What Causes Dreams

The source of most dream messages is your unconscious as it dips into your storehouse of experience. There can be many different meanings of dreams. Freud spoke of "day residue" as the starting point of the dreams and as what causes dreams.

A recent event during the day sets up a lingering tension that surfaces at the onset of a dreaming period, and acts as a shaping influence on the content to be developed.

Modern dreams pioneer Montague Ullman, M.D. who wrote many modern books on dreams,  made Freud’s concept of day residue the basis of his theories on what causes dreams. He explains that as we fall asleep, we close off our input channels, which are the sensory stimuli coming from the outside. This allows the at-rest sleeping mind to deal with the previous day’s residue.

Author and dreams expert Stase Michaels, creator or Interpretadream.com, picks up the ball with a detailed explanation of what happens to the day’s residue. During the day, she explains, we are too busy to process all the new information that requires our attention and decisions. To compensate, the mind uses an automatic, built-in tool of the psyche, akin to brain software. At night, an automatic review and filing system kicks in, carried out by the psyche. The psyche first sorts the previous day's new input and compares it to what is already stored in the dreamer’s memory bank. The day's agenda that is fully completed is filed away. What still needs attention is analyzed some more.

When this automatic nightly review by the psyche is over, it sends a "mini report" about on-going issues. This mini report, based on day residue, is both the origin the definition and of a dream. In effect, a dream is a nightly summary report based on a thorough review and analysis of the day's input, giving you feedback about specific issues that still need attention. The report generally includes suggestions on how to handle issues and it may throw in related solutions to problems that may have been automatically generated by the unconscious. Explore more on what causes dreams topic at Interpretadream.com, the Definition of a Dream.

Additionial Information:

Dream Meaning is Based on Day Residue

Day residue is closely connected to dream meaning. As you fall asleep, the concerns of the day as feelings and thoughts about people, circumstances, and decisions, run through your mind. This pre-sleep content is the day’s residue and acts like a ball that keeps on rolling down a hill as you sleep. What is on your mind as you fall asleep (day residue) is what your unconscious psyche processes as you sleep, and what comes back around again in the morning as you awake.

But there is a difference in what returns to you as you awake. The summary report, communicated as a dream, contains new information with solutions and insights, if you are paying attention to the dream meaning content. Check out the dream tools for interpretation techniques and courses on Interpretadream.com. 

Why Care About Dream Meanings

At Interpretadream.com, we believe that the meaning of dreams is extremely important. If you are here, you likely do not know yet easily know the meaning of your dreams, and you may wonder why you should care about dream meaning at all. What you don't realize, however, is that dreams can make a large and practical difference in your life.

At Interpretadream.com, we believe that the unconscious performs several functions like storing memories, carrying out coping techniques, and blocking painful emotions. We believe that the unconscious is a natural problem-solving partner with access to all past thoughts and experiences which, when mobilized, can better equip you to handle the problems of daily life.

Whether you are interested in what causes dreams or their practical implications in your own life, take advantage of the resources at Interpretadream.com. Our website, founded by author and dreams expert, Stase Michaels, offers DIY tools, courses, and corporate seminars to help unlock innovations and problem solving techniques employed by your unconscious. Browse Interpretadream.com and sign up today.