Dreams are related to our Mental Health
The dreams we see while we sleep are strange, there are dreams that are repeated more than once, there are also dreams that are the same for many, there are dreams that we see before they actually happen, There are dreams that reflect our living reality, especially when it comes to problems and obstacles in our daily lives, we will see recurring nightmares .
Scientific explanations have proven that dreams are related to our psychological state and mental health, and it is not accidental or weirdness .
Therefore, all mental disorders are translated into dreams and nightmares, where it has been scientifically proven that dreams are a reflection of thoughts and feelings inside the subconscious, Evidence for this is that we forget many dreams as soon as we wake up, while nightmares are the result of the troubled mental state, we remember them and get up terrified of them, So it can be said, yes, dreams are related to our mental health .
When you are psychologically uncomfortable in a state of psychological depression or anxiety and stress, You will see the nightmares known to all people, where you will dream as if dogs are chasing you or seeing yourself falling from a height, Dreams, then, are not personal, but often general .
Do Children's Dreams affect their mental health in the future ?
The dreams that people see start from childhood, feelings of joy, happiness, laughter, fear and sadness in infants, babies and young children during their sleep are reflected in facial expressions during sleep .
you find the child or baby looking happy and smiling, or sad and crying, you may also find him speaking what he sees in a dream, or making movements often in the feet and hands .
Psychologists say that nightmares begin in children, especially from the age of 3 to 6 years, it begins to decrease with the age of 10 years, parents suffer from sleep disorders in their children, at a rate of up to 50% among children .
Nightmares and disturbing dreams affect the child after waking up, as he may find it difficult to go back to sleep, and he feels afraid, this is because the effect of the dream on his psyche and mental health has continued even after waking up .
The bitter experiences that a person has lived since childhood, which used to affect their dreams, such as the separation of parents, the death of one of them,or even parting and going to school, or watching cartoon films that generate certain feelings in the child, or seeing animals, affects the child's psyche and mental health during his life stages in the future .
The psychology of a child who grew up in an environment of safety and stability differs from that of a child who grew up in a turbulent environment, this is what makes dreams are related with human mental health since childhood, Therefore, with age, people have different dreams .
How does our mental health affect dreams ?
The work and structure of the brain is a complex part of the human body, studies are still ongoing to understand its mechanism of action, and how it works during sleep, how dreams occur, and how psychological and mental health are related to dreams .
It has been shown through practical and laboratory studies, that dreams occur during a certain stage with rapid eye movement, and the fact that the muscles relax during sleep, the eye remains active, this is what enables us to see our dreams .
The subconscious mind is associated with thoughts, scenes, experiences, or even future aspirations and daydreams, therefore, the activity of the subconscious mind enables the eye to see what is going on in it during sleep .
It is among the health conditions that affect the pattern of our dreams
Depression
Due to the difference in the structure and chemical composition of the brain between a healthy person and a depressed person, the pattern of dreams will be different, where studies have shown that depressed people often dream of failure and calamities, and it may come to dreams of death and suicidal thoughts, these dreams help psychiatrists in providing appropriate treatment for depression, where any positive indicators in their dreams may give indications that the patient is recovering, and that the treatment provided to the patient is beginning to improve his mental health .
One study has shown that depressed people dream more than healthy people, because dreaming is their way of dealing with their negative feelings, Likewise, a depressed person has less memory of dreams compared to healthy people, antidepressants may help with this .
Studies have also shown that a depressed person has more nightmares than others, and they recur with him, this is due to the fact that his subconscious mind is associated with dark thoughts .
anxiety
People's lives are not devoid of a feeling of anxiety many times . The degree of expression of anxiety varies among people, according to their psychological state and behaviour, and the severity of the situations they are exposed to .
People with anxiety disorders become infected with sleep disorders and insomnia, and it takes these people a long time to go to sleep, they struggle to sleep and get some rest, compared to people with peace of mind, So .Before people with anxiety go to sleep, they take a lot of time to think and analyze situations, traumas, and experiences, this is what creates their subconscious mind's connection to these thoughts, all of this is reflected in their dreams and nightmares .
Scientific studies have shown that although there is a complex relationship between dreams and insomnia, and the existence of a relationship between mental health and dreams, these relationships and effects require a lot of research on the subject . However, there are studies showing that people with generalized anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder, have disturbing dreams and nightmares six times as often as people with peace of mind.
After patients with behavioral disorder and anxiety received psychotherapy, the patient begins to recover, Thus, disturbing and bad dreams begin to decrease .
Psychosis
Because of the psychosis disorder in people with psychotic disorders and the deterioration of their psychological condition, dreams and psychotic disorders share mechanisms, where the psychotic distinguish his brain between reality and imagination, what makes imagination part of waking thinking and the brain is linked to imagination, The subconscious mind continues this connection during sleep, this is why people with mental illnesses and psychotic disorders, often they have persistent nightmares and disturbing dreams .
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenic patients have difficulty separating their own thoughts from reality, they also suffer from difficulty communicating with reality and difficulty realizing, they live in a private world and believe in they private ideas, they suffer from hallucinations and hear unreal voices .
This results in abnormal behavior, and psychological and mental disorders .
All the symptoms that a schizophrenic patient suffers from in his daily life, turn into nightmares when sleeping, where patients with schizophrenia suffer from many disturbing and bad dreams, studies have shown that patients with schizophrenia see nightmares about twenty times more than healthy people . Their dreams contain great aggressive feelings, a high degree of anxiety, and negative thoughts, they see strangers a lot, and the owner of the dream is not the prominent personality, because the feelings of persecution are great in this patient .
