Blog Post No. 5 Lucid dreaming could happen

      Do you believe that there are different kinds of dream? Have you ever asked how this and that happen? Or are you even aware that you are dreaming? According to different studies, it is said that when you are always experiencing deja vu, there is a high tendency that you'll experience precognitive dreaming, too. One of the types of precognitive dreaming is lucid dreaming. It is said that this is the most interesting to study among the other types.

     Lucid dreaming is a dream where in a person is aware that he/she is dreaming. This is typically happening when the dreamer experiences something strange, and when they stop to question their reality, they realize that they are in a dream. This dream is where you can control the things happening in your dream. Which I really find cool. But as I continue my research, I found out that there are possible dangers could happen.

       

      In the article "Is Lucid Dreaming Dangerous?" by Ryan Hurd, it is said that Lucid Dreaming is not considered as mental illness since there's no found evidence of it. In fact, he said that there are psychologists who use it clinically to help those people to cope with there nightmares. However, he has listed these dangers that are based on fears of lucid dreamers.

      The first danger is the logical fallacy of having mental illness called hypnanogic hallucinations. This occurs when images are seen at the threshold between walking and sleeping. This happens when dreamers try the techniques that encourage wake-initiated lucid dreams. This also causes arousal disorders that increase the likelihood of awareness at sleep onset which is considered as an early symptom of schizophrenia.

       Next is dreaming as delirium. This is where psychiatrists have compared paranoid delusional patients as existing in "a world between waking and sleeping." Which is strengthened by the word of Patrick McNamara, a Harvard sleep doctor that dreaming is "an at of aggression," because of the high levels of negative dream content. Which proves that dreaming, waking hallucination and disorders of social aggression involves brain mechanisms.

       And lastly, the terror of false awakening. This fears the dreamers that they're losing touch with reality. This is where they think that they're already awake but in reality, they're still stuck in the dream. Lucid dream tends to not wake you up. It creates a scene that seems real whenever you tend to wake up as a dream scene fades. This worries the dreamers because they don't know if they're awake or asleep.

       "I say with confidence that there’s nothing to fear. Not even fear itself." as Hurd says. I agree with what he said. Because it is said that there are no evidences yet that Lucid dreaming causes mental illness. Also, it is stated that Lucid dreaming can help psychologically to those having nightmares and needing psychological growth.

      On the other hand, there are still good things that Lucid Dreaming can do to us which I've read in the article "Benefits of Lucid Dreaming" by Rebecca Turner. This just shows that lucid dreaming still has a positive impact on our lives.

       First is improving your problem solving skills. It is used to enhance their problem solving skills in extraordinarily creative ways. Second is improving your creativity, it reveals our most creative side because of the free-flow of ideas arising from the subconscious mind. Third is facing your fears which pushes you to your logical limits. You can work it with dealing a worst case scenario in a positive way. Fourth is improving your confidence that releases your inhibitions and be totally free in a realistic dream world. Lucid dreams serves as your playground for experimentation where you can improve your confidence in any number of waking scenarios. Fifth if practicing new skills which proves that the benefits of lucid dreaming is limitless. Like let's say, you can't do martial arts. You can practice doing it in your dream. And lastly, exploring alternate realities that when you wake up in a new dream scene, you tend to explore and discover new things.

       Turner says, "The benefits of lucid dreaming are far-reaching." This just shows that lucid dreaming can do something good in our lives. That it can free us from our fears and gives us confidence in everything we do. So yes, I agree with what she said.

      To sum it all up, lucid dreaming is not like any other dream. It can cause us good and bad things. But in the end, it's still your choice if you'll lucid dream or not. It's just this, are you willing to take all the risks?