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Theories of Dreaming and Sleeping

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Theories of Sleeping and Dreaming

Sleep is far more important than people may assume. Sleep is the best way to cope with stress, critical thinking and illness. It helps restore energy level and affects the state of physical and metal well being. There are four stages of the sleep cycle. The first stage is considered the eyes being closed and can be woken without difficulty. This stage may last from 5 to 10 minutes and may cause muscle contractions. The second stage is where the body prepares for deep sleep. The muscles relax, heart rate slows and the body temperature will decrease. During stage three, the brain releases waves known as delta waves. This stage is the transitional period between light and deep sleep (http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/sleep-101). Stage four is considered the deepest sleep stage where sleep walking and bed wetting can occur. In this stage, REM sleep occurs which is rapid eye movement and dreaming occurs due to increase of brain activity but voluntary muscles become paralyzed (http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/a/SleepStages.htm). The five common beliefs about dreaming are: people believe that external stimuli can become incorporated into their dreams, some believe that dreams last only an instant, some claim that they do not dream, penile erections are commonly assumed to be indicative of dreams with sexual content and most people believe that sleep walking and sleep talking only occur only during dreaming. There are two common theories of dreams, one made by Freud who believed that dreams are triggered by unacceptable repressed wishes, often of a sexual nature. He argued that because dreams we experience are merely disguised versions of our real dreams. The other theory made by Hobson’s is based on the observation that during REM sleep, many brain-stem circuits become active and

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