Thread: Ever mistake reality for a dream?

This has never happened to me for more than an instant -- occasionally, something really embarrassing or really lucky will happen, which makes me think "this is the sort of thing that happens in dreams," so I do a reality check and that's the end of that.

I'm asking, however, because I had a lucid dream today that involved about 6 false-awakenings in my real bedroom in rapid succession, and though the nose-plug RC kept failing, I remember thinking to myself "I want to open the window and fly, but I'm sufficiently confused, and the consequences of making this mistake are sufficiently dire (i.e. death) that I need to do some different RCs first." I did so, and accepted it as a dream.

If you asked someone for reasons why LDing might be bad, this would probably be near the top of the list. But has this ever happened to you in your waking life?

Sometimes, when I hear a noise in an environment where I wouldn't normally hear it. Or if I find there's something slightly weird about the place I'm at. ..usually it's just a minor change of decoration or something, but I do a reality check anyway, just to be sure.

You would have to be quite delusional to mistake reality for a dream, if the reality check didnt work your very unlikely to jump out a window to test it for real.

I agree with ShadowOfSelf on this one. I have been diagnosed with a mild form of bipolar (it's not serious, put away the Kleenex, lol), and I suffer from paranoia episodes and this causes me to experience similar things to you. However, now that I *know* I have this condition, I know to do a RC. In fact, I think it's helping me cope with the whole thing!!

I suppose it is a risk, but you have to just be cautious if you're not sure, that's all.

It has happened to me. In dreams and in reality. Just gotta keep some sanity/sense of reality and you'll be fine.

I would just NEVER jump out a window, dreaming or not! If I'm going to fly in a dream, I'll just levitate off the ground, like a helicopter.

Yes. My advice is always attempt from ground up and never from heights down! No serious consequences with flapping your arms like a fool in real life!

If you can't seem to decide through reality checks whether or not you are in a dream, it is always safer to just presume yourself to be in real life. Even if it turns out to be a dream, you only missed one opportunity to become lucid, but at least you did not hurt yourself or worse. A reality check might not always work; it might tell you that you are awake when you are in a dream, or you might misinterpret it to think that you are not in a dream, but a reality check will never tell you that you are dreaming when in fact you are awake.

Do you mean that you forget that your awake and think that it might be a dream? I have had that happen twice. Once when I was really drunk, and the other time when I had been seriously sleep deprived during finals. I literally had not slept more than a few hours for two weeks (3 finals+5 essays+job+flu), and could not figure out what the object was in front of me. I was about to drive home from the campus parking lot but saw something that I could not perceive. I could see it but my mind couldn't interpret it. People in the parking lot must have thought I was crazy, but I was so tired that I became paranoid and fearfully walked up to touch it. I was trying to do reality checks, but the fact that I could see something so incomprehensible made me feel like it was a dream despite the knowledge that I was awake. When I finally touched it, I felt like an idiot. It was a wall. Man, I really should not have driven home that night.

I have mistaken Dreams for reality, but not reality for dreams.

only once, i was walking out of the building my dad works in on a collage campus, and someone has left a small packet of papers on the table. i look closer and discover its about lucid dreaming! reality check follows, followed by reality. bahahaha

Once, I was sick and felt weird, there was fog outside and I was alone. All my dreams start as FAs, my RC is gravity and air, so the fog, the weird weight and just waking up all alone, thought it was a dream. Realized it was not shortly after, pretty fun experience.

Sometimes when I have major cases of déjà vu (it's been happening a lot lately) I'll stop and wonder if I'm just dreaming some past experience. I have to make myself do a reality check to convince myself that I'm not dreaming. It's actually pretty creepy when it happens...

I have had times when strange coincidences have occurred in real life involving multiple dreamsigns, and although the evidence tells me I am awake I still get suspicious. Healthy skepticism is always good though. Unhealthy skepticism (like jumping out of a window if something seems dreamlike) is not always good.

Its almost impossible to mistake reality for a dream. It only happens if your on drugs, suffering from some mental disorder, going into shock or dying and stuff.

I do sometimes suspect some things that happen in my waking life to be a dream, because some of the things that happen in my waking life are very similar to my dreams. However, no matter how much I think it is a dream, I never go off and jump out of a window or do anything crazy unless I'm either 100% sure I'm dreaming, but I usually just reality check all the time to make sure.

I've never mistaken a reality for a dream, but multiple RCs in my room are very familiar to me. This is a good sign that your awareness is strong. And yes, window often seems like the most obvious way out.

In terms of flying out the window, I found that gently moving my hand through glass is a RC in itself. I never break glass, but let my hand gently pass through it, like liquid mercury. Once I'm outside, I usually climb down though, and not fly. On some occasions, I was able to tap on the outside of the window while my hand was still going through it. It was really weird