feature story assignment;

Dreams;
Weed, Meth, E, Crack, Coke, Heroin… you know them, you might have taken them, but have you ever had a dream while on them? I interviewed this guy that used to be addicted to drugs and has had many dreams while on some of these drugs. He did not wish his name to be said; so to protect his privacy I will call him Richard Henderson*. I sat down with Henderson and asked him, “What are dreams on drugs like?” he was quite, “nightmarish” he responded shortly, he told me that dreams on the drugs he had taken, mostly E, were warped, He described his normal dreams like beautiful works of imagination, he feels that normal dreams are a type of déjà vu. When he is on his drugs, he says his dreams are un-realistic, and sees things that would never normally happen; one of his frequent recurring dreams while on E was him taking an elevator to hell, it wasn’t the normal hell with the evil looking stereotypical devil, but instead of flames, the whole ground was lava, it had no real floor. On another dream, he told me that he made ‘peace’ with this girl he disliked from elementary school. Henderson stated at one point that when he isn’t on drugs while he is sleeping, they will show up in his dreams, he will find himself dreaming of smoking weed or popping a pill. He says they are so life like, when you can’t wake up; it really feels like your own in your ‘dream” world. He told me, there was one dream where he was hanging out at a park with a bunch of his rave friends and he knew something wrong, but he couldn’t wake himself up. He was married in the dream and he had tried everything; splashing his face with cold water, screaming, hitting/pinching… etc. Finally after nothing would work he decided to kill himself. It was the only thing that worked, but he was so scared to fall back asleep. That was his last time doing drugs before bed. He says it is the worst more scariest thing ever do to. He suggests that no one does it on purpose. Recurring dreams are most common with people who have post-traumatic stress disorder, so, its possible that people on drugs may have the same types of problems, which is why Henderson had those dreams.


*fake name to protect.

news story assignment;

Have you ever wondered what dreams really are? Are they a wish your heart makes? Or is it just your imagnation running in over-drive? Well, a new study may expose the true reason of dreams. Dr. J. Allan Hobson is trying to prove that dreams do not just have a psychological purpose; a playground for our minds, but instead, it's our minds preparing us for the day ahead of us. Dr. Hobson published a paper in October of 2009 that stated the REM, rapid-eye-movement, is just images from our minds flashing together all as one. It is our minds getting ready for the day ahead, it is prepareing our eyes for the sights we will be seeing when we wake up. "It explains why some people don't remember their dreams, it's like jogging, you don't remember every step, but it knows it has exercised, it's been tuned up. It's the same idea here: dreams are tuning the mind for conscious awearness." Dr. Hobson states. People were assuming that dreams were psychological because it was the easiest assumption. Therapists, Freudians, and Neuroscienctists, are all agreeing with Dr. Hobson, they like the fact that he isn't saying what dreams are doing, that they are simply images to prepare us for the days visions. Dr. Hobson came to this conclusion, becuase research shows that only about 20% of peoples dreams inclued people or places that they've actually encountered.

first blog everr;

heyy, I'm Jessica & I am putting this blog out there for my 4th period teacher, he wants us to write about a topic for the next few weeks, the topic i am going to be touching is dreams, I'll be posting blogs of my own dreams, & possibly interveiwing other people on their dreams. I will also be putting links to websites that will help you better understand your own dreams. I know for a fact this won't just be a class thing, it seems like it could be a fun & easy way to get my mind off of the stupid drama in everyday life. So, let us begin..!