My Dissociation Problem . . .

[dougdrums]

Hello DV, long time no see. There's a good reason for that. About a year ago I started having a problem with lucid dreaming. I became really good at it. Soon I started having problems seperating dreaming from waking life. The normal reality checks started going away. You can argue that I wasn't having lucid dreams anymore, but that isn't the point. It was minor things at first, like misplacing my car keys when I swore I put them in a specific place, or checking the time in the morning to later find out I was dreaming when I checked it. Now it has gotten much worse. I continue conversations with people who don't have a clue what I'm talking about. I lose damn near everything. I overdraw my checking account. I forget to do things because I think I already did them, and a whole bunch of other bad things. Can someone give me advice on how to stop this?

[Scruffy]

You say "the normal reality checks started going away." Do you mean they no longer worked to tell if you were dreaming? If thats the case, have you tried any different ones? Do you really question your reality when you reality check, or do you just check without paying it much thought? Its the thought that really makes the difference. As something to tell you when you're awake, you might try wearing a piece of jewelry - a bracelet, armband, ring, or something like that - and checking that often to be sure you are awake. If it begins carrying over into your dreams, change or move it often, but keep track on what and where it is. Good luck with breaking out of this. I hope you can end it before it causes more trouble.

[Miskingo]

It sounds somewhat like narcolepsy. I can't say exactly but with my knowledge of the subject I would say its a possibility.

[SKA]

Hello DV, long time no see. There's a good reason for that. About a year ago I started having a problem with lucid dreaming. I became really good at it. Soon I started having problems seperating dreaming from waking life. The normal reality checks started going away. You can argue that I wasn't having lucid dreams anymore, but that isn't the point. It was minor things at first, like misplacing my car keys when I swore I put them in a specific place, or checking the time in the morning to later find out I was dreaming when I checked it. Now it has gotten much worse. I continue conversations with people who don't have a clue what I'm talking about. I lose damn near everything. I overdraw my checking account. I forget to do things because I think I already did them, and a whole bunch of other bad things. Can someone give me advice on how to stop this? [/b] Sounds like you indeed mix memories born from dreams with memories born from Reality. I can imagine ho confusing and troubling this can be. I am no Psychologist or Doctor on the manner but a short advice is: Stop being concerned about Lucid Dreaming or Dreaming at all. Sleep is only...Sleep. Focus on your daytime activities, duties and social contacs=ts. Forget the subject of dreaming for a while. Try and stay wakefull and sober and try and make a Clear boundary of what is Dream and what is not, EMPHASING what is NOT a dream. Focus on your Waking life and spend alot of time giving your waking life & existance some deep thought.(sort of meditation) Lucid Dreams are truely Magic for sure, but magic can become a bit too overwhelming and present so you need to focus on your Waking life ONLY as Life itself is a Miracle allready. And forget about dreaming. Sleep is sleep.

[DuB]

Hello DV, long time no see. There's a good reason for that. About a year ago I started having a problem with lucid dreaming. I became really good at it. Soon I started having problems seperating dreaming from waking life. The normal reality checks started going away. You can argue that I wasn't having lucid dreams anymore, but that isn't the point. It was minor things at first, like misplacing my car keys when I swore I put them in a specific place, or checking the time in the morning to later find out I was dreaming when I checked it. Now it has gotten much worse. I continue conversations with people who don't have a clue what I'm talking about. I lose damn near everything. I overdraw my checking account. I forget to do things because I think I already did them, and a whole bunch of other bad things. Can someone give me advice on how to stop this? [/b] I don't see how lucid dreaming could cause these symptoms. What is the connection between becoming aware while you are dreaming and losing your car keys? Or suddenly starting random conversations with people? Also, there are people who have been practicing lucid dreaming for far longer and on a far more frequent basis than you, and showing none of these "side effects" that you describe. Additionally, there are many people who always lucid dream, naturally. They are aware that they are dreaming in 9 out of 10 dreams, and have been that way their entire lives, and they are completely mentally stable. I think you could be developing a potentially serious mental illness. Your interest in lucid dreaming could be aggravating this underlying mental illness, or perhaps your interesting in dreams is just serving as a "focal point" for the illness. Regardless, I think there is little to no possibility that lucid dreaming alone is the culprit. There could also be a physical problem (brain tumor, etc) causing these symptoms. I highly recommend that you see a medical professional and describe your symptoms to him or her. I cannot stress this enough. You might schedule an appointment with your regular doctor, he can run some blood tests on you to determine a physical cause, and if none is found he can refer you to a psychiatrist. Please reply. Good luck dealing with your problem.

