Dreams and Symptoms

Abstract

Down through the ages, people have suspected that dreams and emotional symptoms, phobias, anxiety, depression, obsessions, problems in relating to others, psychologically founded physical ailments, and so forth, are in some way linked. Many ancient cultures practiced dream incubation rituals for healing purposes, attempting to cultivate dreams that would address the reasons for inexplicable behaviors or physical disorders and suggest solutions. In the real world, an emotional symptom or dysfunction is an inappropriate or maladaptive reaction to a trigger situation. A dream is a response to an emotionally charged stimulus, unconsciously perceived as dangerous. This sequence of events precipitates feelings of some sort- anxiety, rage, or whatever mobilizing protective psychological measures. Nightmares are disturbances in the guardian function, the safety valve role of dreams. They are a dream form of an anxiety attack. Yet they are also a carrier of both the trigger that has set us off and, at least in part, its resolution.