People who don't have dreams.

Hi,
I just joined this forum because I recently got into lucid dreaming due to having one about a week ago.

So I was having a heated argument with my friend about the purpose of lucid dreaming and I was saying it has countless applications whether they are real-life related, self development, or just having fun, and one of the reasons I suspect he doesn't really like them is because he tells me he dreams only once every two weeks and even then he only has the feeling of having dreamt, he doesn't remember them at all. I also have another friend who tells me he never dreams. So I was wondering, do you guys really think some people just don't dream? I know the typical answer-"everyone dreams" but I'm kind of interested in whether they actually do dream all the time and if they don't how they can start dreaming.

As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever had one night where I haven't dreamt something, but even before getting interested in lucid dreaming, every night I was always looking forward to and wondering what kind of new adventure I will have during my sleep so people telling me they never dream almost sounds to me like telling someone you rarely ever breathe. What do you guys think?

"Everyone dreams" You have to think about it when you wake up, if you just don't think about it you won't remember many dreams unless you have a nightmare or something like that.

PS: Before I started with the dreams thing (5 months ago) I rarely rememberd my dreams, and one night I had a very interesting and really vivid dream and I wanted it to happen again, so I found LD :D

It's just a matter of whether or not you want to remember them. I never remembered my dreams until just a few days ago when I discovered LD. From that point, I had a few dreams that I don't remember much from. Each day I'm at it, it becomes easier to remember.

Everyone dreams, unless they have some medical issue in which they don't, which I've never heard of. People who claim not to dream just don't remember their dreams. It's easy to imagine them not remembering, since we all, I think, have more difficulty remembering dreams than our waking life.

Hmm. I think I understand now. I'll make sure to tell said friends about this.
Thanks so much for your help guys!:D

ok, yes you have a dream every single night. BUT! there is 2 reasons it seems like you didnt have them

1:could be something like an alarm clock. when an alarm clock wakes you up, your not think about your dream, its a sudden awakening and you roll over to turn it off and forget you had a dream.
2: the amount of sleep and how healthy you are can also affect it.

Yupp, everyone dreams. Just some people don't remember any of them when they wake up. Mostly because they probably don't care about them.

OK so after seeing this thread I felt the question wasn't fully answered. Not all people dream, however most do, those who don't have brain injuries or lesions (cuts in the brain) from surgery. This was looked into by Mark Solms and he describes it in his book "The Neuropsychology of Dreams: A Clinico-Anatomical Study". So concluding, if someone says they don't dream they most probably simply don't remember their dreams, however there is a small chance they actually have brain damage which prevents them form dreaming. Oh and even people who went blind (but not due to brain damage) after the age 5-7 can "see" in their dreams :D

Well the question was answered to the utmost practicality. I mean of course if you have a lesion to the brain or brain damage you may not dream, but I imagine we all assumed that wasn't what the OP was referring to. We all dream because we all have REM sleep, of course we also dream in NREM but it seems REM in some regard requires some level of higher brain functionality and thus awareness to function correctly. There are roughly 5-6 REM periods a night it also means we dream roughly 5-6 times a night. If you feel like you aren't experiencing the dreams it's simply an issue of awareness and memory, both of which are fundamentally connected anyway. If you don't remember something then it's likely because you weren't aware of it an vice versa.

Start to record your dreams even if it's one word, this'll get you to remember at least a good 1-3 dreams a night and you'll gradually be able to remember all 6. You can increase awareness by using techniques such as ADA (All Day Awareness) or Dream Yoga (sivason). Which is kind of what this board is about anyway lucidity is synonymous with awareness, to be lucid is also to be aware. Thusly the more you work towards being a lucid dreamer the better you'll be able to remember your dreams and truly experience them. Consider that right now your dreams are like a drunken stupor, your present but you awareness is at such a reduced level it's almost impossible to notice anything.

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Originally Posted by Iggy

OK so after seeing this thread I felt the question wasn't fully answered. Not all people dream, however most do, those who don't have brain injuries or lesions (cuts in the brain) from surgery. This was looked into by Mark Solms and he describes it in his book "The Neuropsychology of Dreams: A Clinico-Anatomical Study". So concluding, if someone says they don't dream they most probably simply don't remember their dreams, however there is a small chance they actually have brain damage which prevents them form dreaming. Oh and even people who went blind (but not due to brain damage) after the age 5-7 can "see" in their dreams :D

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My dad has sleep apnea and wakes up every 5-10 minutes because he stops breathing. The doctor said he never had REM sleep the whole night. Probably around 99% of people dream every night, brain damage and sleep problems are the only reasons that I know of that someone wouldn't.

Sorry to hear it woodstock,i've already experienced what sleep apnia is, but it happened only couple times in my life, and im almost 30 years so i hope i wont be get stronger and more often.
But it happened me only when i was starting to fall asleep.When i was a deeper state, not so awake i released cant breath.And suddenly 'throwed up' my head from the pillow and i took a deep breath.It is terrible by all means.First of all it can be really scarry and uncomf.,and u get out from that good state, when u almost asleep but u r still awake.
Sorry to hear this prob about your father it should be terrible, to live this every night, especially when he experience it during the whole night.Iz happened me only while falling asleep couple times.

I agree that everyone dreams... but not everyone remembers their dreams. Having the ability to recall your dreams is an important element in developing the ability to lucid dream. Consequently, lucid dreamers might be seen as odd-ball, down the road- crazy wackos by those who can not recall their own dreams.

On top of not putting in an effort to remember their dreams when they wake up, their minds could be too focused on the real world too so the moment they wake up their focus is shifted back into the real world again and everything from the dream world is forgotten in a flash.

If your friends are keen in remembering their dreams, they can practice dream recall methods like staying still for 5 minutes after waking up and attempt to recall any fragment if possible and journalling.