[Miskingo]

Agreed as I said before it soundsl like narcolepsy. I don't want to alarm you but I DO SUGGEST STRONGLY that you visit a professional physician and if nothing is physically is wrong then visit a psychologist.

[Miskingo]

Do you KNOW what narcolepsy is? Please, read about it or consult a doctor before calling narcoleply something that is nothing like narcolepsy. Not to sound offensive, but when someone is in trouble it's best to be quiet if you can't be helpful. [/b] Did you add anything to this topic? No. Please do not come in here and critcize me when i'm trying to say what MIGHT be the problem. I said he should see a physician to see what the problem was. I'm no doctor it was just my opinion. Directly From http://www.medicinenet.com/narcolepsy/article.htm The other primary symptoms of narcolepsy include loss of muscle tone (cataplexy), distorted perceptions (hypnagogic hallucinations), and inability to move or talk (sleep paralysis). Additional symptoms include disturbed nocturnal sleep and automatic behavior. A good friend of mine has it, and the symptoms sound similar.

[Follower]

The other primary symptoms of narcolepsy include loss of muscle tone (cataplexy), distorted perceptions (hypnagogic hallucinations), and inability to move or talk (sleep paralysis). Additional symptoms include disturbed nocturnal sleep and automatic behavior. [/b] Dougdrums has spoken of none of these symptoms. You took his words and made them partially fit what you want.

[SKA]

Did you add anything to this topic? No. Please do not come in here and critcize me when i'm trying to say what MIGHT be the problem. I said he should see a physician to see what the problem was. I'm no doctor it was just my opinion. Directly From http://www.medicinenet.com/narcolepsy/article.htm The other primary symptoms of narcolepsy include loss of muscle tone (cataplexy), distorted perceptions (hypnagogic hallucinations), and inability to move or talk (sleep paralysis). Additional symptoms include disturbed nocturnal sleep and automatic behavior. A good friend of mine has it, and the symptoms sound similar. [/b] C'mon Follower, relax. Soften up to Miskingo. He makes a good Point. He thought the symptoms sounded familiar and attempted to help someone out. Furtherly he advised DougDrums to see a physcian or a Psychiatrist. I would say that is the same advice I'd give DougDrums. Let's not play ''No you're all wrong! let ME explain this''. It's kinda childish to disagree on these boards all the time just for the sake of arguement. Let's all play nice. And DougDrums. Go see a Doctor. I personally think this is more a Psychological thing than a Physical thing, so I guess it would be a good thing to see your doctor and ask him or her wether it would be better to talk with a Psychologist and a Psychiatrist with this. For those who don't know: Psychologist is the Therapeutic one, that speaks with you. Psychiatrist is the Neuro-Shaman that speaks with you about sympoms and decides wether or not medication, and what medication, might help you.

[Scruffy]

C'mon guys, let stay on topic and not turn this into a flamewar. Please? :yumdumdoodledum:

[Leo Volont]

