Does Dreaming Affect Sleep?

Japanese scientists have isolated two peptides in the human brain that are related to sleep: one is the peptide that promotes dreamless sleep, and the other is the peptide that promotes dreaming sleep. Researchers used the peptide that promotes dreaming sleep to extend the duration of dream sleep in animals and found that most of these animals had longer lifespans. This, to some extent, proves that dreaming is beneficial to health, overturning the long-held belief that having more dreams during sleep can affect one's health.

More accurately, during the process of dreaming, the dreamer continually adjusts themselves and incorporates various stimuli received during the day into the specific plot of the dream. Once these stimuli receive a response, the dreamer can continue to sleep peacefully, which is the foundation of ensuring healthy sleep. Freud revealed the special nature of dreams early on, explaining that dreams not only help us release our emotions but also play a vital role in maintaining our sleep.

Freud provided a detailed analysis of dreams in his work "The Interpretation of Dreams." He stated that if stimuli such as thirst, coldness, hunger, and other desires cannot be fulfilled in dreams, it is easy to wake up. Conversely, to sleep soundly, one must rely on the fulfillment of dreams to alleviate these desires, although anxiety may also be present.

For these reasons, Freud referred to dreams as the "guardians of sleep."