Sigmund Freud's Interpretation Of Dreams

Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation Of Dreams The purpose of the present paper is to discuss one of Sigmund Freud's books, namely "The interpretation of dreams." In order to better understand the importance of the book, it must be underlined right from the very beginning that Freud was the first person to turn the area of dreams into a scientific one.

While some must have considered such a practice strange at the beginning, the theories issued by Freud soon became famous all over the world and other people used began using them as a basis for further researches. Since the human organism is very well organized and nothing within it happens without a reason, Freud asked himself what was the meaning of dreams.

Why did people dream at all? What was the frequency of the dreams? Why do we dream some things and not others? Do dreams have something to say about our unconscious desires or are they a mere reflection of our facts? Can dreams help us get to know ourselves better? Can dreams help us cure our psychological problems? These were some of the questions which Sigmund Freud came up with and which he tried to answer in the book which represents the focus of the present analysis.

But how did Freud get to be interested in this specific inssue? In the session in which he listened to his patients, he often came across people who would tell him their dreams, even if he did not make a request in this direction. This made him realize that potential importance of dreams. He declared that the interpretation of dreams could be used as a tool in the processes of psychoanalysis, together with practices of hypnosis ad free association.

While this may have seemed unusual at the end of the nineteenth century, the practice has become common in the meantime. The thesis that Freud proved to demonstrate through his analysis of dreams was that dreams represent key factor in understanding what happens in the subconscious. It must be also be mentioned that his analysis of dreams was not limited to the cases of the people who suffered from mental problems, but included cases of healthy people, as well.

The implication was to be found in the general area of psychotherapy. In other words, Freud was starting to change the methods. Dreams occur when we sleep. In order to understand them, we must first analyze the characteristics of the state of sleep. According to Freud, we fall asleep when our body becomes too tired to respond to the surrounding stimuli. At a psychical level, we may speak about the absence of contact with reality and also with the absence of interest in whatever may be going on around us.

The consequence of or lack of interest is the fact that the input from the external world is reduced to a minimum level. However, there are still stimuli which continue to act upon the human organism during sleep. However, its reaction to them will not be a conscious one, but an unconscious one. In other words, Freud suggests that dreams are a manner in which we respond to external stimuli while being in a state of sleep.

A further theory which he brought about referred to the symbolic meaning of dreams. Therefore, there is more to dreams than the reaction to what happens to our body during sleep. In order to understand what a dream's meaning is, we ought to interpret it. But which criteria should we use in order to perform a proper interpretation? Freud claimed that there such a thing called "latent content" and that this was responsible for the visual- manifest content of dreams.

The manifest factors were considered to be symbols, each having specific meaning. The sexual dimension was a key factor in his interpretation of dreams, as most symbols encountered during sleep were of this nature. For example, he state that the number three is a symbol of the sexual organs belonging to the man. In addition, all the objects which resembled it (mountains, rocks, anything that can be taken for a phallus) had the same meaning.

The objects which can be used in order to harm the body through penetration fell in the same category (swords, knives, guns). The symbolic phallus could also be found in the objects associated with running water, such as the pipes or the fountains. The list does not stop here, but includes many other elements which may have lighter connections with the phallic representation. The female sexual organs also had a very important place among the visual symbols encountered in dreams.

The objects associated with them were usually the ones which can contain things, such as the cave, the bottles, the boxes, the ships or the closets. The same was valid for passages, entrances, churches or fortresses. A further association was made between female genitalia and materials such as wood or paper and all the objects made of them. Masturbation was an important element in Freud's interpretations. He associated all kinds of play with it (even play of instruments).

The masturbation complex was associated with the image of fallen or falling teeth, which was supposed to represent the punishment of the act. Sexual relations on the other hand were represented by all the activities which involved some kind of rhythm, such as dancing or riding, running, going up and down the stairs, etc. Now that humanity provided with a minimum key for the interpretation of dreams, the work in this direction could very well start. Nevertheless, Freud underlined the importance of always contextualizing this process.

It is true that symbols have an universal value. However, in the case of people who suffer from various mental disturbances, they become even more relevant under the circumstances in which we know that person's past. Reading between the lines we understand that the universal symbols may have a specific meaning for persons which have undergone certain experiences. Free association is another key element which will help the psychotherapist realize what is wrong with the patient.

As far as Freud was concerned, a therapeutic session had the patient tell his dream in detail (as much as he could remember) and afterward the therapist would ask him to make free association based on various elements of / in the dream. Free association is an important practice as it occurs under the form of spontaneous thoughts and feelings. This spontaneity is believed to be connected with parts of the person which he or she is unaware of, that is parts which can be found in the subconscious.

Just like Freud underlines it, it is very important to convince the patients that he must in no way censor himself in the process of making free associations. We realize that through this type of rule, a special relation is created between the patient and the therapist who interprets his dreams.

Freud declared that between the patient and him there must be an unbreakable pact, namely that one will "not leave out any idea when telling dreams, even if he or she gets one of the four objections: the idea is irrelevant, too senseless, it is not connected with the issue or it is too embarrassing"(Freud, 1977). It is clear to see that a new type of relationship is established between the patient and the therapist. New coordinates, such as mutual trust are introduced and given a great deal of importance.

