Nightmares and bad dreams are fairly common.

Dreams bring emotions to the forefront for processing.

Dreamscapes provide a way of problem-solving and learning waking time strategies.

Sara Hussein, an archivist for the Getty Museum, returns home from a conference in London and is pulled aside at passport control. The reason? Her security “risk score” is too high.

Thus begins the dystopian plot of the book, The Dream Hotel, by Laila Lalami. Lalami paints a world where an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm routinely flags citizens for their potential to commit a crime using a government-endorsed online surveillance system. Everyone is monitored closely for “future intent,” their behavior scrutinized at every turn. Even dreams are monitored and flagged for content, having been recorded and reviewed thanks to a neural implant designed to correct sleep apnea. Because of her dreams, the book’s protagonist is considered at high risk for violence and is arrested at the airport.

Setting aside the other societal themes this book explores, The Dream Hotel raises an important question: How are we to understand disturbing emotions and experiences we have when we’re asleep?

Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been angry with their partner at something. Or at the dog. Or at traffic. Face it—we humans tend to get upset, whether we show it or not. And these emotions find their way into our dreams.

In one dream, Sara is on a hike with her husband and, in a moment of annoyance, swats the camera from his hand, only to watch him plunge off a bridge into a churning river below. Instead of helping him, she freezes. She’s horrified, both in the dream and upon waking. Sure, she was annoyed at him in the dream........

© Psychology Today