Since I was little, I’ve always been fascinated with dreams and why they even exist. How can you sleep and still put yourself in a situation or emotion while sleeping. Have you ever dreamt of yourself crying and actually woke up crying? Or have you ever woken up in a bad mood because of something you were dreaming about? Well why does this happen? Scientists till this day don’t know the exact answers to this question and what function dreaming has in relation to our lives. This controversial topic is still being studied today but some answers have been found already so here’s a little of what I found.

Let’s start with the basics!

Dreaming is usually performed during the human’s deepest sleep which is the REM cycle or generally from the hours of 2 am to 7am (dreamstop.com). Every person dreams, but whether we remember or it or not is an individual thing. In one article it says that dreams play a vital role in helping the brain sort all of the inputs from the day. Our brains have to organize thousands of inputs, from the colors of cars to who we spoke to. The brain works to figure out what to keep and what to throw away while we’re sleeping.

Another theory described in the same article says that dreaming is directly correlated with emotions. During the day our brain focuses so hard on aspects like solving a math problem, or finding our way to another class. The brain needs to make deep connections to solve each problem/challenge that is faced. Throughout the night the article relays that we don’t have to make these hard connections and the brain works on loose ones which end up being what is heavily weighing our brains. Therefore your dream may come from emotions that are felt or thought about too much.

The last theory, in the same article, is simply the most boring, in my opinion, and the one that scientists try to test. This theory basically describes dreams as having no function at all. This theory basically says that all other findings are useless and dreams are just a “pointless byproduct”. Some think that dreams are just meaningless in the way that your brain is just trying to let go and rest up for the next day. Unfortunately, the point of dreams and the determination of which theory is correct is not known and is kept a mystery.

Some do believe that dreams can be categorized into four groups which can relay the meaning of the dream that was dreamt. Here are the categories and their meanings:

Precognitive Dreams – Specific details in the dream will foretell an important event that is about to about or will happen in the future. These dreams appear to predict the future through the use of our sixth sense. Abraham Lincolns dream that foretold of his death two weeks before his assassination is a good example of a precognitive dream.

Warning – As the name suggests, these dreams will often tell of an impending danger that is going to happen to the dream if they don’t change a course of action or choose a specific action. A dream about being lost in the woods could indicate the dreamer is heading down the wrong path and needs to change make changes before it is too late.

Factual – These dreams are confirmation to the dreamer of what he or she already knows to be true. It can also emphasize a specific detail in someone’s life. Factual dreams can tell his hidden truths about ourselves with the various symbols that are represented in our dreams.

Inspirational – Any dream that is inspirational to the dream could represent some kind of a step or action one can take to resolve a personal or business problem that may be troubling the dreamer. Inspirational dreams can be used to motivate dreamers to make positive changes in their lives.

Wish Fulfillment – In our subconscious mind our desires can often take shape in become a reality in our dreams. If you have been dreaming about being rich your entire life, you could have a dream about winning the lottery. Wish fulfillment dreams help our minds cope with our inner desires that we have in our conscious mind.

Compensatory – Similar to the wish fulfillment, compensatory dreams occur as a way to satisfy something that is missing in our lives. If you haven’t had a sexual relationship for a long time, you might have a compensatory dream about meeting a new partner and fulfilling those sexual desires that you have.

Reconciliation – When we lose someone in our lives through a breakup or death, we can often have a lot of unresolved feelings towards those people. Reconciliation dreams is our sub conscious minds way of dealing with the loss of people who have made an impact on our lives. Dreams about getting back with ex lovers and reunited with lost parents are very common forms of reconciliation dreams.

These categories can help assert what the problem or situation is and why you are dreaming this. With further experiments, scientists must have to look into individual people’s lives, what they’ve gone through, and then what they dream about in order to pinpoint these meanings and the origin of dreams. The topic of dreams to some mean nothing and to many are seen to be interesting in the fact that one can make their own world within their dreams. This topic is controversial and is one with many questions and not enough answers yet.