Sleep and Dream Journal: Analyzing Patterns & Supporting Theories

This assignment presents an analysis of a five-night sleep and dream journal, exploring the relationship between sleep patterns, dream content, and daytime activity. The analysis considers the activation-synthesis theory, noting how dreamless nights are often followed by productive days, while disturbing dreams can affect psychological alertness. It also examines the cognitive theory of dreams, illustrating how dreams can influence ego and inspire or diminish one's sense of self. The journal entries demonstrate how restful sleep and positive dreams correlate with increased energy, focus, and motivation, supporting the idea that dreams have a significant psychological impact on an individual's waking life. The assignment concludes by highlighting the relevance of these observations to established psychological theories of dreaming.

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Discussion of the Patterns as Recorded in the Sleep and Dream Journal.
The activeness of an individual during the day is largely determined by the length of time
a person takes to rest during the night. Averagely, one who sleeps for about six to eight hours in a
night is likely to be active at day break ( Mitchell, 189-215). The person is likely to have a sober
mind, focused and thinking of better things that can change a situation in life if not improve them.
This is proven by the pattern recorded in the five-night journal and is practically seen that a night
well spent in resting the body and mind is followed by a day of activity without boredom. The theory
of activation synthesis states that dreams are but physiological processes which takes place when one
sleep( Hobson, 33). On nights one, two and five characterized dreamless nights followed by
thoughtful days of active involvement in a series of commitment. There is, however, an exception
for night three where the fearful dream affected psychological alertness since it experienced
thoughtfulness and a bit of worries. This means that night rests determines to a very large degree
what ones day might be like. During sleep, the brain cleans the system and the mind and prepares it
for the activities of the day to follow. This is why enough hours of sleep make it necessary for one to
wake up fully rejuvenated to take on activities of the day. It makes the theory relevant as proven by
th trend observed in the journal.
Again, the dreams have certain influence on a person upon waking up. Some dreams have
a disturbing effect on the individual, which either may positively or negatively affect their activity at

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daybreak. A philosophical and psychological relationship exists between dream and daybreak
activity (Jung, 234) - this illustrated by the pattern recorded in the journal above. The relationship
observed between dreams and the effects on activity of an individual at daybreak supports the theory
of cognitive theory of dreams. This theory suggests that dreams are majorly because of ego. Dreams
predict a boosted or reduced ego depending on the nature or type of dream one experiences during
sleeping hours (Tolle, 156-203). A good example recorded in the five-night journal on the fourth
night. The fourth night was characterized by heavy sleep and quite a refreshing dream. A dream that
provoked good thoughts and reflections and inspired the desire to create something that will change
the future world. Such kinds of dreams evidently boosts ego by inspiring thoughts. It leaves behind
the feeling of one always wanting to live in such a beautiful environment in all their lives. It
inspires change. This proves that the theorists were right in their suggestions about how dreams may
influence psychology of an individual. This is why one may wake up feeling boosted or with low
esteem depending on the type of dream, they dream about as they sleep at night. Generally,
dreaming is a matter of psychology. This explains why many scholars and philosophers have come
up with theories that try to explain how dreams physiologically related to psychology.

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Work Cited
Hobson, Allan. State of the Brains and Mind. New York, N.Y: Springer Science. Print
Jung., C.G. Psychology of the Unconscious. New York, N.Y: Moffat Yard &Co Ltd. Print.
Mitchell, Patrick. Safer Care; Human Factors for Healthcare. London, U.K: Swan and Horn.
Print..
Tolle, Eckhart. Stillness Speaks. California: New World Library. Print