Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: Lifeline

Media Credit: Leigh Halterman [Click to enlarge]

People have been puzzled by the meanings of their dreams for more than a hundred years.

Modern dream interpretation essentially began with the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud's 1899 book, "The Interpretation Of Dreams."

Freud believed dreams had both manifest (or obvious) content and latent (or symbolic) content.

A dream about drowning might symbolize stress in one's life.

Freud's ideas still are studied by modern psychoanalysts, but new theories and ideas have come into play in the area of dream interpretation.

"Of the therapists with a psychoanalytic bent, many still profess that dreams provide a golden road to unconscious motivations," said Gary Dunbar, psychology professor.

Dream interpretation is a complicated scientific process.

"(Dream interpretation) involves a trained interpretation of the symbolism embedded in a dream," Dunbar said.

Since sleep in itself is a complex process, it follows that dreaming can be equally complex.

"Although most reported dreams are mundane, and usually involve simple experiences of the day, some can be very complicated," he said.

But dream interpretation is not solely the arena of trained professionals.

Some people maintain journals in which they document the details of their dreams and what they believe they may symbolize.

"I have my own dream journal, and I use a dream encyclopedia to refer to different things that happen in my dreams," said Andreah Grove, a Montgomery resident.

Grove began documenting her dreams after having recurring dreams about her grandmother.

I wanted to figure out why they were happening," she explained.

Grove said sometimes she uses her dreams to help her solve problems in her own life. Grove also has shared her dream interpretation skills with friends.

"A couple of my friends are now interested in it, and if they have a dream they can't figure out, they ask me about it," she said.

Not everyone is as open to the idea of dream interpretation.

Mount Pleasant freshman Marissa Pittsley said it is impossible to find the true meaning of a dream.

"I think it's a bunch of baloney," she said. "It's just someone else's opinion."


lifeline@cm-life.com

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