The Psychology behind “Lucid Dreaming” — Can Lucid Dreaming be used as a treatment for nightmares?
Lucid Dreaming
A Lucid Dream is a form of dream in which the dreamer is conscious of their dreaming state. The dreamer frequently has complete recall of the event(s) and command over the dream’s story. Furthermore, studies have revealed that lucid dreamers can interact with the awake world in real time.
Psychology behind Lucid Dreaming
Before 1975, when sleep studies started to show that lucid dreams actually exist, they were the subject of much inquiry and discussion. In one of the most notable studies, British psychologist and sleep expert Keith Hearne revealed a previously unknown aspect of lucid dreaming by drawing a link between it and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep.
Hearne discovered through a series of sleep research that lucid dreaming typically takes place during REM sleep, much like other types of dreams. Most of the body’s muscles are immobilized during REM sleep, but possibly more critically, the eyes are not.
Hearne made history on the morning of April 12, 1975, when one of his test participants produced a series of left-to-right eye movements while becoming lucid during a dream state in order to communicate with the researcher.
Since Hearne’s groundbreaking studies forty years ago, science has helped us unravel a few more lucid dreaming riddles, but much of what we already know about the phenomenon holds true.
According to Barrett, “most lucid dreams happen during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, but some of them occur at sleep onset in the first stage of Non-Rapid Eye Movement (Non-REM) and probably very rarely in other stages of sleep.”
Later research revealed that lucid dreaming frequently takes place at periods of extremely high arousal or a change in brain wave activity in the cortex. Dream recognition may take place primarily in the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex, which is also involved in working memory, planning, and abstract thought.
Although it is believed that gamma wave activity initiates lucid dreaming, according to Barrett, “the two have gotten over-associated,” and the excitement is unjustified — the prefrontal cortex is the real star when it comes to lucid dreaming. What is significantly more distinguishing about lucidity, according to her, is which areas of the brain are more active than usual during REM sleep. “These are regions of the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in abstract thought, self-awareness, and reality testing.”
Characteristics of Lucid Dreaming
However, Daniel Love, oneirologist and lucid dreaming expert, explains that controlling our dreams is not the only significant characteristic of lucid dreaming. Love explains following features of lucid dreaming:
1. Aware that they are dreaming
2. Recognizes the significance of this realization (that the entire dream world is a delusion)
3. Possesses mental abilities akin to those of an awake mind, such as the capacity for critical and logical thought
Love says, Many people experience lucid dreams on their own throughout their lives. It’s frequent in kids and teenagers, he says, and “the quality of lucidity can range from a vague sense that one is dreaming (which technically isn’t a true lucid dream, but is related) all the way up to feeling as though one has “woken up” in an entirely different universe.”
There is evidence to show that lucid dreams are associated to sleep disorders, notably narcolepsy, and that they can also happen normally and spontaneously.
Causes of Lucid Dreaming
Deirdre Leigh Barrett, Ph.D., a dream specialist and lecturer in Harvard Department of psychology explains that the majority of lucid dreamers believe them to be an enthralling state of consciousness. She explains that those who regularly and easily use them frequently utilize them for a variety of intriguing purposes, including dream exploration and anxiety reduction.
People investigate lucid dreaming for various reasons. According to Love, many people participate in the practice because of “curiosity, self-discovery, philosophy, and spirituality, but surprisingly few are drawn by escapism.”
As a lot of work goes into learning how to lucid dream and that rarely coincides with the personality types that intend to utilize it as a distraction, Love suspects that fun is not typically a component. The author Love continues, “Learning how to lucid dream requires a closer relationship with one’s mind and reality, so in many ways, it is the polar opposite of escapism.”
Can Lucid dreaming be used as a therapy for treating nightmares?
There is some evidence that lucid dreaming may be helpful as a form of nightmare therapy, and recent studies have found that lucid dreaming can dramatically lessen the symptoms of anxiety and depression.
In an effort to provide more conclusive responses on the topic in 2022, psychologists from Northwestern University’s Department of Psychology conducted a content analysis on posts from a public lucid dreaming internet forum. In the end, scientists discovered that lucid dreaming might also be used to stimulate original thought, advance personally, and lessen the effects of sleeplessness.
The group also determined some of the advantages and disadvantages of lucid dreaming.
Advantages of Lucid Dreaming
- Dream augmentation
- Increased imagination/insight
- Better attitude when you get up
- Nightmare aversion
Disadvantages of Lucid Dreaming
1. Anxiety or panic during a lucid dream
2. Poor sleep quality
3. For those with specific mental health conditions, reality might be confusing
4. Undesirable lucid dreams
Techniques that can induce Lucid Dreams
It is better not to presume that there is a “right” or “perfect” strategy, advises Love. “There are many techniques that aim to induce lucid dreams.” Love likens picking a lucid dreaming method to picking out an outfit. No lucid dreaming technique is “perfect” in the same way that no article of clothing is, according to him. “Like with clothing, lucid dreaming techniques must be adjusted to fit the weather and events; sleep is full of variables, so we must modify the techniques we employ to do so.
- Reality Testing Method
According to Barrett, the reality testing technique “involves taking an action and evaluating whether the results are consistent with results anticipated when awake.” In the future, one might elect to conduct one of these tests while dreaming, which might end in failure and reveal to the dreamer that they are dreaming. They must differ between that person’s dreams and waking reality.
Cobb utilized a spinning top in “Inception,” which would eventually stop spinning if he were awake, but would spin endlessly if he were dreaming. Barrett claims that the following tests are typical ones that work for many individuals if a top doesn’t do it for you:
Reading text about it- Reading it, looking away, then reading it once more. Dream text frequently appears blurry, absurd, or different upon second reading.
Watching Digital clock/watch- The dreamer needs to make sure the figures make sense when viewed as a time. Try looking away and then looking back, like when you read. At a second glance, the dream time will probably have altered drastically and arbitrarily. (Digital watches frequently alter in dreams, although analog watches don’t normally. A digital watch or clock may have odd characters or out-of-synch digits.)
Lookint into a mirror- Mirror reflections frequently appear distorted, inaccurate, or frightful in dreams.
Light switch flipping- In dreams, a switch rarely flips, changing the light levels.
2. Mnemonic Induction Lucid Dreaming (MILD)
Using the MILD technique, the dreamer memorizes the dream from which they recently awoke and then envisions becoming lucid while still in it. They go back to sleep, promising themselves that they will become aware of their dreaming in the following one.
Conclusion
Based on actual science and psychology, Lucid Dreaming is a very real experience for many people. Lucid dreaming, which happens when the dreamer is aware they are dreaming while still in a dream state, is primarily a process of activity in the brain’s prefrontal cortex. While some people may have lucid dreams on their own, anyone can learn to have them; it just takes time, patience, and practice.
