Dream Analysis Essay

Dreams are often derived from the inner thresholds of an individual’s thoughts and repressed emotions. My dreams have been significantly complex, converging into metamorphic symbols that relate to significant past and present events. After a week of dream analysis, I believe dreams have an effect on both my conscious and unconscious thoughts. Analyzing these dreams has begun to reveal the inner meanings behind my thoughts, and lead to prosperous revelations. To correlate the meaning and reasoning of the concept of dreams, I have analyzed my most significant dream from the points of view of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and the activation synthesis methods. Upon the conclusion of my research, the theories of both Freud and Jung contain the most valid perspective as to the true meaning of my dream. Sigmund Freud was a brilliant Psychoanalyst, who opened new doors pertaining to how mental illnesses were treated. In the novel The World of Ideas by Lee Jacobus, he explains that Freud, in the minds of many, is recognized as the founder of modern Psychiatry (Jacobus 475). Freud developed the psychoanalytic method: which is the examination of the mind using dream analysis, Lee further explains that â€Å"the analysis of the unconscious through free association, and the correlation of findings with attitudes toward sexuality and sexual development† (Jacobus 75). Meaning, dreams can reveal more than what typically meets the eye. Jacobus explains that In Freud’s â€Å"The Interpretation of Dreams† he states, â€Å"the unconscious works in complex ways to help us cope with feelings and desires that our superego deems unacceptable† (Jacobs 475). Sigmund explains his methods by comparing it to two great plays that he felt expressed individuals having repressed emotions. Freud states â€Å"one merely carries on during the night and in dreams with what one has been turning over in ones mind during the day† (Freud 483). Meaning, if one has guilt or an undeniable pleasure that one can’t express, dreams will covey the ones incapable emotions. Jacobus further explains that Freud is conveying, â€Å"that dreams are wish-fulfillments† (Jacobus 477). For example in Freud’s prospective; he suggests that if one is to worry about a parent, it might really convey the unconscious wish that the parent should die. Freud’s main method in interpreting dreams was mainly focused on repressed emotions and the undeniable feelings towards sexuality and sexual feelings. Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud are very similar to the reference of batman and robin. Freud is being the character of batman, and Robin being Jung. Carl worked along side with Freud collaborating the mind through the interpretation of dreams. Just like any duo, Jung wanted to explore beyond what his leader justified as acceptable. Jung decided the unconscious content of one’s mind is based on just a theory, insisting that images in dreams are not only related to personal experiences, but are also inherited, exploring the unconscious component of the mind. It doesn’t only persist to just the personal unconscious, but also pertaining to the collective unconscious. In Jung’s The Personal and the Collective Unconscious, Carl interprets and re examines Freud’s speculations of the unconscious and explores different theories that explain the analysis of the mind. Jung agrees with many of Freud’s theories, but he branches out from his theories creating a diverse intellectual reasoning in which he connects it to different archetypes, further explaining dreams in terms of a â€Å"collective and personal unconscious†. Jung believed that archetypes described people’s behaviors and personalities. According to the Webster Dictionary Archetypes are visual symbols that exist in our mind, â€Å"some are clearly understood but others bring subliminal messages that are there to help you trigger your memory of why you are here and the truth behind the illusions of reality†. Jacobus further elaborates that Jung connects the archetypes to the analysis that explains the dream in terms of collective unconsciousness, which is shared by groups of people rather than created by the individual alone (Jacobus pg 489). Though Jung’s theories we deemed unacceptable in Freud’s eyes, his theories investigating the inner unconscious and conscious thoughts pertaining to inherited thoughts and symbolic archetypes, which revealed new ways of unraveling the inner workings of the complexity of the mind. My hands were shaking, lips quivering and my heart exploding. Everything seemed calm but my feelings enticed that something is terribly wrong. When the panic took hold, my heart rate picked up it’s pace. I could see my heart beating out of my chest so I wanted to believe that my eyes were deceiving me. Running on instinct I had no idea where I was going. All of a sudden right before my eyes a huge swirling hole of vast darkness appears. My body feels as if it is going