Hello DV, long time no see. There's a good reason for that. About a year ago I started having a problem with lucid dreaming. I became really good at it. Soon I started having problems seperating dreaming from waking life. The normal reality checks started going away. You can argue that I wasn't having lucid dreams anymore, but that isn't the point. It was minor things at first, like misplacing my car keys when I swore I put them in a specific place, or checking the time in the morning to later find out I was dreaming when I checked it. Now it has gotten much worse. I continue conversations with people who don't have a clue what I'm talking about. I lose damn near everything. I overdraw my checking account. I forget to do things because I think I already did them, and a whole bunch of other bad things. Can someone give me advice on how to stop this? [/b] You need a Notebook that will carefully document what you do throughout each day. You talk to somebody, put it in the book... you pay a bill, put it in the book. Your Dreams may overlap your Waking Life almost exactly, but your DreamSelf will not be able to enter Bill Payments into your Notebook. You may consider this an extreme measure, or very inconvenient, but it is what early onset Alzheimers' sufferers do in order to keep organized and functional. Make notes. But then there is the greater problem of you Dreaming in one Great Big False Awakening. THIS is what happens to 'expert' Lucid Dreamers. Try to talk it over with your Higher Dream Mind. Promise to renounce Lucid Dreaming, or at least the most Offensive Aspects of Lucid Dreaming. When you were still Lucid Dreaming, what was it exactly that you were doing whereby your Higher Dream Mind had to begin to so seriously defend itself from your Lucid Dreaming. I bet you were really good at Controlling Everything, huh? That is usually the problem. You see, Dream Control, from the perspective of your Higher Dream Mind is actually more like Dream Destruction. Your Higher Dream Mind puts in all the effort to create sensible and meaningful Dreams, and then people use Dream Control to obliterate all that work. so to protect Dreaming, the Higher Dream Mind makes the Dreamer suppose he is actually awake. If you want to 'control' something, then control your own life... don't destroy Dreaming.

[Follower]

That's great. Leo Volont is speaking of lucid dreaming and his own esoteric views, even though DougDrums stated that he has NO lucid dreams anymore. And that means that his spontaneous, superrealistic dream recall is linked with normal dreams. *sigh*. Maybe Leo Volont developed some Higher Self that can 'protect' him from 'destroying' non-existant lucid dreams by making his normal dreams as supervivid as reality, but it's doubtful that DougDrums is crazy as much I'm not saying that everyone is totally nuts and wrong, but why give a dubious advise with the air 'What I say is 100% right, now listen to me!' ? Ok, sometimes I get wind up, but that's coz people give an advise for the sake of giving it, instead of just saying 'Consult someone who knows better'. A bad advise can hurt you in some cases. DougDrums doesn't seem to be be reading this topic anyway

[dougdrums]

Sorry, I've been busy. You say "the normal reality checks started going away." Do you mean they no longer worked to tell if you were dreaming? If thats the case, have you tried any different ones? Do you really question your reality when you reality check, or do you just check without paying it much thought? Its the thought that really makes the difference. [/b] Electronics function normally, I can read just fine, nothing is distorted, physics are normal. Really questioning my reality can be somewhat dangerous if I turn out to be awake. As something to tell you when you're awake, you might try wearing a piece of jewelry - a bracelet, armband, ring, or something like that - and checking that often to be sure you are awake. If it begins carrying over into your dreams, change or move it often, but keep track on what and where it is. Good luck with breaking out of this. I hope you can end it before it causes more trouble. [/b] This actually works about half the time, thanks I don't see how lucid dreaming could cause these symptoms. What is the connection between becoming aware while you are dreaming and losing your car keys? Or suddenly starting random conversations with people? Also, there are people who have been practicing lucid dreaming for far longer and on a far more frequent basis than you, and showing none of these "side effects" that you describe. Additionally, there are many people who always lucid dream, naturally. They are aware that they are dreaming in 9 out of 10 dreams, and have been that way their entire lives, and they are completely mentally stable. [/b] I get my dreaming actions confused with my waking actions. Also, how do you know how long and how often I have had lucid dreams? I think you could be developing a potentially serious mental illness. Your interest in lucid dreaming could be aggravating this underlying mental illness, or perhaps your interesting in dreams is just serving as a "focal point" for the illness. Regardless, I think there is little to no possibility that lucid dreaming alone is the culprit. There could also be a physical problem (brain tumor, etc) causing these symptoms. I highly recommend that you see a medical professional and describe your symptoms to him or her. I cannot stress this enough. You might schedule an appointment with your regular doctor, he can run some blood tests on you to determine a physical cause, and if none is found he can refer you to a psychiatrist. Please reply. Good luck dealing with your problem. [/b] I know it's not a tumor (hehe). I've had my head scanned somewhat recently for something unrelated. Easier said than done, doctors usually like to be paid for their services.

