Why We Dream.
Nightly Visions Mean Your Brain's Cleaners are Working Hard. - 7 min read.
Would you say you’re a good dreamer?
If you answered yes, then I hope the image is not one of you in front of a mirror flicking your hair about like Fabio or Madame Kadivar because that’s not how I mean.
What I’m referring to is you, in bed of a night with the intent to slumber.
Perhaps as you drift off you keep jolting awake from restless arm and leg syndrome or your own noisy sudden jut-of-breath, poofing out through closed lips in a ‘Pfff’ sound.
Enough to make your eyes open and remind you of the evasion of sleep, for the umpteenth time.
We crave sleep if we haven’t had it, or not nearly enough of it.
We crave it to escape, to refresh, to quieten the central nervous system and to repair.
Without it we don’t function properly.
Think zombies shaking about.
- yeah, like that.
Sleep deprived people are indeed like the walking dead.
Have you ever walked dead before?
Then you know and so do those who were around you on the day.
Scary stuff.
Then there’s the long-time sleep addicts who can’t shake the craze no matter what they’ve tried with the insatiable necessity to get shut eye due to medications, depression, chronic fatigue, sensory overload, the list goes on.
And for such persons, they must seek the right professional help or keep dying already dead.
That’s exactly how it feels for them.
All you need to do is ask them about it or perhaps you already know because you suffer from it yourself.
Let’s take a peek at why not getting decent sleep, the kind with a healthy dose of dreaming, is so dangerous.
Deprivation.
A track history of sleep deficiency literally forces the body to run on cortisol.
This is a stress hormone that is released in response to perceived threats whenever and whatever these may be at the time.
It is meant to subside once the stressor has passed.
In the case of constant stress, instead of this, cortisol continues to produce and accumulate in a demonized snowball.
This is the part where you can add red eyes to the image it if you want.
The snowball of cortisol becomes so large over time that other bodily systems are smashed out the way and shattered as the ball ploughs through.
Horrific.
What Gets Punished.
Heart
Liver
Stomach
Thyroid
Kidneys
Pancreas
And if the infrastructure is compromised and the threat not contained, we have a pending total collapse.
It pays to recognize the signs of these organs starting to falter.
See below.
Each of these bullet areas can be requested for testing at your next general check-up with your G.P.
Cardiovascular Disease from:
-High blood pressure.
-High Cholesterol.
-Higher risk of heart attack or stroke.
Alzheimer’s Disease from:
-Permanent brain damage.
Suicidal Ideation from:
-Depressive Illness.
-Anxiety Disorders.
-Hallucinations.
-Delusions.
-Psychosis.
Metabolic Disorders from:
-High blood sugar levels / insulin regulation disruption.
-3 x the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Weight Gain & Obesity from:
-Increased hunger hormone - ghrelin.
-Reduced fullness hormone - leptin.
-50% higher risk of turning ‘Telly-Tubby’
Weakened Immunity from:
-Fewer infection fighting antibodies.
-3 x more likely to catch whatever cold or flu is lurking about.
Hormonal Imbalance from:
-Lower testosterone levels / estrogen.
-Reduced thyroid function.
The above list is not provided to tell you what you already know if these are issues you’ve been struggling with.
I share it to shed extra light on what could very well be the root cause, IF, sleep deprivation has not been taken into account when you’ve seen your doctor before.
But there is something to keep in mind if you find this helpful and before you visit your doctor:
The all-too-common thing is people heading off to see their treating specialists for what’s on the list and these issues in themselves treated as though they are the core issues to your lack of sleep.
They’re not.
They are symptoms, or off shoots of the main hum-drum.
That’s why when somebody ever has a serious long-term issue with sleep, they often forget to mention it, because though it is a problem, sufferers also have gotten to point sometimes of being just to fatigued to keep stressing over the lack of sleep to begin with, there are no answers so they learn to live with it and function as best they can on the little fuel their engines have.
Then, when another serious medical issue pops up like diabetes let’s say, then it’s treated as though the diabetes is the main problem to why you would have disrupted sleep.
What’s maybe overlooked are the years of lead-up involving a diet heavily concentrated in high fats and sugars in an attempt to help with low energy
- the brains cravings for stimulation to help it function from a fatigued state -
when if some research could be undertaken to the earliest point of sleep deprivation in the person’s life, a different pattern might emerge with areas that required attention ignored during those plateauing years, and bodily functions that became sluggish at that time.
So, while true, that diseases associated with long-term lack of sleep in themselves actively contribute to the issue, they often have not been the singular cause to begin with in all cases.
But here’s where it’s challenging.
Realizing this after these health issues have set in is too late a preventative call.
Now we must move on to body maintenance while learning to live with these symptoms, and that realization can feel daunting because nobody told you sooner or you didn’t know what was going on early enough to seek a medical consultation over it.
That’s why getting onto any small inkling that something doesn’t feel quite right in your body asap is the cue to always make a call to your G.P.
