Do Dreams Mean Anything at All?

QUESTION: I don't dream very frequently, but my girl friend does almost all
the time. She claims that her dreams can predict the future, and takes them
very seriously. Do dreams mean anything at all, and how can you tell?
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ANSWER: Through the ages, the images seen in dreams have had almost a
mystical attraction for many. Sigmund Freud, the Austrian psychoanalyst,
thought that dreams expressed the wishes and feelings of the unconscious mind,
and were frequently linked to sexual feelings. Carl Jung, a Swiss
psychiatrist, and a disciple of Freud's, disagreed, and felt that dreams were
the result of all the tensions, stresses and frustrations experienced by both
the conscious and unconscious. No one is sure just what dreams do mean. I
doubt that many scientists believe that they predict the future, and while
most agree that there are some meanings hidden in our dreams, the exact
significance and purpose of dreams is still unclear. Many dreams seem to be
built of a day's activities and pressure, while others take us back into
experiences of the past. Some students of dream interpretation feel that
problems may be solved in the world of sleep, or that dreams may set the mood
for the next day's activity and actions. Dreams will sometimes explain the
cause of external noises and disturbances in a fanciful way, to help protect
the sleeping mind from awakening. Some dreams, nightmares, are frightening
and upsetting. Recurring, regular episodes of frightening dreams may affect
our daytime activity to the point where professional help is indicated. There
is much debate about the symbolism in dreams and whether certain objects have
specific meanings. Dreams only occur during the REM or rapid eye movement
stage of sleep, which has led to the initiation of research into the
biological and physiological as well as the psychological aspects of dreaming.
Therefore, it may be a while before I can answer your question as completely
as we might both desire.