New Study - Video Gamers have more Lucid Dreams and less Nightmares

[westonci]

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/70...act-on-dreams/

[Aristaeus]

Hmm...this is a rather interesting subject. Video gaming has long been amongst my list of favored leisure activities. Ergo, looking back upon my own dreaming experiences, I'd say the hypothesis presented in the article is fairly credible. Many of my dreams have had various out-of-body moments, and for the few nightmares I've had, I cannot recall ever experiencing fear or discomfort while they occurred. And, there is seldom a moment in my dreams in which there is no aggressive situation taking place. As one of the article's commentators notes, perhaps there is a particular brain activity that functions alike in both the activities of dreams and video gaming. ...But, anyhow, I think I'll have to agree with this theory for the time being. I think I'll keep an eye on this article for a while.

[jereb]

if this is true, dang, i should be having at least 3 lucid dreams a week, instead of the current 1 of couple of months. for some reason, lucid dreams have stopped occurring as much as they used to.

[Hidden]

That's cool. Lol, to have lucid dreams you can either meditate or play video games, take your pick. I enjoy video games and play them often enough, but I wouldn't call myself a video gamer. My dreams seem to correlate with the article. I haven't had a nightmare in a long time. I can only remember one recently, and it had nothing to do with being chased or whatnot. Being attacked in dreams doesn't usually scare me much, unless it involves bees and/or spiders. xP My dreams are kind of half way between gamer and non-gamer.

[CaLeB-]

I'm able to relate to it, since I usually game daily.

[Advantageous Noodle]

I did not read the article. I can't be bothered to at the moment, for it is 4:37 AM and I have a headache. However I can say that my lucid dreams (when they don't become nightmares) are alot like getting out of the map or "world" in a video game. There is just nothing but one or two solid colors and a dark sky that stretch on to infinity, kind of eerie. The programmers didn't code the game to display any discernible landscape for such a situation because they didn't expect it would happen. So is it as if my mind didn't expect me (itself) to "get outside of the map" so to speak?

[yuriythebest]

and having a 3d monitor apparently increases the chances even further- I'm a perfect example.

[Mercen_505]

I usually play games for a few hours before bed every night, yet before I started seriously training I only had two lucids in my whole life. The nightmare aspect of the study is true for me, at least. I just don't have nightmares at all.

[DreamingDragon]

haha, well i guess since we play silent hill, Fear, Our brain is getitng use to all the scary stuff, so i guess nightmares woudn't be anything lol

[tranquilitybytrey]

Once, I had a really bad night playing halo with my friend. We lost just about every time. Afterward, I got to spend the entire night loosing at halo, match after match, in my dreams. Tell me that is not a nightmare!

[Hidden]

Once, I had a really bad night playing halo with my friend. We lost just about every time. Afterward, I got to spend the entire night loosing at halo, match after match, in my dreams. Tell me that is not a nightmare! That's hilarious! Sorry if you weren't meaning to be funny...

[Eonnn]

and having a 3d monitor apparently increases the chances even further- I'm a perfect example. you have a 3d monitor?? gotta link? I'm a gamer, some of it is true for me. I hardly ever have nightmares and when i do they aren't severe or scary. Although I do have a lot of attacking type dreams where i get into fights or in trouble with police, etc.

[yuriythebest]

you have a 3d monitor?? gotta link? I'm a gamer, some of it is true for me. I hardly ever have nightmares and when i do they aren't severe or scary. Although I do have a lot of attacking type dreams where i get into fights or in trouble with police, etc. http://iz3d.com/t-22monitor.aspx

[Eonnn]

hey thats pretty cool didn't know those existed.

[westonci]

Sorry guys, i think the title is a little bit misleading. The study is referring to first person shooter type games, because they serve as threat simulations that your dream is suppost to do. Games like Gears of war, Resistance,Call of Duty, Fallout, Killzone, Fear etc So if you play games like super mario, chess, Runescape, forget about it.

[Higurashi]

Sorry guys, i think the title is a little bit misleading. The study is referring to first person shooter type games, because they serve as threat simulations that your dream is suppost to do. Games like Gears of war, Resistance, Killzone, Fear etc So if you play games like super mario, chess, Runescape, forget about it. Eh..I like both though I'm probably more involved in the second category. I guess that's a FAIL for me. o_o

[Ryuinfinity]

Sweet! Now I have another excuse to play more videogames!

[Lëzen]

Being a gamer certainly hasn't increased my number of lucid dreams, that's for sure. However, I haven't had a real nightmare in years. In fact, I can't even remember what the last nightmare I did have was about.

[Exdream]

I disagree with the "higher LD frequency", but I do agree with less nightmares. In the last 3 months, I've had ONE nightmare I remember. And I don't even remember the specifics of it, only that I had a really large sense of unease and fright. My guess is that video games have somewhat desensitized you, and you are less prone to getting scared about certain things than some people. Only a random guess.

[SleepyCookieDough]

I don't know but video games have a bad effect on me (for lucid dreams) What happens is that during the whole night I dream about playing that video game which makes the whole dream less realist and also makes it really boring 'cause I'd rather do other things than be playing a video game while I'm dreaming and last of all, when I wake up, I realise that all I did in the game in my sleep, I have to restart 'cause it never really happenned...

[Baphomet]

Just last night I had a lucid dream that I was playing Call of Duty 4 but I was in the game, kinda. My friends and I were running around shooting and stabbing each other and when I'd get a kill a big "+10" would pop up in front of me. I actually have a lot of lucids similar to this after CoD4 binges.

[torin_93]

XBOX360 Here I Come!!!

[pheenix345]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I would disagree on having more lucids since games make me addictive to the game than lucid dreaming, which decreases my motivation, that makes me bad and more bad at dreaming.(also gaming makes you forget all about Reality Checks if your into the game) Time goes by fast on games... I'll agree on the nightmare part, does lower nightmare occurences, it also somehow makes me more confident on fighting back nightmares.

[slayer]

I play video games every day, and even though I will sometimes dream about zombies and other things, their not really "scary" in my dreams, like a nightmare would be... I can't remember the last time I've had a nightmare... Edit: And I don't think Video gamers have more lucid dreams...I can see where they're coming at because video games usually tend to have "non-real" things which, in dreams, could trigger people to think, "Hey! That's not normal!" and become lucid. But since these gamers (or atleast me) see these things atleast once a day, I've grown to think "This is in a video game, so it's normal" and then not do a RC or anything...

[BigFan]

I used to be a gamer and I don't agree with the whole more LD part, but, I have to say that the last nightmare I remember was along the lines of 5+ years min and I can't even remember what it was