Lucid dreaming is associated with better subjective sleep quality, greater emotional well-being, and less loneliness, according to a new study published in The Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. The results of this study suggest that lucid dreams are generally positive experiences, although a minority of lucid dreams have negative or unpleasant aspects.
A lucid dream is the experience of realizing that you are dreaming while you are dreaming. A lucid dream allows the dreamer to have some control over the dream story, and may intentionally influence the events and actions that occur in the dream.
While there is a wealth of research highlighting the positive benefits of lucid dreaming, such as reducing nightmares, improving athletic performance, promoting creative problem-solving, and contributing to personal growth, the negative effects on sleep and mental health are often underestimated. Concerns have been raised about the possibility. be. The authors of the new study Thadas Stumblelisconducted this particular study to investigate the potential negative effects of lucid dreaming.
“I have been studying lucid dreaming for more than ten years, studying its possibilities and benefits,” explained Stambliss, assistant professor of psychology at Vilnius University. “And every time I give a talk on lucid dreaming, there is always someone in the audience asking the same question: ‘Does lucid dreaming have any negative effects?’ Previously, there had been no systematic research into its potential side effects, which prompted me to look into this subject.”
Stumbrys conducted an online survey of 489 participants from various countries, primarily the United States. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire containing various scales and scales to assess dream-related experiences, sleep quality, dissociation, and mental health.
Online questionnaires were distributed through social media platforms and online discussion forums related to lucid dreaming. The participant completed the survey anonymously, but was asked to enter her email address to avoid duplicate responses.
To understand their dream-related experiences, participants were asked about their frequency of dream recall and frequency of specific dream phenomena such as lucid dreams, nightmares, false awakenings, sleep paralysis, and out-of-body experiences. Participants were also asked about the emotional nature of lucid dreams and whether they experienced lucid dreams voluntarily or intentionally triggered using techniques.
To assess sleep quality, participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The index asked about various aspects of sleep, including duration, disturbance, latency (the time it takes to fall asleep), efficiency, and subjective sleep quality.
Dissociation refers to a feeling of detachment or disconnection from oneself or one’s surroundings and was measured using a multiscale dissociation inventory. Participants experienced a range of symptoms, including detachment, depersonalization (feeling disconnected from themselves), derealization (feeling the world was unreal), emotional contraction/paralysis, memory impairment, and identity dissociation. We assessed the frequency of dissociative experiences.
To assess mental health, participants completed the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Health Scale, which focuses on positive aspects of mental health. They also answered questions about loneliness and social isolation using the UCLA Loneliness Scale.
Stanbrees found that the frequency of lucid dreams correlated positively with the frequency of other sleep-related experiences such as dream recall, nightmares, false awakenings, sleep paralysis, and out-of-body experiences.
Most lucid dreams reported by participants were emotionally positive experiences, with only about 10% considered to be emotionally negative. Stanbrees found that dream recall frequency, false awakening frequency, and out-of-body frequency were important predictors of lucid dream frequency.
Lucid dream frequency was not associated with total sleep quality scores or dissociation. When sleep quality aspects were investigated separately, we found that not only did more frequent lucid dreams lead to more sleep disturbances, but they also associated higher subjective sleep quality and lower functional impairment. Similarly, when different aspects of dissociation were examined separately, lucid dream frequency was associated with higher levels of disillusionment and less memory impairment.
In terms of mental well-being, lucid dream frequency was positively correlated with increased mental well-being and decreased loneliness. Rates of intentionally induced lucid dreams were also associated with higher mental well-being.
The results show that “lucid dreaming appears to be a relatively safe approach to addressing dream plots during sleep, with no apparent adverse effects,” Stumbles told PsyPost. . “However, there are other studies that show people can have certain detrimental effects when they focus too much on lucid dream-inducing techniques, some requiring sleep interruptions. So, while lucid dreaming itself seems safe, spending too much effort to achieve it may not be a very good idea.”
As with all studies, this study has some limitations that should be considered. First, the data were collected by an online survey, which may have introduced selection bias. Participants were self-selected and may not be representative of the general population (for example, they may have more positive experiences with lucid dreaming). Furthermore, the observed relationships are correlated and causation cannot be concluded.
“Because this study is based solely on self-report and is cross-sectional, causality cannot be established,” Stambolis said. “Future studies will benefit from longitudinal studies that observe lucid dreaming groups over time and measure changes in a broader set of variables.”
The titles of the studies were:Dispeling the Shadows of Lucid Nights: Exploring the Potential Harm of Lucid Dreaming”.
