Hidden Messages

Ung 1

Stephanie Ung

Joseph Dowd

Human 1BS Sem

29 February 2016

What Does this Dream Mean?

Have you ever dreamt about something but when you woke up realized that it was symbolizing something else significant in your life? If so, then you were known to have a dream with manifest and latent content in it, according to Freudian psychoanalysis.

Manifest content means the conscious features of the dream, something that is happening on the surface and is obvious. Latent content on the other hand, is representing the dream’s hidden meaning, what the manifest content is symbolizing.

Most of the time this kind of dream occurs when the dreamer feels a certain way about something but keeps it hidden. When a person holds back feelings and thoughts-repressing it and letting it get built up inside of them- when they dream, they unconsciously let it out and that shows how they really feel about something. In other words, when they dream, their true desires are revealed, also known as, the latent content. Then when they wake up, they can see how they truly feel about that certain issue. The latent content is much more significant than the manifest content of the dream, because the latent content signifies the true feelings of the dreamer and represents the dreamer’s unconscious fears and insecurities that they are too afraid to confront in real life.

Between the manifest content and latent content are several different relationships: condensation, displacement, and projection. Condensation is when a single thing you dream about actually symbolizes several different things. Displacement is when you dream about something other than how you actually feel about something, but you actually feel a different way about that specific thing. Projection is when you project your feelings onto someone else when it is actually you that is the issue.

I personally have had a dream where there was a manifest and latent content to it. Several years ago, when I was just about to start dance classes at a new studio, I had a dream that I went to my ballet dance class in hip-hop clothing. I was so embarrassed and when I woke up I was sweating and felt uneasy. I came to realize this represented my unconscious fear of humiliating myself in my new ballet class because I was stronger and more experienced in the style of hip-hop. So later on that day, I double-checked to make sure I was not wearing the wrong attire for my ballet class and went in with as much confidence and positivity as I could.

The next time you have an interesting dream that you can actually remember the next day, try to see if it represents more than just what appears on the surface, you could be discovering some hidden feelings about yourself that you are too afraid to confront now.