Thread: Elderly people and lucid dreams?

Well, I work 12-14 hour intense days as a doctor, and my dream recall is bad at the moment doing 5 days/week. It rocketed when I had 6 months of working part time last year so there is a lot of truth in some of this.

I'm sure I read something not so long ago saying that older people needing less sleep is a total myth in a reputable medical journal, so looking at those graphs perhaps something is amiss - particularly 24-70 years olds only needing 5.5 hours sleep, and 70 years old only needing 4.5 hours!

I'm middle aged and have not noticed a change in dreams except now that I'm paying attention to them I remember them a lot more. I'm up to 3.5 lucid dreams a week and remember a few regular dreams every night as well. I think most seniors don't remember their dreams and don't lucid dream for the same reason most people don't, because it isn't something they are focused on. I also think the younger generations have been exposed to LDing and dream information more so have more interest in it.
I have noticed when I have more free time I LD more as well.

I do recall seeing figures that suggest less REM as we age, but I wonder if they have studied how much REM older people get if they practice lucid dreaming? I suspect the answer would be different.

Guys, I am a senior citizen...I just started lucid dreaming 8 years ago. I still seem to have lots of dreams and dont notice a REM decrease. I LD about once a week. I think like dreams, if you want more REM you will get more REM. Dont accept the limitations the studies show. There could be other factors, and training may overcome normal limits. If we never exercised the body we will get weaker over time faster than if we exercise. I figure it is the same with the mind.

Originally Posted by TruMotion

sleep

Kind of makes me think: what if the person in question constantly "exercises" and values REM sleep, do you think the graph would change? I mean, lets not forget that this graph is probably from an age where people were quite dismissive of dreams in general; I'd dare guess that most of them didn't have a "I hope I could keep dreaming more" attitude. It's always been curious to me how sleep is always painted in such a "static" way: you may be able to change everything about yourself except the way your sleep works. No matter how hard you try, REM cycles will always be this and that long and will always happen this and that way; it's jarring and it makes me feel helpless.

Wishful thinking. Depressing.

Edit: just read this...

Originally Posted by Rothgar

There could be other factors, and training may overcome normal limits. If we never exercised the body we will get weaker over time faster than if we exercise. I figure it is the same with the mind.

This is exactly what I was talking about, but it's still so weird to me that it isn't mentioned more often. Oh well, I guess I just forget just how uncharted the dream territory really is; I thought I was past (passed?) that, but apparently not.