I think it's really telling that Hesham doesn't remember his dreams. It's not even that he's using the pod to escape reality- he's using it to stop existing for awhile. This is the kind of thing that people in the deep throes of depression want to do. He's also afraid of growing old and dying. I wonder if, without access to pod technology, he would just be straight-up suicidal, because really, pods sound like an ideal suicide fantasy. Quick, painless, oblivion, and you don't even actually die - you're just gone, and you could come back...but you probably won't.