The Waking and Dreaming of Emotions

Our latest article by guest author <strong>Charon Wong</strong> explores the continuity between waking and dream emotions and the role of dreams as an emotional regulatory mechanism.

Why do We Dream?

Dreams are defined as “physiologically and psychologically conscious states that occur during sleep and are often characterized by a rich array of endogenous sensory, motor, emotional, and other experiences [1]”. Some of us dream more than the others. Some even remember their dreams with greater intensity and vividness while others forget them the moment they wake. Can you remember your most recent dream? If so, what was it about? Commonly reported themes of dreams include, falling from great heights, running late to an important date, meeting celebrities and being chased by terrifying creatures. British psychologist and computer scientist Christopher Riche Evans theorized that dreams are merely dumpsites for daily sensory caches and memory wastes [2], where symbols and elements are combined into some subconscious, transient, and ephemeral cognitive stew. Perhaps inspired by the works of Picasso and Dali, the emotions you feel in your dreams might be surprisingly related to your emotions during your waking hours.

The Symbolism of Dreams in Media and Literature

The function of dreams in media and literature might be quite apparent to those who are familiar with Freudian symbolism of dreams – without, of course, reflect a heavy emphasis on the sexual themes [3]. The depiction of dreams in mind-bending movies like Inception (2010), Paprika (2006), and Mulholland Drive (2001) is a kaleidoscopic-like manifestation of the subconscious, laced with existential and philosophical terrors. Dreams also appear to be a recurring theme in famous works of myth, folklore, and fiction (e.g. The Metamorphosis, The Iliad, Harry Potter, and the Order of the Phoenix), where they frequently emerge as an important instrument to narrate characters’ hidden desires and feelings. In these stories, dreams foreshadow significant events, adding an element of tension and suspense to the tale. Despite the differences in plots and settings, one thing that the portrayal of dream across fiction and media have in common is the emphasis on its uncanny blurring distinction with reality. But does this also occur in real-life situations?

Freud was Right: The Continuity between Dream and Waking-life Emotions

The emotions we feel in waking moments seem to crossover to our dreams. While modern neurological studies focus on how dreams are associated with cognition-related benefits such as memory consolidation, enhanced creativity, and problem-solving skills [4] [5], its pivotal role in reflecting emotional states and needs as suggested by Sigmund Freud has garnered research support as well. A recent study showed that dream imagery is influenced by and guided by emotions [6]. In another study, waking events from the past two weeks were matched with dream elements. The findings showed that emotions were present as an often-reported feature (52%) in dreams. Specifically, emotions were ranked second only to themes (53%), typically including references to subjects that are universally or typically dreamt, such as falling or flying [7]. Both negative and positive emotions are thus frequently experienced in dreams, with experiences of fear appearing with greater frequency and intensity than other emotions [8]. More specifically, waking-life emotions have been found to directly affect the emotional quality of our dreams [9]. For instance, the feelings of sadness and humiliation felt over an unrequited love may manifest themselves into dream elements consisting of soupy, grey trails that represent melancholia and shame. Similarly, dreams of falling are likely to be reflections of how hopeless and powerless the dreamer feels in real life.

Dreams, Emotional Suppression and Regulation

Our waking-life emotions and dream emotions mutually influence each other. The emotions we experience in dreams sometimes carry over to waking-life, which could in turn, negatively affect us [9]. For example, you might feel even more stressed about upcoming examinations after dreaming about anxiously trying to find a pen that works among a pile of hundreds that do not. As such, dreams are possibly our subconscious attempts at regulating our emotions: primarily predominant emotions experienced during the past few days, or emotions that were not consciously attended to during our waking moments. This offline-processing functioning of dreams has been linked to adaptive benefits. Dreaming allows us to process prior-wake emotions, which helps us to deal with unresolved emotions, reduce unpleasant emotions associated with waking-life events, and optimize affective reactions to future waking-life events through rehearsals and simulations [8]. Since negative emotions are more significantly manifested in dreams, this regulatory function of dreams explains why high thought-suppressors often dream about their negative emotions during their waking-life [10]. Waking-life emotions may even translate into plots and elements in your dream. Living out how one actually feels through such dreams may have cathartic effects. This gives us pause – to reconsider whether seemingly sound advice like, “never go to sleep angry” is actually beneficial to us. Instead, you might want to consider “sleeping on” a fight next time — this may assist in processing your emotions through dreaming, and generate ways to respond to the conflict upon awakening.

