[Functions of the dream--I]

The presentation of the multiple functions of dreams as they are attributed to them today is the aim of the present essay. Contrary to the disdain of the dream by 19th century psychiatrists and the investigators of the physiological concomitants of sleep, recent authors stress the adaptive functions of dreams. Dreaming participates in problem solving and contributes to the restoration of a threatened homeostatic inner balance. In the case of heavily traumatized persons dreaming helps the individual in his defence against the traumatic impetus. Personal and scientific creative processes are largely furthered by dreaming. Only in a few special cases, as in malignant somatic disease, can dreaming become detrimental. Dreaming's full measure of usefulness is, however, developed only when taken into service either by the dreamer or a psychotherapist.