Psychology

Dream Description
A girl whom I had studied with in elementary level visits home. We had been contacting through a social website and somehow agreed to meet. She is excited and meets both my parents. She interacts well with family. What amazes me most is the fact that she addresses my mother simply mum. The two of us are happy when we finally meet.

Wish Fulfillment
We had met with this girl through a social website. Though she is already married with a child, I had a wish to meet and probably marry her. I love her and still do. She was my first love and I wished to marry her. However, I was not sure whether or not the idea would be agreeable to her.  It is in the dream that somehow the wish is fulfilled. The meeting with the family, her address to my mother and possible hint to marriage brings out the latent aspect of the dream. The manifest content which is clearly her visit and meeting with family members was very clear in mind.

Problem Focused Approach
Though I am in love with the girl and really wanted to marry her, I did not know how exactly I was going to tell her about my intentions. This was a problem and I had to come up with a solution. I needed to find out whether or not the idea will be agreeable to her. However, the fact that she was willing to come home and meet my parents shows her willingness to be a part of the family. Again, the address to my mother further emphasizes this fact. To some extent the dream has helped address the problem. The focus of the dream was on introducing the girl in the family. She was more than willing to be incorporated in the family.

Cognitive Approach
This dream was simply processing the most current happening in my life. I had been thinking so much about this relationship. It is not doubt that I had spent a great amount of time thinking about the girl and our possible marriage. The fact that she was already married and had a child was enough to stress me. The brain was working on this content in my mind and trying to process it. The resultant dream was exactly what I was preoccupied with in my current situation.

Activation-Synthesis Theory
The dream might as well be a narrative created by the brain. There is no apparent meaning in the dram since it is simply images in mind. This is through electrical signals in the brain transmitted into conscious thoughts leading to formation of images in the forebrain. This is referred to as activation stage. On awakening the sensory input is sorted out by the forebrain to generate a meaningful experience, also known as the synthesis stage. It is this experience that I try to associate with what is happening in reality.

Conclusion
The cognitive approach is more accurate. It shades more light on my current circumstances and addresses an issue that continues to puzzle my mind. The images and subjects in the dream are real in life. The mind was therefore trying to process this information. The wish fulfillment and the problem focused approach and rather too optimistic of the dream. It is an attempt to assign a role for the dream. On the other hand the activation-synthesis is the opposite of the two. Of course there is some meaning in the dream only that it more of an attempt to process current circumstances other than trying to give a solution of what is or likely to happen.