New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-04-25
NO DREAMS IDLE DREAMS
All Founded on Concrete Fact or
Previous Thought.
DR.. BRILL TEARS AWAY VEIL
Three Glasses CT Dreams, Says
Investigator, Who illustrates
Theory by Romance.

To the current number Of THE New York
Medical Journal" DIR. A A BRIL- I'm. D..
VI. D., contributes an article on dreams
and their relations to ,neurosis lie de-
clares that all dreams. however fanc1ful
and iuconSeQuential they may appear 10
their authors, are in reality founded upon
some concrete fact or previous thought or
wish Of the person giving them existence.
DR. Brill tracesa the source Of and belief
in the dream TO che ancient Greeks
who believed that IL han some symbolicdl
bearing on their future lives; that II was
a warning or prophecy of something that
was to follow. So deep rooted was TINS
idea among them that absolute reliance
was placed in oracular powers of the
dream. Having thus traced the dream
through its infancy. with its attendant
glamour of mystery and romance. DIR. Brill
proceeds to- tear away the veil from the
subject and bring it down 20 hard. scientific
fact, and to show that all dreams can be
directly traced to some previous thought or
wish on the part of the dreamer.
Influence of Psychic Forces.
DIR. Brill states. that the formation OF
dreams is brought about by the working of
the two psychic forces STREAMS or sys-
TENS. one Of which forms the wish of the
dream, while the other exerts its censorship
on this wish and thus produces the dis
tortiCn. DIR. Brill then divides the dream
into the latest and manifest dream con-
tents. The former comprises all the de-
lusiVe sensory Impressions which are re-
called by the dreamer on awakening, while
the latter comprises the fundamental
thoughts Of the dream as they existed be-
fore being subjected to the distortion of
the psychic censor. The manifest content
Of the dream seems absurd and incoherent,
but by psychanalysis IL can readily be
translated into the latent thoughts. which
always show the fulfIment of a wish
DR. Brill still further divides dreams into
three classes: No. /, those which represent
an unrepressed wish as fulfilled, as seen in
the so-called convenience dream and in
children's dreams. No ., those which rep
resent the realization of a repressed wish
in an entirely concealed form. No. g. those
which represent the realization Of a re-
pressed wish in a form -insufficiently or only
partially concealed.
Dreams accompanied by fear" says Dr.
Brill, ARE of sexual nature; the ideation
causing the fear in the dream was once a
wish which was later subjected to repres-
sion. There are some dreams of a painful
nature which are not. however. perceived
as such by the dreamer This merely shows
the insignifcance and lack of psychic va
lidity of the dream. In these cases .analy-
sis always shows that we deal with the hid
den fulhlment of repressed wish"
illustrates Theory by Romance.
To illustrate the relation Of the dream
TO the neurosis, Or. Brill tells Of a pa
uent OF his, young woman, who came to
him for treatment Of a nervous ailment
Her father had died of nephritis and had
a stroke a few months before This
young woman had everything to live for
money, friends. intelligence and good
looks. one of her chief worries was lest
something might befal her mother. and
every time her mother was away from her
she was fearful for her safety This pro-
duced an abnormal affection for the par
ent on the part of the daughter Accord
ing to Or. Brill. this meant Just the opDo-
site, and was merely a compensat ton for
the wish that she might lose her mother
That there was reason for this wish
was proved later.
After much questioning the young wom-
an told the doctor that she had had a
dream in which she was i'm a lonely coun-
try place and anxious to reach her home.
walls that INSTRUCTED her path. While in
this plight she was met by a flock OF
chickens. which ran after her. the largest
among them asking her To come with me
into the dark"
Asked what had been the most promi-
nent part Of her dream, the young wom-
an said that it was the chickens which
had most impressed her. and the large
chicken in particular After due eIimi-
nation it was brought out that the young
woman had attended boys and girls
school i'm her neighborhod in her child
hood and that she had sweetheart
among her playmates, an ungainly,
long necked youth, who was nicknamed
Chicken" by his fellows. Her parents
objected to the young mans attentions to
their daughter later in life because of his
financial standing and the friendship was
given up. although the yosng woman still
felt attached TO the object of her youthful
love.
BY DIR. Brilrs reasoning the young wom-
20 do this IL WIS necessary that her
mother die. This she wished, though un-
consciously, and hence. once more, IT was
proved that her dream was the fulflment
Of a wish. This particular dream was
brought to a happy conclusion, Or. Brin
states. by the young woman marrying the
Chicken" without the formality of losing
her mother.