What does it mean if you very rarely have dreams?

[TheHand]

Does it have something to do with your state of mind? With your environment? Just curious.

[AndyThorley]

It means that you cannot recall the dreams you had.

When you're asleep, you have several dreams...they seem longer than they are, because of the brain processes involved.

Some people have found that if they sleep in certain places, positions, clothes...they can influence their nighttime behaviour, be it having more vivid dreams, having nightmares, remembering their dreams and so on. Some people have found that simply eating something before they go to bed helps them remember their dreams.

So no, if you believe that you don't dream, you simply don't remember dreaming.

That's the generally accepted view, anyway.

[chico del nacho]

if you have never had a dream, it means you're insane. i'm not just sayign that either.

psychopaths don't have dreams. their brains aren't wired that way.

[TheHand]

I never said that I didn't believe in dreams, just that I don't have them often. (maybe once every 1-4 months.) I sometimes cannot remember dreams, but if I have had one, I know I've had one come the morning.

Does that make me partially crazy?

hehehe

btw, dreams are partially influenced by the environment, right? so people finding that out (andy) is not surpurising.

Edited May 12, 2004 by TheHand

[Seraphina]

You do certainly have dreams...you just don't recall them. Humans are required to reach REM sleep in order for their brains to function properly. If you fail to reach REM sleep (i.e. the level of sleep in which dreams occur) you would experience hallucination, paranioa, feel out of touch with reality...in general, not a very good thing.

As dreams are simply the brain's method of processing events of the day, they're not commited to memory...you might have a vague memory of one now and then, but for the most part they go straight to the junk mail folder, and are thrown out

But trust me, you are having them, no need to worry.

[Seraphina]

hmm...I'm not sure...although it certainly is true that failure to reach REM sleep would probably turn you insane after a few weeks.

Psycopaths brains are wired very differently from a normal person's though...for example, they're incapable of reading a person's emotions from their facial expression (can't tell if a person's smiling or angry, laughing or crying) for example, so it wouldn't be a huge extrapolation to assume what Chico said is also true.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and assume he's read up on it

[chico del nacho]

oh, i've done my readings. like ya say seraphina, psychopaths can't truly register emotions. i heard this great example of how a psychopath would act in a psychology class i was in.

there's a terrible accident in the downtown of a city. people are running around, scared, worried, mad, the whole gamut of emotions that'd spring up in this situation. except for one woman. she watches all this, goes home, goes to the mirror and practices making the expressions of the people she saw.

creepy, eh?

psychopaths don't really have much, if any, imagination and have an incredibly difficult time understanding emotions. they see power as something everybody wants, so they must have it too. usually at any cost, short of getting themselves arrested...usually. doesn't mean they won't break the law, just means that if they think they'll get caught they'll try and figure out a different way to go about it.

psychopaths are everywhere! heh, lot more common than most people think.

[Guest Lottie]

That was an interesting post chico, the story about the woman is definately creepy and sad.

[AndyThorley]

You do certainly have dreams...you just don't recall them. Humans are required to reach REM sleep in order for their brains to function properly. If you fail to reach REM sleep (i.e. the level of sleep in which dreams occur) you would experience hallucination, paranioa, feel out of touch with reality...in general, not a very good thing.

She's right you know...and trust me on this one, sleep deprivation is *not* cool.

I once stayed awake to see what would happen if I stayed awake for as long as possible. I hit four days by which time I ended up going mad so I called it quits.

(Audio and visual hallucinations, paranoia, delusions...you name it, I had it )

As for Psychopaths not hitting REM sleep.

Which way round is it?

They cant reach REM sleep and so go insane.

They cant reach REM sleep BECAUSE they're insane.

It's not just REM sleep, that causes/is a result of psychopathy.

There is, for instance, Seratonin, Melanomin levels...there's those, too (increased Seratonin and Melanomin makes people psychopathic).

Dopamine, too. Excess dopamine causes mania in the sufferer.

[chico del nacho]

you seem to be talking about insanity in general. i'm talking about psychopathy, also known as sociopathy.

sleep deprivation does not cause psychopathy. psychopaths do indeed sleep. blank, boring sleep, but sleep nonetheless.

if a person has sleep deprivation, as you've said yourself, you start to experience psychological difficulties.

still, some mental problems do cause changes in sleep, either from the actual problem or the medication. my brother is bi-polar and normally sleeps fine, but every now and then he'll have days where he only sleep for about 3 hours a night and is completely fine. then there'll be days where he's only awake for about 3 hours. it's worrisome.

[AndyThorley]

you seem to be talking about insanity in general. i'm talking about psychopathy, also known as sociopathy.

See, I had considered that possibility...but then I am sociopathic (My Psychology teacher has said so numerous times, plus I seem to fit the mould. No official verdict, though) and I sleep and dream just fine.

Twisted dreams (Tim Burton versus Roman Dirge style twisted) but dreams nontheless.

Now, I appreciate that I'm hardly the milestone for psychoanalysis. I also appreciate that psychology has more shades of grey than you can imagine, but I dont think that it's right in suggesting sociopaths don't dream.

(Though whether I'm sociopathic from the brain disorder you mentioned or my Dyspraxia is anyones guess. This could be the source of the difference, perhaps)

-Edit-

To clarify...

Of course, I'm not the kind of sociopath who goes out and kills someone just cause of the way they looked at me.

I'm the kind of guy who WANTS to kill people just cause of the way they look at me.

