Page 1 26/10/11 01 01hn2610health pcc1 03:29:38 PM 24/10/11

HEALTHNEWS
HEALTH MEDICINE SCIENCE DISCOVERIES MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Reaching 189 000* readers each week

*(AMPS 2010BA)

Wednesday, October 26 2011 www.businessday.co.za

BusinessDay

Breast cancer
A personal story about the mindset required to become a survivor
Page 3

Vital signs
Servier Laboratories Dr Stanford Ntsie on dietetics, doctors and drugs
Page 5

Take the multivitamin that works as hard as you do.

Vitaforce with 2-phase release.
PN/ES/MSV/TAKE
The Natural Medicine Company

PSYCHOLOGY

Doors open to dream power

Scientific dream analysis can be an effective therapy for a variety of physical, emotional and psychological symptoms, writes Penny Haw

IKE most people, you may at times have disturbing dreams. You may dream of crumbling teeth, failed examinations, drowning in water, being naked in public, and plummeting through the air. You may dream of people you have long forgotten, and others who are incidental to your life. Vivid night-time imagery evokes powerful emotions. Dreams may intensify when you are anxious or unwell, and you may wonder whether it would be wise to analyse their meaning. We humans have long tried to figure out why we dream. In recent years, controversial research has suggested that we process our memories by dreaming. US research by Harvard Medical School scientists in Current Biology last year, suggested that dreams play a role in learning by processing what we have experienced during the day. Parts of our brain are shown to replay memories, according to study co-author Dr Robert Stickgold, director of Harvard Medical Schools Centre for Sleep and Cognition. The reality is that dreams have fascinated people for ages. "We started out a few thousand years ago thinking they were messages from God," Stickgold says. "Then (Austrian psychiatrist Dr Sigmond) Freud came along, and said theyre messages from our pernicious, immoral subconscious." Later, scientists thought that dreams were "random firings of nerves in the brain stem". Now, says Stickgold, "we are starting to say that at one level, as weve all sort of known all along, its doing something with our memories". Dream analysts take a very different approach, and say that many health benefits can spring from understanding dreams. Johannesburg-based Jungian analyst Lesley Zimmerman says

some people dont remember their dreams, but for those who do, dreams can be a valuable source of information that can preserve wellbeing and treat health problems successfully. Her approach is a scientific method of dream interpretation based on the work of Swiss psychiatrist Dr Carl Gustav Jung, famous for his research of the unknown region of human psyche. Jung believed that dreams were the reaction to our conscious attitude in the same way that the body reacts when we overeat or do not eat enough or when we illtreat it in some other way. Jung discovered that the unconscious mind that produces our dreams has an extraordinary healing power, says Zimmerman. He believed that a process of self-regulation goes on all the time, but we only become conscious of it when ego-consciousness has difficulty adapting to something in our external lives, or to an inner attitude we hold. At these times, the situation is represented to us in dreams, providing the opportunity to analyse and understand problems on a deeper level. Understanding dreams is not only about putting your mind at ease, says Zimmerman, who trained at the C G Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, and has an honours degree in applied psychology and a masters in research psychology. She and other advocates of dream analysis believe it is an effective therapy for a variety of physical, emotional and psychological symptoms. Greek psychologist Christina Sponias has continued Jungs research into the human psyche. Sponias believes that her method of dream interpretation exposes all disease as the outcome of trying to prevent mental illness, or the result of mental disorders or mental illness, which can be cured by the application of

How to work with your dreams

Make notes about your dreams as soon as you wake up, so you dont forget them. Invest in a good book on dream symbols. Dreams speak in symbols and understanding symbols is integral to understanding your dreams. Everything in your dreams represents you and an aspect of your personality. Elements symbolise a part of you, and give clues to how you can develop new ways of thinking. When you dream about people you know, the dream is not so much about them as their specific qualities. You dont have to examine every part of your dream to understand its message. A general sense or understanding a part can be helpful, especially if it carries more emotion, If you have health problems and are experiencing recurring dreams or nightmares, visit a qualified dream analyst. Its a non-invasive way to better health and general wellbeing.

