Open letter of complaint to my brain. About dreams.

[UTUSN]

Dear My Brain:

What's up with the scary or just annoying dreams you've authorized for years? Sometimes just plain scary, but most of the time anxiety-making. After all, the theory is that dreams are supposed to stave off the waking up process, by keeping one entertained to keep on sleeping. It seems to defeat the purpose to IRRITATE one with annoying themes, like, who wants to keep sleeping just to keep on being annoyed?

Used to be, in the first third of life, I took them seriously and could be psyched out or uplifted, depending on content. Then I bought the theory that they were all just the result of digestion. But in recent years I've just decided that they're just meaningless dreams, no matter what the content, and very often included telling myself while they're happening that they are nothing and will soon be over.

It's amazing that 40 or 50 years later I can still be terrorized by the theme of a threatening deadline for a term paper or anxious about a file of folders that MUST be in a certain order and there is some insurmountable obstacle to putting them there.

How about just cutting it out. Much appreciated.

[MADem]

1. Ha ha! Dreams are sometimes nutty in the light of day.

I like the ones where you're in one location, and you cross a yard or go into another room, and suddenly you're in a completely different location, but no one bats an eye.

[lunatica]

2. I agree totally!

It's not bad enough to work in a damn cubicle and have my work summed up in metrics during the day, but to dream about work, which everyone knows is about not being able to do it or being obstructed or in trouble or falling behind, or not finding the one thing you need or running out of time! The brain just piles the anxiety on top of the anxiety.

[UTUSN]

3. Time for something sweet-and-salty, like chips & jam or honey cereal & salty mixed nuts!1

We seem to agree on a lot of things!1

[lunatica]

4. Mmmm!

I love sweet and salty!

[progressoid]

5. I used to kind of enjoy my weird dreams.

And some of them are REALLY weird. But lately they have been mostly troubling and distracting. When I was a kid I had wild nightmares and often walked in my sleep. Sleeping was a chore.

I just read that sleeping on your right side might help.

http://www.sciencealert.com/your-sleeping-position-can-affect-what-you-dream-about-more-than-you-think

The researchers found that the left side group were far more likely to have nightmares. They report that 40.9 percent of the volunteers reported having disturbing dreams, compared with just 14.6 percent of those who slept on their right-hand side. The right side group were more likely to remember dreams involving feelings of relief or safety, but they also reported lower quality sleep overall.

While the study had its limitations - a small sample size and self-reported results - it does indicate that there could be a difference in dreaming depending on how we're lying in bed.

"Our preliminary observations indicate that dreaming and sleep quality are associated with underlying brain functions and may be affected by body posture," concluded the researchers. "Future research also needs to show how individuals who are skilful in controlling their dreams by hypnotic manipulations or lucid dreaming change their dream process by intentionally changing their posture."

Then there's the 2012 study carried out by researchers from Hong Shue Yan University in Hong Kong. They looked at the habits and sleeping positions of 670 adults and found that those who slept face down had the most vivid dreams: ones involving UFO sightings, love affairs, being locked up, being unable to breathe, or having a sexual relationship with someone famous.