This method, which I find to work extremely well—almost infallibly, if done right—is a double-edged sword; it can cause problems to manifest and escalate, and people do it all the time without even realizing it.
This is related to a phenomenon known as 'Dual process'.
Basically, whenever you try to mentally suppress an oneiric effect (because it might make you feel upset or uncomfortable), there is a cognitive mechanism that is designed to push back, counteractively. This can be anything: an idea, an emotion, a tactile sensation, an image, or a sound. Studies have even shown that if you try to suppress a negative thought during the day (or before bed), it is more likely to show up when you are dreaming. That goes double for LDing, where an unwanted effect can be activated, almost as if it's challenging you to acknowledge it, forcing itself on you even more if you try to suppress it. This can lead to a disturbing outcome, often causing the person to feel scared, ashamed, annoyed, or even disgusted after they wake up.
If you are suppressing or rejecting something, it has not yet been emotionally/intellectually resolved in some way. If it has, it shouldn't bother you whenever it shows up in your dreams. That is not to say, however, that events only manifest whenever they bother you. The process, at a certain stage, behaves autonomously while actively comparing associated bits of information (which might seem random) in order to test your response. As the events successively become resolved and extinguished, the scenario will continue to develop into something else. It continues to do so until the dream ends.
As with any theory, it might as well be useless if you cannot derive an effectual operation and solution from it. My results have been positive, though.
Incentive and motivation play a very big role! You know what you care about and what troubles you, and that information is automatically stored in your brain. You cannot dupe it; you have to be honest with yourself.
Here are a few solutions that can help you move along:
1) Embrace and submit to the problems as they show up, no matter how uncomfortable or disappointing it may be to do so. This can have some undesirable psychological effects, though, because it can dramatically alter your ideological preferences and sense of morality, for obvious reasons.
2) Meditate on the recurring issues that manifest, and then consider how they relate to you. Figure out what can give you a sense of peace and safety.
3) Disregard, with confidence and assurance, the problems as they show up. Do not try to suppress them. The more negative and troubling the problem is, the more difficulty you might have. Some issues are more complex and demanding than others, and so they may require an alternative action.
On the opposite side of things, there is an approach that can utilize this mechanism for the better, pushing the dream in a desired direction. First, there are some things you must acknowledge:
• If you try to suppress something that you are perfectly happy to have occur, your mind ends up feeling comforted as it happens—this can cause it to quickly cease, or develop some sort of irritating characteristic, thus leaving you feeling dissatisfied. That is its nature, and not much can be done to change the way it behaves. The mechanism is quite limiting, indeed.
• You do not have to spend much time focusing on getting from point A to point B, e.g., you don't need to look for an object in order to obtain it. Getting too fixated on the former can become a huge distraction and can make you lose your train of thought.
• Refusing to be satisfied with an enjoyable event will increase the duration of the experience, just as it would with something that is negative.
• Emotional incentive, such as anger or sadness, is what can prompt an issue to surface. It is, on the other hand, secondary; suppression is what causes it to persist. Keep that in mind.
For now, that's the best I can do. Knowing this has helped me tremendously, and I hope it will help others.
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