dream therapy. Zimmerman is more circumspect about the extent of diseases that can be cured by dream interpretation. However, she says a variety of physical and mental problems from depression, to anxiety, fear, guilt, trauma, the symptoms of these stresses, including digestive disorders, appetite loss and fatigue can be treated effectively through working with this type of therapy. The way it works is less complicated than you might imagine. Dreams, says Zimmerman, present us with information in our unconscious minds that is otherwise unavailable. Consciousness only allows us to be aware of attitudes, views and behaviours that we decide have sufficient intensity and clarity in our waking hours, she says. Our minds are selective and exclude things we consider irrelevant. It rejects and suppresses behaviour and views others do not approve of. Consciousness also suppresses views and attitudes that are incompatible with our preferred views. The premise behind the therapy is that understanding dreams and the many things were oblivious to but which are still stored in our unconscious hard drive provide us with a better understanding of ourselves and, in many cases, reveal new and different ways of approaching situations. A new attitude revealed by understanding our dreams is often contrary to the way we previously approached things, says Zimmerman. If a repressed attitude or a new behaviour is required in a current situation, it frequently emerges in our consciousness via dreams. This can represent a major breakthrough when change of attitude is required to cure problems, and kickstart the healing process. Zimmerman cites the case of a

DREAM STATE

Water is a common symbol in dreams, and its meaning may differ, depending on the dreamer. Picture:
THINKSTOCK

businessman who is mature and rational in most areas of his life, but has an extreme aversion to surprise. While he has many other qualities, spontaneity is not one of them. His girlfriend complains that he is rigid. A promotion at work requires him to be more flexible, and he finds this unsettling. He becomes increasingly anxious about his failing relationship and job. His health begins to suffer. One night, he dreams about a colleague who is his complete opposite; a spontaneous risk-taker. In the mans dream, Mr Free-AndEasy is giant-like and merciless as he pursues our dreamer down one passage after another. The man is terrified and wakes up, more anxious and fretful than ever. The dream is simply giving information he needs to connect with his inner capacity to be spontaneous, which is symbolised by his spontaneous colleague, says Zimmerman. The colleague is giant-like

The unconscious mind that produces our dreams has an extraordinary healing power

because, in addition to the dreamers feelings of terror, spontaneity is linked to fearful experiences in his childhood and, because of the ongoing repression of this quality, it has become an increasingly large issue in his life. When a dream image chases us, it generally symbolises that this part of ourselves needs and wants to connect with our conscious attitude. The dream is telling him that he needs to connect with, and develop the capacity for, spontaneity and make it part of his conscious personality. Its telling him he needs to adapt his attitude. Healing, says Zimmerman, often begins with adaptation. She quotes Jung as saying: The constant flow of life again and again demands fresh adaptation. Adaptation is never achieved once and for all. Adaptation requires coming to terms with external issues, and with ones own unique psycholog-

ical characteristics, says Zimmerman. While growing up and making the transition from child to adult, we are required continually to adapt to the outer world. As adults, when we encounter obstacles, and particularly if an obstacle proves insurmountable, it often activates dreams. Its not the only way of facilitating adaptation, but working with dreams can be an effective method for people who remember their dreams, and who are open to analysing the symbolic language of their dreams. Zimmerman says that while all dreams have a value, some are supporting and some are compensatory. Nightmares and recurring dreams usually signal an underlying issue that needs to be attended to and that it might be time to find out what that is. With HealthDay News 2011 New York Times Partner Publications

PN/ES/MSV/SA

My life is all about sustainable energy

Im a partner in an exciting new venture, turning waste into clean, sustainable energy. Long meetings and lengthy presentations. no such thing as 9 to 5 for me. I need the daily back-up of Vitaforce multivitamins to help keep my own energy on stream. Vitaforce has a 2-phase release system that gives me an initial boost at the beginning of the day, and then keeps on working for up to 8 hours. As an engineer I like to know how things work.. but more importantly, that they actually do work. And Vitaforce really works for me. Take the Vitaforce 30 Day Challenge Visit www.vitaforce.co.za

Siso Kunene BSc, Environmental Engineer, entrepreneur.

The Natural Medicine Company