Tell Me More About your Dreams: Disclosing One’s Dreams Enhances Empathy and Builds Connections

All in all, we might want to re-examine how dreams influence our emotions and self-awareness. Since the emotions in our dreams and waking moments are closely related, paying close attention to dream elements and comparing them with waking-life events and emotional experiences might be beneficial. Keeping a daily record of your dreams might help you to gain better insights into the fluctuations of your emotional states; the emotions you are unconsciously suppressing might present themselves as important revelations about your life.

Dreams may even be something that should be shared. And not because there is a superstitious notion that telling someone about your nightmares could prevent them from happening in real life. The social functioning of dreams is not limited to rehearsing social episodes and to the offline-processing of emotions. Discussions of dreams can lead to insights of oneself and reveal the veiled parts of a person’s character [11]. Aside from the obvious benefits that self-disclosure from dream-sharing can offer, it seems that the personal, fiction quality of dream narrative makes sharing dreams an intimate socializing activity; the discussion of our dreams can elicit feelings of empathy for both the dream-sharers and the listeners [12]. At least one study has shown that the sharing of such dreams can facilitate empathy, enhancing trust in both established and newly-formed relationships [13]. So, if you want to get closer to someone or know them better, ditch the cliched ‘small talk’ topics. Horoscopes and career aspirations are out; dreams are in. Sharing dreams might be a better way to a memorable conversation that builds rapport with another.

Reference:

[1] APA Dictionary of Psychology. (n.d.). Dream. https://dictionary.apa.org/dream

[2] Evans, C. R. (2008). Landscapes of the night: Why and how we dream. Viking Press.

[3] Freud, S. (1900). “The interpretation of dreams,” in the standard edition of the complete works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 4, 5, ed J. Strachey. London: Hogarth Press.

[4] Walker, M. P., Liston, C., Hobson, J. A., & Stickgold, R. (2002). Cognitive flexibility across the sleep–wake cycle: REM-sleep enhancement of anagram problem solving. Cognitive Brain Research, 14(3), 317–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0926-6410(02)00134-9

[5] Scarpelli, S., Bartolacci, C., D’Atri, A., Gorgoni, M., & De Gennaro, L. (2019). The functional role of dreaming in emotional processes. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00459

[6] Serpe, A., & DeCicco, T. (2020). An investigation into anxiety and depression in dream imagery: The issue of co-morbidity. International Journal of Dream Research, 13(1), 82-89. https://doi.org/10.11588/ijodr.2020.1.68130

[7] Fosse, M. J., Fosse, R., Hobson, J. A., and Stickgold, R. J. (2003). Dreaming and episodic memory: a functional dissociation? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 15, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892903321107774

[8] Conte, F., Cellini, N., De Rosa, O., Caputo, A., Malloggi, S., Coppola, A., … Ficca, G. (2020). Relationships between dream and previous wake emotions assessed through the Italian modified differential emotions scale. Brain Sciences, 10(10), 690. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10100690

[9] Schredl, M., & Reinhard, I. (2010). The continuity between waking mood and dream emotions: direct and second-order effects. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 29(3), 271–282. https://doi.org/10.2190/ic.29.3.f

[10] Malinowski, J. (2017). High thought suppressors dream more of their negative waking-life experiences than low thought suppressors. Dreaming, 27(4), 269–277. https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000061

[11] Blagrove, M., Edwards, C., van Rijn, E., Alex Reid, A., Malinowski, J., Bennett, P., et al. (2019). Insight from the consideration of REM dreams, non-REM dreams and daydreams. Psychology of Consciousness, 6, 138–162. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000167

[12] Blagrove, M., Hale, S., Lockheart, J., Carr, M., Jones, A., & Valli, K. (2019). Testing the empathy theory of dreaming: The relationships between dream sharing and trait and state empathy. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01351

[13] Ijams, K., and Miller, L. D. (2000). Perceptions of dream-disclosure: An exploratory study. Communication Studies, 51, 135–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510970009388514

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