limp, my breath is taking right out of my lungs, then suddenly I hear a scream. It was a horrifying scream, to make matters worse I see someone in the black hole. Nothing can me made out clearly, everything is so blurry. As my emotions run wild through my body, there is a known connection. It’s as if I can feel their pain and am thriving off of their emotions. I think to myself that I must save this person. I run to the black hole, but there is an invisible force that is preventing me from reaching them. The entirety of my soul goes numb as I coldly fall to the earth. Desperately gasping for air and an answer this person begins to disappear. I can feel everything that they are feeling. The feeling of being lost, the confusion of being hopeless and the madness that comes with anger. No matter how much effort was given, no matter how much I cared. There was nothing that could have been done. As my eyes opened, it was all a dream. Freud believed according to Jacobus that â€Å" The repression of important emotions, a constant process, often results in dreams that express repressed feelings in harmless and sometimes symbolic ways† (Jacobus 477). In Freud’s opinion he would probably insist that the person falling into the hole that I was desperately trying to help, is a symbolic emotion of having repressed guilty feelings. Insisting that I have a guilty conscious about something I have done or something or someone I have lost. Freud would also suggest that I have repressed sexual feelings for someone very close to me; even interpreting that the black hole is a symbol for guilty conscious or symbolizing my feelings of hopelessness, that I will never be able to have an intimate personal relationship with that mystery person. Lastly I feel that Freud could also interpret this dream as fulfilling a wish. Freud states â€Å"This worry can only make its way into the dream by availing itself of the corresponding wish; while the wish can disguise itself behind the worry that has become active during the day† (Freud 483). Meaning, maybe I wish that I could save that invisible person, or maybe I have repressed feelings because I never got to be openly honest with how I feel or how I want to feel with this individual. This dream correlates to many aspects that both Jung and Freud express in their studies. In Jung’s analysts he considers not only personal experiences as a factor to analyzing dreams, but information that we unconsciously know. In the hand out Traditional Archetypes it states â€Å"Carl Jung introduced a theory that humans have a collective unconscious, which means that there is a store of information that we as humans somehow hold. This collection of information includes archetypes or symbolic figures†. Interpreting my dream from Jung’s point of view, he would insist that this dream is unraveling a message, a bigger broader picture then someone just falling into a black hole. I feel that Jung would speculate that the person in the black hole could relate to the archetype of â€Å"The fatal women or temptress†. Prevailing, that this person in the black hole is holding me back, that this mystery person does not want to be saved, causing me to look like the weaker individual. Intentionally causing me pain and a guilty conscious. There are many archetypes that could be identified as the main character, the dreamer if you will. Jung could also interpret that I was the archetype of â€Å"the child† or â€Å"the victim† due to the feelings of helplessness and feelings of an emotional tragedy. The activation- synthesis methods would describe in my opinion the dreams of a younger child, or a person who may not be well connected with their dreams. In these methods, neutral brain activity triggers random visual memories that may or may not have relevance to one’s current situations. We can however get information about the dreamer from these methods due to the types of memories that are recalled. The reason I do not believe these methods are relevant to my dream is because this dream was very passionate. Although other dreams that I recorded did seem relevant to this theory, I believe that I chose this dream because it actually had some correlation to what is going on in my life. If I decided to analyze a more random simple dream that I had last week it could have been defined through the activation-synthesis method. The thread of dreams can be not only unraveled, but the thoughts and repressed emotions can be in disarray and difficult to properly express. Interpreting my dreams from the points of view of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and the activation- synthesis methods not only helped me reveal the inner emotions that have been hidden behind the wall of sorrow. It has given a sort of gratitude that made me look at dreams in a whole new optimistic attitude. I have concluded that Freud and Jung’s theories have given a relevant perception as to what my dream mean, and what it revealed about my inner feelings.