.