• Lucid Dreaming - Dream Views




    Results 1 to 8 of 8
    Like Tree13Likes
    • 3 Post By AnotherDreamer
    • 2 Post By TwitchLucidity
    • 3 Post By dolphin
    • 2 Post By Sensei
    • 1 Post By SinisterDezz
    • 2 Post By JoannaB

    Thread: Why does stress affect lucid dreaming?

    1. #1
      Member Achievements:
      Made lots of Friends on DV Tagger First Class Vivid Dream Journal 1000 Hall Points Veteran Second Class
      AnotherDreamer's Avatar
      Join Date
      Dec 2013
      Gender
      Location
      Australia
      Posts
      815
      Likes
      1558
      DJ Entries
      87

      Question Why does stress affect lucid dreaming?

      I think it's quite clear from reading the various threads on DV that stress negatively affects lucid dreaming. I'm wondering what you guys think might be possible causes of this?
      Last edited by AnotherDreamer; 03-15-2014 at 02:32 AM.

    2. #2
      Twitcher TwitchLucidity's Avatar
      Join Date
      Dec 2013
      Gender
      Posts
      213
      Likes
      205
      DJ Entries
      17
      Well, I don't know much, but I am sure it is caused by stress hormones creating dull dreams you can't remember, kind of like some meds.

    3. #3
      Member Achievements:
      Tagger Second Class Vivid Dream Journal Made lots of Friends on DV Referrer Bronze Veteran First Class 10000 Hall Points
      dolphin's Avatar
      Join Date
      Sep 2012
      Gender
      Location
      the Pacific Ocean
      Posts
      2,495
      Likes
      3239
      DJ Entries
      153
      Stress affects lucid dreaming because it affects its foundation-dream recall. It affects the recall because the mind is more focused on the stress than the dream. Less dream recall equals less chance of a lucid dream.

    4. #4
      Member Achievements:
      Made lots of Friends on DV 5000 Hall Points Vivid Dream Journal Tagger First Class Populated Wall Veteran First Class Referrer Gold
      Sensei's Avatar
      Join Date
      Sep 2012
      Gender
      Location
      The Depths
      Posts
      4,415
      Likes
      5589
      DJ Entries
      116
      I would sat that stress has a negative effect on any hobby that you have. it is just bad!

      More specifically, there are a lot of things that you can do with more than one thing on your mind. Dreams and lucidity needs focus. The type of focus that stress takes away. This is why when meditating I dont focus on "not thinking of anything." I focus on one thing. Even if it isn't LDinh, the practice is good for LDing.

    5. #5
      Member Achievements:
      Made lots of Friends on DV Tagger First Class Vivid Dream Journal 1000 Hall Points Veteran Second Class
      AnotherDreamer's Avatar
      Join Date
      Dec 2013
      Gender
      Location
      Australia
      Posts
      815
      Likes
      1558
      DJ Entries
      87
      Quote Originally Posted by dolphin View Post
      Stress affects lucid dreaming because it affects its foundation-dream recall. It affects the recall because the mind is more focused on the stress than the dream. Less dream recall equals less chance of a lucid dream.
      This makes sense! But I haven't experienced that personally. My dream recall is just as good when I'm stressed but I tend to not get LDs. And when I DO become lucid it's usually a very low level lucidity where I don't remember much outside of the dream, I just know that it is a dream. And my dream control is affected too! I have terrible dream control right now, can hardly even fly.

      Quote Originally Posted by BrandonBoss View Post
      I would sat that stress has a negative effect on any hobby that you have. it is just bad!

      More specifically, there are a lot of things that you can do with more than one thing on your mind. Dreams and lucidity needs focus. The type of focus that stress takes away. This is why when meditating I dont focus on "not thinking of anything." I focus on one thing. Even if it isn't LDinh, the practice is good for LDing.
      I can relate to this idea, stress definitely takes away from my focus. Maybe that is related to why my dream control is so bad right now, do you experience loss of dream control too when you're stressed?

      I was thinking about this a lot earlier and I thought that maybe I just become less aware in general, becoming more preoccupied/distracted by my stress. Last night I remembered many, many dreams with great recall. I noticed that there were a lot of obvious signs that I was dreaming that I would normally pick up on and I just didn't notice at all. I really want to get to a more concrete understanding of why this happens, maybe it could be useful in some way.

