Watching television has long remained one of the most popular forms of entertainment enjoyed by millions of people across the United Kingdom who love to relax after a long, arduous day and watch their favourite soap, documentary or film.
The way in which we watch television has evolved with changes in modern society, as it has transformed from a family activity in which every member comes together and sits down in the living room to having a number of sets across the house. Our need for comfort and entertainment led to television sets appearing in the bedroom to watch our favourite channels or DVDs whilst tucked up in bed.
Homeowners can even buy good quality TV beds which have screens fitted via brackets at the end to incorporate those who love watching television, films or playing on their console, but it has only further exacerbated an age-long debate over whether watching television before bed has a positive or negative affect on our dreams.
There are theories that watching too much television can have a detrimental effect on a person’s cognitive thought processes and alter their psyche, particularly when watching horror films or playing games that includes violence, but it can also affect dreams in a good and bad way.
Passive imagination
Dreams are ultimately a way of revealing a person’s consciousness as a visual screening of the content and state of our minds. Every dream is said to carry an underlying meaning of something personal to a person’s train of thought, present emotion or a recent experience they have been through and has remained in their conscience.
Watching television provides countless number of images that are designed to entertain and captivate viewers; it becomes easy for people to become engrossed by images and thoughts which someone else has created that can alter our mind.
Watching television is a form of passive imagination that can result in people recreating what they have seen on television in their dreams, whether it is the inclusion of certain actors and actresses, particular scenes or settings in which a television programme or film is based.
This is particularly prominent to those with active imaginations and creative minds who are able to take their consciousness into their dream cycles and create their own visual images, although having a good or bad dream can be altered by the type of television we watch. Our own personal mood can affect the way in which a dream pans out, but watching horror or violence on television can be replicated in our dreams to create an unsettling experience of being in a fictional, yet uncomfortable, scenario.
Parental warning
Although parents have a divine right to choose whether their child is allowed to have their own television in their bedroom, the number of television sets has decreased due to the ever-rising popularity of tablet devices.
Children are now able to access their favourite television shows with considerably more freedom than ever before, although its suitability has been questioned by those who believe that it can have a negative effect on children and their development, particularly if their viewing habits or choice of programme is not monitored.
Children who watch horror or violence on television before they go to sleep are much more likely to experience nightmare and bad dreams, which can create sleepless nights; it is true that not all bad dreams can be prevented, but certain television programmes can exacerbate the consciousness into elements that creates nightmares.
Children who watch TV during the evening hours are also more likely to endure less sleep, which can ultimately reduce functional skills and educational performance if they become deprived of essential rest.
Even when children wake with bad dreams caused by upsetting videos, there are things parents can do to help them cope. I am a child psychotherapist who has written
a children’s book for ages three and up, Mommy, Daddy, I Had a Bad Dream! to
empower children to understand their bad dreams. Joey, a young kangaroo, has a
series of bad dreams which his parents lovingly help him to understand. By the
last dream, Joey can make sense of it himself and put himself back to bed. Once
children realize that bad dreams are caused by upsetting events from the
previous day (including scary videos) and that they can be seen as puzzles to be solved, they are
intrigued and empowered rather than frightened and helpless. They will be much more likely to get a good
night’s sleep if they aren’t afraid of monsters and the other fearsome
inhabitants of nightmares.
Why I don’t own a teevee, I can never figure out if I dreamed it or saw it on a screen.