It's like the scenario you described above. Someone sees an accident, but rather than being freaked out by it, they do nothing...possibly even mimic what they see. That kinda thing.

Edited May 12, 2004 by AndyThorley

[chico del nacho]

lol that's quite unsettling there, andy. it made me think of this definition of neurotic

NEUROTIC: Sane but unhappy about it

[TheHand]

I think I'll try that, Andy. Really.

[Kismit]

Certain drugs can limit the ability to recall dreams. Marijuana and Alcohol would be the most common .

If you are having trouble recalling dreams , try increasing your vitamin b in take . Particularly vitamin b16 . Becareful not to over do it though, or you'll find yourself chasing aliens, around a room full of vampires, while riding your techni-coloured Dragon bare back . And when you go to sleep it will get even worse .

[AndyThorley]

lol that's quite unsettling there, andy. it made me think of this definition of neurotic

NEUROTIC: Sane but unhappy about it

Oh I wouldnt say that...

I'm quite happy with my current level of sanity (whichever side of the field it may lie in).

You know, I live near an asylum (the biggest in the north west region, apparently). Maybe I'll go along and get a professional opinion.

Kismit: When sleep deprived I did a lot worse than that

I dont know if it's just me, but my mind started to recreate all the video games I had recently played. Seeing overgrown dragonflies buzzing around the house (from Tamamayu Monogatari) was disturbing enough, but when the bear demons (from Silent Hill) came after me, I called it quits. That was too insane for my liking

[*Chic-A-Cherry Cola*]

oh, i've done my readings. like ya say seraphina, psychopaths can't truly register emotions. i heard this great example of how a psychopath would act in a psychology class i was in.

there's a terrible accident in the downtown of a city. people are running around, scared, worried, mad, the whole gamut of emotions that'd spring up in this situation. except for one woman. she watches all this, goes home, goes to the mirror and practices making the expressions of the people she saw.

That sounds like autism to me.

I remember when I was studying A level psychology, when my teacher was telling the class about someone he used to teach at a college. He was autistic and had an autistic girlfriend too who joined him in lessons. Anyway, they were disruptive and often would mimic other class members' actions and my teachers. I distinctly remember him saying that autisitic people can't register emotions either. You could be crying and looking totally upset, and instead of comforting you, they'd laugh or something. So, with the example you used, I'd say that was autism because the woman didn't understand that people were scared/worried etc. and then copied them.

I was told that psychopaths are agressive - Psychopath - A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.

*shrug* I could be wrong. I haven't been studying mental problems recently, and this was from over a year ago. Maybe my memory is a bit rusty, but I've been consumed with other topics in psychology...

Edited May 14, 2004 by *Chic-A-Cherry Cola*

[chico del nacho]

my brother's slightly autistic and he understands emotions pretty well. then again, he is only slightly autistic.

[*Chic-A-Cherry Cola*]

Well like any medical problem, there'll be mild and severe autism. So there will probably be a huge range of symptoms for the condition.

I mean I might be wrong, it might not be autism at all, it's just what I remember

[chico del nacho]

yeah i learned that thing about psychopaths a year or two ago...i remember it pretty well, but there's still a good chance i muddled it up a bit.

Edited May 14, 2004 by chico del nacho

[*Chic-A-Cherry Cola*]

I think the thing is, is that there is SO many names for similar disorders...it gets very confusing!

[Seraphina]

I was told that psychopaths are agressive - Psychopath - A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.

I think that's a psychotic....a psychotic is someone who actually enjoys violence, and will go out of their way to participate in it. As you say, they have no concept of remorse, but do usually recieve a twisted "adrenaline rush" from the act of inflicting pain, or killing something.

A psychopath is slightly different...they're not aggressive by default, though they lack moral inhibitions that normal people do. They're not as likely to kill you as look at you (as a psycotic might), but if they were to do so, they could then go and have lunch in the next room, and not give the act a second thought.

The line's began a pretty thin one lately, as most people have confused the terms so much, most people think they're the same thing

Edited May 14, 2004 by Seraphina

[Tess]

I always thought if a person was truly insane,they didn't sleep at all,therefore they wouldn't dream...............i know a person who is schizophrenic and when he's "sick",he doesn't sleep.......at all.

[Seraphina]

1) *poses dramatically, and points a finger at Tess' avatar* Cute. Welcome to the club.

2) Hmm...could be. I watched a documentary on a schizophrenic where she said she wasn't actually able to go to sleep. Everytime she closed her eyes, she'd have visions of "monsters looking down at me". She's just end up lying awake, eyes wide open, until she drifted off.

It does make sense...although a schizophrenic's brain works in such a vastly different way from the average person's, the basic survival drives are the same. If I believed there was someone or something in my room that wanted to cause me harm, I wouldn't be able to sleep either...my brain simply wouldn't allow it. The same is probably true for them.

However, it probably varies with the severity of the person's condition. However, there's certainly nobody on the planet who doesn't sleep 'at all', insane or otherwise (and they wouldn't stay sane for long). The body replenishes most of resources when asleep, and a person who was physically incapable of doing so would probably find various systems in their body shutting down, before death.

[Tess]

actually,i should have said he doesn't sleep.....at all.......until he gets the proper medication.I don't mean he goes months or years without sleep,he goes days,sometimes even weeks without sleeping when he's sick,and even prescribed sleeping pills don't work.I think the thoughts,voices,etc. are too real and powerful and his brain is so overactive and wired he's not able to.

[Seraphina]

I don't mean he goes months or years without sleep

I know what you meant My reference was in a "for instance" sense.