Effects of sleep deprivation on lucid dreams

[HaroldLauder]

Hey! So, school is starting up again for me in a few days, and I am also starting a new job. With my current schedule, I'll likely be getting 3.5 to 4 hours of sleep per night, which is far below the normal length. I can already tell I'm going to be sleep deprived and exhausted in the daytime. Are there any lucid dream induction techniques that use sleep deprivation as an advantage? I've read stories of people having more lucid dreams when they are mildly sleep deprived every now and then. I would imagine that laying still and WILDing into a LD would be a bit easier, since I'll be tremendously tired already. Thanks. Also, for the record, I haven't had an actual LD yet.

[Sensei]

fundamentals for LDing memory awareness sleep effects of lack of sleep on the body impaired memory impaired awareness lack of sleep (well, less sleep obviously) I would recommend making sleep a priority, it is unhealthy to sleep so little. You should try to get 7, but 6 would be fine. Usually, if you sleep 6 hours you can be more organized and do better at things like school and work, even with less time devoted to them. I used to get that much sleep each night (same reasons) and I struggled at work and with some school, when i started sleeping at night I began getting less friction at work and better grades. Most "sleep deprivation techs for LDing" are more like "miss sleeping for 4 hours one night when on a good schedule." People say that WILD should be easier because you are more tired, this is probably because you have never.wild and the concept seems to be "bring wake and sleep together", but it isnt, it is to fall asleep while aware and feels more like a balancing act of awareness, memory, and sleep, so with sleep deprivation you are trying to balance when the scales are extremely tipped one way, towards the way with less memory and recall and pulls you harder to sleep. you will likely just fall asleep and everythinf be black for 4 hours, maybe one dream at the end. 168 hours in a week, lets put it like this 68 hours for work, commute, and work related projects lets say school takes you 40 hours a week (because you are top notch student) 56 hours a week for sleep? lets knock that down to 42. 18 hours to play, or 2 and a half hours of free time a day. This is just my estimation of your free time, but I dont know the work school balance, and if you are a freshman in college it could be much less college, in later years it could be more. Get some sleep! lol. You dont want to be spending all the money on classes and not do as amazing as you should be due to sleep deprivation. excell!

[itsok]

Hi Harold I find that the most important thing for a succesfully wild is that ur body is exhausted, the more the better So i dont know if ur new job contains physichal work, but it will help to wild much easyer to success. I think i already told here couple years ago the following: When i was about 14 years of age (now im 34) i did a wild very easyly, and i did know about lucid dreaming nothing.I didnt know it is exist, i wondered sometimes after this wierd experience for years, until i find in 2011 lucid dreaming on the web.When i started reading the methods and find the wild tech, i've already knew what happened with me that early evening nap on the couch back when i was 14. So what is the most benefit to wild is when ur body exhausted.Im 100% sure about this. ps(i can see u are from the states, so sorry if u find couple mistakes in my eng)

[HaroldLauder]

Hey, thanks for the reply! Yeah, I agree, WILD seems like it would be easier when the person is exhausted. Your English is just fine lol, thanks again for replying!

[Sensei]

Hey, thanks for the reply! Yeah, I agree, WILD seems like it would be easier when the person is exhausted. Your English is just fine lol, thanks again for replying! There is a difference between sleep deprived and exhausted. when sleep deprived, your brain doesnt work as well and you slip into a deep and blank sleep. when exhausted (from manual labor, not "not sleeping") then your brain is very active, but your body is tired, making it easier to WILD.

[kir4ee]

Oh man trust me you do not want to be sleep deprived its one of the worst things for me and i have tried a few times to WILD in the afternoon while sleep deprived i just fell a sleep in minutes but its not just bad for lucid dreaming its for everything here's a few things you should keep in mind first its not good for your health and not only that you'll get more stress lack of concentration easily irritated angry most of the time and probably depression in the long run.

[Threeofeight]

There is a difference between sleep deprived and exhausted. when sleep deprived, your brain doesnt work as well and you slip into a deep and blank sleep. when exhausted (from manual labor, not "not sleeping") then your brain is very active, but your body is tired, making it easier to WILD. Just adding to the list physical exhaustion due to other reasons like lack of vitamin, sunlight etc. Makes me think, when OP does this sleep deprivation thing. Might be helpful to check on diet and food supplements (proper vitamins etc.) and use it to charge you're short sleeps. It might add to youre repertoire of things to try. Especially when WILDing I reckon it might be useful.

[GoatHammer]

Hey, thanks for the reply! Yeah, I agree, WILD seems like it would be easier when the person is exhausted. Your English is just fine lol, thanks again for replying! I completely agree with itsok, i once got a WILD within 4 seconds after waking up exhausted. (i counted the seconds).

[Eveningsky]

First off, 3.5-4 hours of sleep is a really bad idea. I mean, it's fine on occasion, but on a regular basis, that is not sustainable. It's going to have adverse effects beyond just lucid dreaming. A prolonged lack of sleep creates a mental state very similar to drunkenness, so you want to stay away from driving if you're going to do that. I had a semester where I slept anywhere between 4 and 7 hours a night. Averaged around 5. I got through it with a 3.94 GPA, but I was irritable, negative, and on the edge the entire time. If I ever did become lucid, I was so mentally exhausted that I usually allowed myself to fall back into non-lucidity, because I was too tired to even think about what I would do. My brain needed rest. Dream recall and actually waking up to write in your dream journal are significantly harder when you're sleep deprived. However, the first time I succeeded with WILD was after sleeping about 4 hours, then getting off work and taking a 30 minute nap. So if you absolutely must do that, try and take some naps. It'll help. But I would really suggest cutting something out to allow for at least 5 hours of sleep a night. If you have to get less than that, then you need to either work more efficiently or scale down a commitment -- like for me, it was cutting working from 15 to 10 hours a week, and only practicing music once a week. You're going to be incredibly exhausted, and it most certainly will have detrimental effects on both your dreaming and waking life.

[HaroldLauder]

I completely agree with itsok, i once got a WILD within 4 seconds after waking up exhausted. (i counted the seconds). Do you think WILDing would work if I try it when I initially go to sleep, or do I still have to sleep first and then wake up and try it? I know that typically the person should sleep for 4-6 hours and then do it, but I figure I'm going to be dead tired already when I first lay down, so..

[GoatHammer]

Do you think WILDing would work if I try it when I initially go to sleep, or do I still have to sleep first and then wake up and try it? I know that typically the person should sleep for 4-6 hours and then do it, but I figure I'm going to be dead tired already when I first lay down, so.. I´ve never been able to WILD when initially going to sleep at night, only during WBTB and sometimes afternoon naps. Maybe it will work similarly to a afternoon nap if you are very tired and try it at bedtime, but almost all people who have tried it says that it´s next to impossible.