Dreams are More than Dreams

A dream is not simply a mental image. It is fully physiological as well. The dream process creates full PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, VISUAL, SENSORY, SEXUAL, experience. It IS NOT simply a mental visionary thing. The whole brain sends out impulses to the body to move, to feel, to experience. One may take this for granted while it happens in sleep. This may be because one might think of dreams as a fantasy or mental image. They are not. They link with full physical process and sensation.

For instance, when we dream our body is paralysed – see Sleep paralysis

Also dreams are a way of balancing the physiological and psychological activities in us. When a person is deprived of dreaming in experiments, a breakdown in mind and body quickly occurs. This type of dreaming can often be a safety valve releasing tension and emotion not dealt with in waking life. See: compensation theory; self-regulation dreams and fantasy; science and dreams.