DREAMS AND FEELING REALIZATION

Among three different types of impactful dreams (transcendent dreams, anxiety dreams, and existential dreams), existential dreams most frequ ently prompt reports of deepened self-perception (Kuiken & Sikora, 199 3). To understand this effect it is useful to consider three separate aspects of dream experience, each mediated by a different component of dream psychobiology. First, in impactful dreams generally, narrative discontinuities mark mnemonic transformations that present progressive ly non-prototypic personal meanings. Second, in impactful dreams gener ally, a heightened sense of ''reality'' emerges from accentuation of t he dreamer's felt engagement in vividly present dream situations. Thir d, in existential dreams particularly, the disruption of smooth engage ment in dream actions initiates the realization of feelings that are t inged with sadness and that uproot superficiality. The interplay of th ese aspects of dream experience is required to understand how existent ial dreams deepen self-perception.