There are a few aspects which must be considered when trying to explain the importance of Freud's theory regarding the interpretation of dreams. One of the psychotherapist's theories- which succeeded to change the way in which people approached the process of self knowledge and self understanding- is represented by the one in which he explains that we are not masters of our own mind. According to him, there are numerous elements which live within us and which determine our values and actions- although we are not aware of their existence.

These elements are believed to be found in the subconscious, an area of the consciousness that people have greater difficulty accessing. Despite these elements being somewhat "hidden," their intensity and force is overwhelming. Freud seems to suggest that they are actually stronger than the conscious ones in determining our actions. The area of the subconscious remains hidden and difficult to access for means of self-discovery. Yet, these hidden characteristics of the human psyche reveal themselves through the means of dreams.

They are often related with the repressed desires, or with traumas which we have underwent in the past. Freud argued that they are mostly connected with the sexual desires- hence all the symbols associated with sex. A further interesting suggestion which he makes is that nightmares are just the manifestation of the anxieties that people have -- related to their sexual desires and impulses. One of the critiques which could be brought to Freud's theory of the subconscious refers to the fact that it can not be known.

According to him, this are is and remains "dark," as in inaccessible to direct human knowledge. As a consequence many have thought that the subconscious is some sort of "mystic" area where all the secrets are hidden. These secret parts have also been considered to have negative connotations. Research done in the area after Freud suggests that the subconscious remains "hidden" not because this is its final and fundamental characteristic, but because the individual does not go through with a powerful process of introspection.

The mysteries which are hidden in the subconscious remain hidden until the person decides to take a good look inside him, analyze himself and face his fears. A further critique that can be brought to Freud's theory regarding the interpretation of dreams refers to the powerful sexual dimension which he gives to the symbols in dreams. While the theory is very interesting and many associations can be demonstrated, such is not the case with all of them.

Numerous voices have wondered to what extent can all the symbols in dreams be associated with sexuality? How can this be demonstrated beyond any doubt? If both people with mental problems and without have their dreams exhibit the same variety of symbols, does this mean hat to a certain extent all the people have issues with their sexuality? Freud explains how tings or events may mark the individual- even without him being aware of them.

The fact that they had a relevant impact upon the person can be demonstrated by their appearance in dreams. However, the author does not explain the mechanisms through which the associations are made. Are they made in an arbitrary mode? Do we dream all the things/events which mark us in a conscious and unconscious manner? And if not, why is it that we dream only some and the others not? Looking at Freud's work, it is clear that he left many unanswered questions.

"The interpretation of dreams" however is very well structured. In the first part the author is concerned with explaining the relevance of such a theme, namely the relation which exists between dreams and "real" life.

Do dreams impact life in a state of consciousness? What is the role of dreams? Do we always dream, regardless of the fact if we remember the dreams or not? Do we always remember the last dream we had before waking up? Does the time duration perceived in dreams correspond to their real duration? These are some of the question which Freud tries to answers in order to make the discussion easier.

In the following chapters he explains what dreams are made of (things which are stored in our memory) and what are the stimuli which cause them. Here he mentions external sensory stimuli and internal stimuli. The internal ones are divided into subjective and organic. The subjective ones may refer to emotions, while the organic ones refer to the changes which occur inside the body. Psychical sources are also brought into discussion. Freud also attempts to explain why people generally forget what they dreamed of immediately after waking up.

He makes a list of all the characteristics which he considers to be important for the dream as a phenomenon. A further issue which he discusses is represented by the sense of morality which can be found in dreams. Last, but not lest he explains why the analysis and interpretation of dreams are important for the cure of mental diseases.

After explaining the method of dream interpretation, Freud gives some concrete examples, showing what is the significance of dreams which many people are known to have, such as "embarrassing dreams of being naked, dreams of the death of persons of whom the dreamer is fond of and other typical dreams." The fact that the interpretation is accessible to everyone implies that everyone, after having read Freud's work is able to perform such an analysis.

At this point it can be stated that Freud provided people with an extra tool for introspection. While the psychotherapist remains the one who can help people solve their mental issues, having an interpretation key for dreams is a means of helping someone realize whether they have issues they are unaware of or not. Chapter six of the book deals with other interesting issues. Among them we can mention concepts such as the work of condensation, the work of displacement, representation and representability.

Freud addresses both the intellectual activity and the affects in dreams, how they are manifested and how they interact.

The last chapter on the other hand deals with "the psychology of the dream processes," namely "the forgetting of dreams, regression, wish-fulfillment, arousal by dreams- the function of dreams- anxiety dreams, the primary and secondary processes- repression, the unconscious and consciousness- reality." It is safe to say that the material in the book is well organized, allowing the reader to start from the simplest information in order to get to superior levels of comprehension.

The book is interesting for both the ones who are specialized in the area of psychotherapy and those who are not. The language is quite accessible and the book is full of examples and this facilitates the comprehension. One of the central themes of the book is wish fulfillment. Freud states that in our dreams we have visions of our wishes being accomplished.

At this point, it is safe to wonder whether the desires which we have not fulfilled yet (whether sexual or not) are the main factor which cause us to dream. The answer that Freud provides is negative. He argues that if such were the case, the interpretation of dreams would be quite simple. In reality, the desire suggests that the dream occurs in order to communicate something. However, the dream can be interpreted as an attempt to make the wish come true.