Reference no: EM13504298

The Psychological Interpretation of Dreams
Dreams are mental images and emotions during sleep that may also have sounds. Dreams are sometimes confusing and surprising. They are intriguing and fascinating mysteries. Sigmund Freud, a famous neurologist, is known for the theories of the unconscious mind and interpreting dreams as insights to the unconscious mind. There is no accurate answer as to why people dream. Dreams are so atypical that scientists think they have a crucial purpose. Today’s scientists have classified two main categories of interpretations of dreams. One is physiological and the other is psychological. The psychological approach is more of a Freudian idea, which insists that dreams have symbolic meaning. The physiological approach is that the brain receives information from nerves and the subconscious. Thus, interpreted as both physiological and psychological.
Freud believed that dreams have two meanings to them. These are the psychological aspects. Manifest content or the psyche of the dreamer is what the dream seems to be saying. It is often strange and just doesn’t make sense. The other dream meaning is latent content, which is its underlying significance and is interpreted by free association. Free association is when a dream symbol is analyzed by thinking what automatically will come to mind. Freud believed that the cause of dreams were the wishes of the id, or during sleep, the unconscious. The id is the personality trait that is someone’s wants and desires. He believed that one way a person’s urges and impulses were released were through dreams. He also suggested that dreams reflected previous or future events. That is, if the symbols were interpreted correctly. Because dream content may be disturbing or harmful, Freud believes it is expressed through symbols. There are five elements that dreams can have: displacement, projection, symbolization, rationalization, and condensation. Displacement is when someone’s thoughts or desires are symbolized by the thoughts or desires of something or someone else. Projection is when the desires and wants of the dreamer is portrayed on another person. Symbolization is the dreamer’s unconscious desires that are shown metaphorically. Rationalization, or secondary vision, organizes an incoherent dream into one that is reasonable.