    6. #6
      Returned Achievements:
      Created Dream Journal Made lots of Friends on DV Referrer Bronze Tagger First Class Populated Wall 1000 Hall Points Veteran Second Class
      SinisterDezz's Avatar
      Join Date
      Jun 2013
      LD Count
      Irrelevant
      Gender
      Location
      Colorado
      Posts
      757
      Likes
      779
      DJ Entries
      26
      I feel like it would be because you aren't focused and calm. You have your mind in other places, where you aren't focusing primarily on lucid dreaming or dreaming in general. I think it's almost similar to taking a test you studied for really hard. You know that you know the answers, you are really anxious, and you don't know how to do any of the problems. Your mind is racing like crazy and you don't have the ability to think straight (Not saying that you think straight in dreams, it's just a metaphor). If you calm down and focus, you might pass the test with ease, remembering things along the way.

      The ironic thing about this post is how I did take a test today that is exactly as I described. I was flipping out until I calmed down and focused. I have been so stressed lately haha.

      As far as the whole focus aspect, lucid dreaming is about awareness (No duh. This is why I am a dreamguide), and when you lose that awareness and start walking through the day as a mindless zombie, focused on errands, and tests, and tests, and homework, and tests, you forget to RC and do all the things that help you become lucid at night. It really is hard getting into the habit of being like this every second of the day, (Which may be counter-productive, as you are mentally exhausted at night), but that is discussion for another time.

      That's just my experience. I haven't had a lucid dream in 2 weeks. I usually average 10 a week. So much for being a natural.
      Wouldn't it be great if life was just focused on lucid dreaming? Completely and utterly devoted to the cause? *sigh*

      Also, as a side note, it was mentioned up there ^ that meditation is extremely helpful. Thought I would just throw that in there. Seriously, try it sometime. It will be hard at first, but pays off in the long run. Not just lucid dreaming, but life in general.
      Last edited by SinisterDezz; 03-15-2014 at 05:40 AM.
      AnotherDreamer likes this.
      The bird breaks free of the egg.
      The egg is the world.
      Who would to be born must first destroy a world.

    7. #7
      Member Achievements:
      Made lots of Friends on DV Tagger First Class Vivid Dream Journal 1000 Hall Points Veteran Second Class
      AnotherDreamer's Avatar
      Join Date
      Dec 2013
      Gender
      Location
      Australia
      Posts
      815
      Likes
      1558
      DJ Entries
      87
      Thank you to everyone that replied

      @sinisterDezz - I can believe most of what you said but I'm not entirely convinced about losing focus on the daytime work for dreaming leading to decreased lucidity at night. I feel like it might be something else. Before the tests rolled around I was having 2-3 LDs a night with no effort, no daytime work, no RCs at all. Then I became stressed and now I have to put in a ton of effort just to have one LD. Maybe it could be related to what TwitchLucidity suggested as far as stress hormones affecting awareness.

      I think we can all agree that stress detracts from our emotional attention. I am wondering if anybody knows about a chemical foundation for this phenomena? And if stress detracts from our ability to focus then wouldn't that lessen our ability to take in new information? I think that this seems counter-intuitive, would make more sense to me if we became more focused and more aware when under stress.

    8. #8
      Dreamer Achievements:
      Tagger First Class Made lots of Friends on DV Vivid Dream Journal 5000 Hall Points Referrer Bronze Veteran Second Class
      JoannaB's Avatar
      Join Date
      Feb 2013
      LD Count
      2017:1, pre:13+
      Gender
      Location
      Virginia
      Posts
      3,024
      Likes
      2155
      DJ Entries
      449
      When I am stressed I tend to over focus on whatever it is that I am stressed about, to an extent of paying less attention to what is going on around me. Successful lucid dreaming requires paying attention to what is going on around one, one's circumstances. When I am stressed I am more likely to have a car accident because I am thinking about whatever I am stressed about rather than about driving. Lucid dreaming is a skill which just like driving requires attention to the present moment.
      You may say I'm a dreamer.
      But I'm not the only one
      - John Lennon

    Similar Threads

    1. Does stress affect lucid dreaming?
      By SpecterSlash in forum General Lucid Discussion
      Replies: 6
      Last Post: 11-18-2013, 04:41 AM
    2. Connection between stress and lack of lucid dreaming?
      By theMagician in forum General Lucid Discussion
      Replies: 4
      Last Post: 03-23-2011, 09:36 AM
    3. Does stress affect dream recall?
      By Mikey428 in forum Sleep and Health
      Replies: 13
      Last Post: 11-12-2008, 03:44 AM
    4. Can Stress, Worry, Or Harrassment Affect My Ludicity?
      By spirit in forum General Lucid Discussion
      Replies: 2
      Last Post: 08-14-2006, 10:06 PM
    5. Stress and its affect on dreams
      By Black Phoenix in forum Dream Signs and Recall
      Replies: 3
      Last Post: 02-25-2006, 11:21 PM

    Tags for this Thread

    Bookmarks

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •