Technically speaking, we all dream. It's just a matter of remembering it and forgetting about it - the latter being the more healthy pattern - that we consider when we actually say we dreamt or we had a dreamless sleep.
Dreams are actually a series of images that flash in our mind when we enter the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage of sleep. These normally occur 4 to 5 times every night and are short periods. Whatever interpretation our mind makes on the images that we actually remember when we wake up are the dream stories that we have. These are personal interpretations, which is also the reason why dream interpretations can also only be made by the individuals who dreamt them.
According to Freud the mind is divided into three layers: the id, the super-ego, and the ego. The id is where our most primitive instincts lie. The super-ego is our "moral-principle". The ego, in turn, is what balances the id and the super-ego for us to function well in society.
For example, you're in a class and suddenly realized you're thirsty. Id says, "Go drink now." Super-ego says, "Don't go, you're not supposed to leave class, it's the rule." Ego balances things out and this is what you actually remember thinking: "I'm thirsty but I'm still in class and it's impolite to leave, besides, I might miss a few things if I go, I'll go and drink from the fountain on my way to the next class."
When we sleep, the ego stops working. The id then tries to fulfill itself - especially of the things that it missed from the day or from recent events. The superego still tries to guard the rest of the mind from the id. In the end, when we wake up, the ego misinterprets the images from the id due to the superego's censorship.
Technically speaking, we all dream in our sleep - it's the REM (rapid eye movement) state in our sleep that occurs around a couple of hours within our sleep. It's actually a cycle, we get into that zone, leave it then enter back.
I usually have "dreamless" sleeps (which actually means that I rarely remember my dreams). I do however have a more freakish and annoying problem: I'm jolted from my sleep almost every single night between 2:00am and 3:30am. It's not the normal waking up when you slowly become conscious of yourself. It's the kind that shocks your consciousness into sudden awareness of being awake, then wondering why you're paralyzed and realizing that your body hasn't fully woken itself. After that split second of confusion, the body wakes up and demands to move while the mind realizes that it SHOULD be asleep so the brain tries to shut down but the body become restless. There's no other solution but to actually get up then lie back down.
If that's not freakish enough, our old helper used to tell me that 2am is when ghosts loiter, more than they do at midnight. I also heard from the movie The Exorcist (I try so hard to avoid horror/scary films because I get nightmares but I somehow still see these things when I flip channels) that 3am is the Devil's hour. It's Satan mocking Christ's hour of death, 3pm.
Now the geek in me is demanding an explanation. Is this some kind of messed up biological clock?
There are usually 5 stages in a sleep (1,2,3,4 then REM) and each stage usually takes 20minutes. That means that if I sleep at 10PM
10:20 Stage1
10:40 Stage2
11:00 Stage3
11:20 Stage4
11:40 REM (1)
12:00 Stage1
12:20 Stage2
12:40 Stage3
01:00 Stage4
01:20 REM (2)
01:40 Stage1
02:00 Stage2
02:20 Stage3
02:40 Stage4
03:00 REM (3)
If I fall asleep between 10 and 10:30PM then I'm sometime in Stage4, entering REM stage by 3am.
In stage 4, the brain produces delta waves almost exclusively. Stages 3 and 4 are referred to as deep sleep, and it is very difficult to wake someone from them. In deep sleep, there is no eye movement or muscle activity. This is when some children experience bedwetting, sleepwalking or night terrors.Does it mean I'm consciously sleep walking at 3am?In the REM period, breathing becomes more rapid, irregular and shallow, eyes jerk rapidly and limb muscles are temporarily paralyzed. Brain waves during this stage increase to levels experienced when a person is awake. Also, heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, males develop erections and the body loses some of the ability to regulate its temperature. This is the time when most dreams occur, and, if awoken during REM sleep, a person can remember the dreams. Most people experience three to five intervals of REM sleep each night.
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