An Idea Regarding Solitary Confinement Inmates and Lucid Dreaming

Hey All,

I just thought of something pretty radical while watching National Geographic's documentary on solitary confinement and its effects on prisoners. I instantly wondered what prisoners would do for their 23 hours of confinement and if dreaming was one of them. There was a mention in the documentary about one of the inmates having horrible nightmares and I wouldn't be surprised if this was a common phenomena.

I did a little research online and I could find nothing conclusive or exploratory about inmates and their dreaming habits. Part of me wonders if a course in lucid dreaming would be beneficial to these men. Most are put in solitary confinement, not for their crimes, but for their actions in prison. Most are already mentally unstable and throwing them in a tiny box for months or years on end only aggravates their condition and makes it likely for them to commit crimes again (sorry I don't have sources - this is just what I gather from the documentary).

I don't condone crimes or have any particular pity for those that commit them, but many placed in solitary are for very petty and inconsequential offenses. If these men (or women, depending) are going to wallow away in "the hole," shouldn't they be presented with the option to free their minds? To use that 1/3 of their lives for something better? I think lucid dreaming would be very beneficial and maybe a good way to relief stress, anger and fear.

I'm seriously so excited about this I'm already looking at getting back in school for psychology or psychiatry. Now tell me I'm crazy. Ha.

You are crazy ! ... :P ... interesting idea to say the least. I can see how meditation and consequently lucid dreaming can be beneficial in their situation. I'm looking forward to your achievement with this, if any.

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Originally Posted by kaeraz

Hey All,

I just thought of something pretty radical while watching National Geographic's documentary on solitary confinement and its effects on prisoners. I instantly wondered what prisoners would do for their 23 hours of confinement and if dreaming was one of them. There was a mention in the documentary about one of the inmates having horrible nightmares and I wouldn't be surprised if this was a common phenomena.

I did a little research online and I could find nothing conclusive or exploratory about inmates and their dreaming habits. Part of me wonders if a course in lucid dreaming would be beneficial to these men. Most are put in solitary confinement, not for their crimes, but for their actions in prison. Most are already mentally unstable and throwing them in a tiny box for months or years on end only aggravates their condition and makes it likely for them to commit crimes again (sorry I don't have sources - this is just what I gather from the documentary).

I don't condone crimes or have any particular pity for those that commit them, but many placed in solitary are for very petty and inconsequential offenses. If these men (or women, depending) are going to wallow away in "the hole," shouldn't they be presented with the option to free their minds? To use that 1/3 of their lives for something better? I think lucid dreaming would be very beneficial and maybe a good way to relief stress, anger and fear.

I'm seriously so excited about this I'm already looking at getting back in school for psychology or psychiatry. Now tell me I'm crazy. Ha.

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I'm going to prison very soon (maybe next few days) so im going to try to do lucid dreaming before then by reading how its done on dreamviews.com im not sure how many months or years ill get but im already getting depressed that im going to be there :( hopefully lucid dreaming will help me with stress and relax me while im stuck in there.

if you wanted to know why im going there, its for credit card fraud. no violence involved though, i hate violence and drama.

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Originally Posted by kaeraz

I did a little research online and I could find nothing conclusive or exploratory about inmates and their dreaming habits.

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Thought you might find this interesting. Here's an excerpt out of EWLD in which a prison inmate writes Dr. Laberge.

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I am an inmate confined in a federal prison. When I read the article about being conscious while in the dream state I became very interested in it for I was able to do the same thing. I have had such experiences while dreaming and have loved them. They have at times given me a way to escape from being confined. In one such dream I started realizing that if I wanted to I could control the environment here, for this was created by my subconscious, therefore subject to my conscious will. I thought for a moment of what I would like to do. The first thought that came through my mind was the fact that I had not been with a woman in years and is is what I wanted most, for even though it was only a dream, everything there was just like here, there was no difference. So as I sat there I looked at these two guys and told them that this was no more than a dream. I then told them that I have been in prison for a while now and that I wanted a woman to have sex with. Neither of them said anything but looked at me in a crazy way. I then repeated my desire and began to think upon it. The guy at the table then told me that I should go into the other room. So I got up, went to the door, and before entering concentrated on my desire. I was then in the room. There on the bed was lying a woman who had been in the dream earlier. I took my clothes off and got into bed with her. Throughout the entire sexual act I kept concentrating on keeping in a conscious state of mind, because in previous such dreams I would panic or lose myself and fall out of the dream. There was total awareness of every moment of our sexual act, from beginning to end. After we were finished / rolled over on my side. As my head hit the pillow I felt that drifting feeling coming over me and realized that I was getting ready to pass into the blackness that I always find myself in when I leave these types of dreams and wake up. (D. M., Terre Haute, Indiana)

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Lucid dreaming has the potential to kill depression, and can change people for the better. Anyone can benefit from lucid dreams, inmates included. I think this is a really good idea!

lucid dreaming/dreaming in general certainly brings something to my life as someone who spends most of the time in their bedroom. I've thought about using this for prisoners too.

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Originally Posted by ErikaEH

Lucid dreaming has the potential to kill depression, and can change people for the better. Anyone can benefit from lucid dreams, inmates included. I think this is a really good idea!

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I definitely agree! Just the happiness and pleasure that can come from lucid dreaming is worth it for all, not to mention the health and spiritual benefits. And the determination and perseverance you can gain from learning to lucid dream would help with any job or goal you have in your life. Or it could help change inmates and keep them out of jail. Imagine a world where everyone is raised from a young age to lucid dream and take advantage of the awesome gift that life has given us. My everlasting goal is to make that happen. It isn't simple at all to make that happen, but let me have my dreams :)

I think lucid dreaming could be beneficial for many people in similar situations, not just prisoners. For example, people who are stuck in hospitals or at home due to illness would have a great outlet and a way to live that wasn't handicapped by life's circumstances. And could you imagine what it would be like to be paralyzed, but able to dance or fly or do anything you wanted every night? It would certainly ease depression.

I've thought about this before - thinking that prison would be an interesting place to try and focus on something like dreaming. A lot of people find religion while in prison, and I could see how they would easily be able to have enough time and space to be concentrate on their dreaming.

Then again, you must think about all the violence in prison, and giving murderers an outlet where they can express and let out their darkest desires could potentially be better for them, or make them more dangerous.