Thread: Dangers of WILD

The only possible dangers with LDing that I can think of is lack of sleep or messing up your sleep pattern, both are remedied in no time. Also, there is a slim chance of being hit by an asteroid in your sleep :p.

Yea, the asteroid is definently the biggest problem. :p

If you're trying to WILD and not expecting sleep paralysis that could be pretty frightening, so I suppose that's a danger, although it doesn't threaten any permanent harm. Then, because you're freaked out, things can get even worse and you start getting the "Old Hag" thing going on... thankfully I've never experienced anything like that, probably because I knew what to expect and wasn't afraid of it in the first place.

Most of the other "dangers" people talk about are like:
-you'll become addicted to dreaming and you'll SLEEP YOUR LIFE AWAY!!!!
-you'll lose your hold on reality and jump off a building and you'll DIE!!!!!!
-people will think you're crazy and you'll become a SOCIAL OUTCAST!!!!!!!!

I think most people on here would agree that these dangers are a bit over-stated, to say the least.

Of course, why trust the opinions of social outcasts who are either sleeping their lives away or killing themselves? :p

No there are no dangers associated with Lucid Dreaming.

None. Have fun!

The only danger I've had is being grumpy due to dry spells

I haven't.

There are rare effects that could be associated with LDing - experiencing sleep paralysis (not during an intentional WILD) with the feeling of a disturbingly evil presence, and worryingly long sequences of false awakenings. I don't remember anyone specifically blaming bad SP on LDing, but FA's are definitely supposed to happen more to LDers.

From personal experience I'd add the possibility of continuing to dream for a little while after you've opened your eyes - so that you brain reinterprets what you see as something completely different. It's ... lets see, the third weirdest altered state of consciousness I've experienced, after WILD'ing and my not-fainting not-epilepsy seizures. But this has only happened to me twice, and the first time was before I knew about LDs.

Another strange thing I had when I was young were false memories from dreams, but they didn't interfere with reality and I'm weird anyway :-). That's the sort of thing people get worried about - but this was pre-LD, and my best guess if that I knew more about dreaming I would have learnt to distinguish such memories earlier.

So... as far as I know there are a few disturbing experiences which are plausible as side effects of LDing. On the other hand, they're limited experiences you can live through. If you are getting comfortable with your dreams then by extension you can get comfortable with the odd really freaky one. If they're really too much you can just stop doing it; you can't get stuck LDing every night, suffering for it and not being able to stop.

For completeness - if you're undergoing mental health treatment, something as reflective as working with dreams might not be appropriate, and concealing it from the people trying to help you would be a really bad idea.

But the real problems are very mundane. Trying to use techniques you don't have the time for and not getting enough sleep - happens to everyone, avoidable, and transient. Obsession, in the same sense as you might be obsessed with fast cars. And sounding weird when you try to explain it to someone, which to my mind is the worst one. These aren't side-effects; just the same problems you'd have if you took anything too far.

none sofar. the only thing ive had happen is feel like a gun is being pressed to my temple, so unless there really was a guy holding a gun to me, there was no danger there...

Originally Posted by DeadDollKitty

none sofar. the only thing ive had happen is feel like a gun is being pressed to my temple

You really know what it feels like to have a gun pressed to your temple ?