Suppressed thoughts rebound in dreams
By Bruce Bower
Try not to think about a white bear and suddenly there it is, haunting your thoughts. A new study indicates that attempting to suppress specific thoughts also has a delayed effect by bringing them out in dreams.
The findings elaborate on Sigmund Freud’s century-old idea that wishes suppressed during the day find expression in dreams, says Harvard University psychologist Daniel M. Wegner. Now, it appears that consciously squelched thoughts often reappear in dreams, whether or not those thoughts incorporate wishes, he says.