[DuB]

I get my dreaming actions confused with my waking actions.[/b] I'm afraid I still don't understand. For example, when you say that you "continue" conversations with people who have no idea what you're talking about. So I'm assuming you had a dream in which you talked to that person, but then mistook it for having really happened. Okay. But if you were lucid in that dream, then wouldn't you have realized that that conversation was dreamed and not real, and therefore you would know that you hadn't really talked to that person? Seems to me that lucidity would fix this problem rather than cause it... And how could constant or near-constant lucidity cause you to overdraw your checking account, do you spend a lot of time writing checks while you're lucid? It seems to me that the problem is excessive dream recall, with a lack of lucidity... maybe you can help me to understand? Also, how do you know how long and how often I have had lucid dreams?[/b] Well, you did say "About a year ago I started having a problem with lucid dreaming. I became really good at it." (You didn't dream saying it! sorry, that was a low blow.) So I logically assumed that prior to that time you were not "really good at it." Furthermore, I assume "really good at it" probably means near-constant or at least daily lucidity. Are these sound logical assumptions? I know it's not a tumor (hehe). I've had my head scanned somewhat recently for something unrelated. Easier said than done, doctors usually like to be paid for their services.[/b] Yeah, I really don't know what the physical cause(s) could be (I'm no doctor), a brain tumor was pretty much the only thing that came to mind . But seriously, I still recommend describing your symptoms to your doctor to get the treatment process started. If you don't have insurance it might not be cheap, but if it's already causing you this much trouble (and it could very likely get worse before it gets better) then I think it's well worth the expense.

[dougdrums]

I'm afraid I still don't understand. For example, when you say that you "continue" conversations with people who have no idea what you're talking about. So I'm assuming you had a dream in which you talked to that person, but then mistook it for having really happened. Okay. But if you were lucid in that dream, then wouldn't you have realized that that conversation was dreamed and not real, and therefore you would know that you hadn't really talked to that person? Seems to me that lucidity would fix this problem rather than cause it... And how could constant or near-constant lucidity cause you to overdraw your checking account, do you spend a lot of time writing checks while you're lucid? It seems to me that the problem is excessive dream recall, with a lack of lucidity... maybe you can help me to understand? [/b] Close, but I really have trouble telling if I'm dreaming or not now, therefore I am lucid less. I thought I had more money than I actually did, that's the deal with the bank thing. Well, you did say "About a year ago I started having a problem with lucid dreaming. I became really good at it." (You didn't dream saying it! sorry, that was a low blow.) So I logically assumed that prior to that time you were not "really good at it." Furthermore, I assume "really good at it" probably means near-constant or at least daily lucidity. Are these sound logical assumptions? [/b] Maybe I phrased that wrong at first. I should have said something like as I continued to improve about a year or so, it backfired. To clear things up: I started having lucid dreams about four or four and a half years ago. By about three years ago they occured about every night. About two years ago they started to become more vivid and life-like, Starting about a year ago I started failing to become lucid when I dreamed. Yeah, I really don't know what the physical cause(s) could be (I'm no doctor), a brain tumor was pretty much the only thing that came to mind . But seriously, I still recommend describing your symptoms to your doctor to get the treatment process started. If you don't have insurance it might not be cheap, but if it's already causing you this much trouble (and it could very likely get worse before it gets better) then I think it's well worth the expense. [/b] I'm sure it would be worth the expense if I had the money, but I don't. It's more of a question of if it's worth interrupting my life to go after free treatment. Despite my troubles, I have a feeling it wouldn't be worth it. That is why I am asking here for help.

[mindwalker]

To clear things up: I started having lucid dreams about four or four and a half years ago. By about three years ago they occured about every night. About two years ago they started to become more vivid and life-like, Starting about a year ago I started failing to become lucid when I dreamed. [/b] So it sounds that it would help if you would loose your dream re-call back to some more normal level. Have you always had flawless dream re-call or did you have to work at it? Could you work at it kind of backwards: when you awaken and realise you just dreamt, go though the dream content and associate it with a strong "THIS HAPPENED IN A DREAM" label.