We must dream, scientists have concluded from sleep and dream research, or risk losing our sanity. Even people who do not recall dreaming, do dream. The scientific evidence is irrefutable. We dream primarily because our minds consist of a massive amount of information, knowledge, memories and images that lie beneath the surface of our awareness. This layer of the mind is called the unconscious.
Dreams are, in short, an attempt by the mind to bridge the gap between conscious and unconscious.
First, according to John A. Sanford, a priest and psychotherapist and student of Jung, it s important to realize that dreams have a compensatory nature. It s as if the unconscious mind knows what decisions or questions the dreamer is dealing with on the conscious level, and dreams often present answers, unrecognized aspects of the dreamer s character, even solutions to the problems. In fact, anecdotal evidence shows that those who try to solve all their problems using only the conscious mind suffer from a repeated sense of defeat and pessimism, overwhelmed by the negative problems of life. Others, using material sifted through dreams from the unconscious, can often handle life s problems with more equanimity. Furthermore, dreams often come in a bunch, or series, revolving around the same dilemma facing the dreamer in ordinary life, giving us a clue in using the material in these nighttime vignettes.