Sleep and dreaming

You will find lots of information about the importance of sleep and the connection between dreaming and mental health on this website, see:

• The importance of sleep   >>
• Why we dream   >>
• Dreaming to forget: the real reason why we often don't remember our dreams   >>

HG College - Free online courses

• Why do we dream?

  Joe Griffin reviews past theories and recent research findings (all of which add further evidence in support of his ground-breaking theory) as he tells the riveting story of how he solved the mystery of our dreams...

• Dreaming, daydreaming and creativity

  Ivan Tyrrell's fascinating talk from the HG Diploma course throws new light on our evolution as he explains the crucial role of the REM state and much more...

> View all free online courses

What is dream sleep?

An imaginary perceptual experience that occurs primarily in REM sleep. The expectation fulfilment theory of dreaming explains how we act out our unexpressed emotional expectations (positive and negative) through the medium of metaphor in our dreams. Dreaming reduces stress and preserves the integrity of our emotional responses. Excessive and intensive dreaming has been linked to clinical depression. Dream phenomena occurring while patients are awake have been linked to schizophrenia.

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More information about why we dream can be found in the book Why We Dream: the definitive answer 

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> Click here to explore a website dedicated to why we dream