Can lucid dreaming help you get over a mild social anxiety?

[Yuusha]

I am a fairly socially awkward person, in the sense that I find it kind of tough to carry on a long conversation with people, often run out of things to say, and find it generally unpleasant to spend t ime with a lot of people for a long time since I always feel like I end up being the one who's quiet while everyone else get more and more talkative. And I am aware that certain people are introverts and enjoy being alone more often than other people, but this is certainly not something that I enjoy myself, so I cannot be an introvert at heart, especially considering I was very extroverted and social when I grew up (and I am 28 years old right now). So I am wondering, can you use lucid dreaming to practice social events like being at parties and feeling generally comfortable with the situation? I mean, you could certainly have a vivid lucid dream about a party where you do random things with other people etc, but can you use those dreams to somehow "rewire" your personality and start enjoying social events for longer periods again? I must have this naturally in my personality in some way, since I did use to be a lot like that several years ago.

[Burke]

Indeed you can! Lucid dreaming can help in a lot of mental and therapeutic ways, such as dealing with anxiety and other mental issues. A lot of people have reported success when it comes to public speaking/giving speeches, so I don't see why normal conversation wouldn't be included as well. Good luck!

[Rothgar]

Being a true introvert my opinion might be off, but I think it can help, actually. the reason is that in your lucid dreams you will meet many interesting people and situations. This can be very satisfying and you might find that the discomfort you feel in social situations is due to a desire to interact and fit in with others. You may find that now with lucid dreaming that need is partly satisfied. Also, having God-like powers builds up confidence.

[Yuusha]

Thank you. Yes, this is probably my main motivation for practicing lucid dreams right now, I don't know why I started feeling uncomfortable like this among people, but basically it has something to do with me feeling a constant fear of saying or doing something wrong so that everyone will suddenly start to dislike me or get tired of me. And this feeling is almost constant as well, no kidding, always this nagging "what if I say this or do this? will they find me weird then?" in the back of my mind. It's only among very old friends that I have spent a lot of time with that I can fully be myself and trust that they will indeed continue to like me. It is excellent and very comforting that lucid dreams could give me an advantage and make it easier to work with all this. Of course, I am not expecting lucid dreams to "completely" change me as a person, but they would certainly make irrational fears in waking life a whole lot easier to deal with. I did notice positive effects regarding girls a few weeks ago, and felt like they responded better to me because I had practiced being with them in lucid dreams, although that was a while ago, and it wasn't really "long conversations", but more about feeling more fulfilled since I could enjoy physical and flirty interactions with girls in those dreams. But that's of course also a very positive step in the right direction.

[CNGB]

Yes, it definitely is a step in the right direction! So congratulations there. As others have already said, yes, lucid dreaming can help you with social anxiety of all kinds. Practice, practice, and practice, and eventually--hopefully, anyway--you should be much better off than what you are now, and be more comfortable with yourself.

[Yuusha]

Yeah, my biggest concern about improving in lucid dreams has always been that it might seem weird to my classmates if fruitful lucid dreams make me change very rapidly, to the point that it strikes them as uncanny. I doubt that most of them will even consider the possibility that I was practicing in lucid dreams, so they will most likely feel clueless and wonder where the heck my fast changes came from. I know I shouldn't worry about that, but it's still something that makes me think sometimes; it's certainly not going to stop me from using lucid dreams for this purpose or anything, but you know what I mean. But hey, maybe I should just allow myself to change quickly if that's what's going to happen, it could be fun to see their puzzled-yet-positive reactions.