I have a background in psychology: A BA in 1977 and an MA in 1980. I bit dated, I know, but some of it is still good.

A source of curiosity for me has been the possibility of dream deprivation. It was known way back in the `70s that dream intensity increases dramatically after a period of dream deprivation. Given the common problem of insomnia and that some of the drugs we take also inhibit dreaming, I've been wondering if the vivid dreams and the need to sleep at odd times may be a result of dream deprivation.

I know I'm not dreaming much when I'm wide awake with insomnia. Depressants, such as clonazepam, which I take every night are known to inhibit dreaming. Antidepressants, such as trazodone, which I also take every night, can have the same dream inhibiting effect. So the combination of less sleep and drugs may have a significant impact on my dreaming activity. In this theory, when PWP say they're desperate for sleep, perhaps they're actually desperate for dreaming, at least in part.

We still don't know for sure what dreaming does for us, but I think we are sure that we need to do it.