Don’t wait.
You can now try to improve your sleep by doing everything necessary but if high cholesterol or hormonal imbalance is already a pressing challenge and has been for a long time, then yes, these areas will be treated first to try to get them into a more manageable place.
But just manageable is not enough if you value your time on this earth, is it?
You want your diabetes or your obesity to disappear.
That’s why a huge overhaul is required involving more then exercise and medications applied like band-aids to manage a wound.
Having said this, those who for many years are morbidly obese or have a dangerous diabetes type, or anything else deemed life threatening - to have the illness completely disappear is unlikely at very late stages, but an improved quality of life can be attained by following medical directives on what medications, exercises etc. would be beneficial.
The root cause must be addressed.
If you are however still in the early awareness of your ailments then alternate forms of healthcare and treatments hold high appeal to many, but what you choose will ultimately be your own choice and if any natural medicines will be involved, it is always important to find out if these can safely be taken with whatever synthetic medications you are already on so always run these past your treating doctor.
How Do I know All This?
Some years ago, I worked with a Naturopath, Chiropractor and Iridologist.
Additionally, conversations over the years with our on-board Reiki practitioner proved insightful.
Leading up to this my family history is one of natural medicine and kinesiology, opera singing, music and the arts.
But I am also a student of philosophy, psychology and a life-long writer and author.
My interests in becoming a practitioner for natural healing however - though I did learn kinesiology and was able to help others by it - was never passion-driven like writing is - so I have been birthed an all sort-special, providing a different form of giving to others.
My direct advice to you, hence, is to always seek any medical help from your own treating specialist or local doctor.
Any suggestions to help you form a list for possible discussion with these medical professionals is all it is. A suggestion, and I do not claim to in any way be an accredited healer or advisor.
If you are able to seek the correct help from a better-informed place from reading thought-provoking material like this, then that’s great because it means I’ve reached my goal in being able to write and help you by way of it. *
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Why Do We Dream?
Scientists believe that by way of the brain dreaming, memories and emotional processing are consolidated.
This work takes place during REM or ‘Rapid Eye Movement’
During this stage of sleep our incredible brain literally goes into simulation mode, not unlike what A.I does to entertain us during our waking hours, for those signed up to personal digital companion bots.
Inside these brain simulations are real life scenarios, some that actually happened or those that are either amusingly or nightmarishly tweaked.
The way the dream manifests rather then what it actually contains, is how our brain is working at self-regulation and learning.
When we wake, we may recall the images that provoke various emotions for us. What we don’t see is the mechanics behind those images.
For instance:
You are left wondering why were you suddenly flying when the collision on the road happened in your dream?
You awoke feeling horror, sadness and panic because of what you saw.
But your brain not only attempted to address the stress factor, it told you something else.
‘You will or have been able to rise above the stress.’
So, when we dream it’s like having the night-shift workers clock in to clean.
Things are put back in place, rubbish thrown out and results are recognized, either right away or through repeated references to what will be as we heal or clean an area.
Of course, not all dreams feel negative afterwards and I emphasize feel, because the reality can be far different to what you perceive it as.
The negative feeling can be likened to when we undergo a liver cleanse.
We don’t feel like jumping for joy when the cleanse starts to kick in.
We feel ill or flat.
Such are the emotions after some dreams.
Because of the repair work; the cleanse.
The positive feeling after some dreams on the other hand, references progressive healing and transformation.
We dream because it helps regulate who we are.
Areas of Note:
When we are dreaming the following is underway.
Transference of memories from short-term to long-term.
Connection of the now with our past to help route the way for an improved future.
Processing emotions by revisiting challenging experiences in a safe, simulated environment.
Clearance of irrelevant clutter.
Fostering creativity through cognitive function and problem solving.
And This:
REM sleep is when our most vivid dreams evolve but they can also occur during other sleep stages too.
The thing with the REM stage is that our brain activity during it is nearly as much as when we are awake!
And very active dreamers can engage in sleepwalking.
Think gaming headset with active simulation in motion - waking hour dreams.
Clearly the proof was in the pudding for the designers behind such contraptions.
A ‘let’s watch the crash and fall’ in real time and put dreaming into reverse.
Oh crap.
John just broke a leg on the coffee table and now he’s left questioning when he gets to wake up.
For crying out loud.
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Third Wheel Phenomenon - (part one)
We all dream, but not every dream is a $4 million seaside residence with a balcony.
Disclaimer:
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The author in no way supposes to be in a position to diagnose and treat medical ailments. Information in this article is intended as friendly advice only, not medical direction. Engaging with this article is done so with the acknowledgement that simple ideas herein may assist some people with understanding what could be going on for them and make it easier to know what to ask doctors about. What directions an actual doctor provides individuals should always be followed and persons will be liable for their own decisions.
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No part of this article or articles will in any way be copied, repurposed, sold or plagiarized in any form without express permission by the author.