We know the Good, what about the Bad and Ugly??

OK so we all know why lucid dreaming is awesome and in all ways good.

However, ever since I've started my "lucid training" aka joined the site, been doing all the tecniques, had a LD once a week for almost two months.... I've noticed a kind "battle" happening between me and my mind. It's like since I've opened this "portal" my mind is trying to fight it. Every night now I have weird sh*t happening. I'll hear an animal scurrying around, when nothing is there, I"ll here singing, I"ll here my boyfriend say something, one time I heard my dog bark so loud I yelled at him "Quiet! and my boyfriend looked at me like I was crazy because my dog was sound asleep.

Then last night, I was going to sleep (not trying to LD at all) and I was only lying there for a few minutes when all of a sudden I was walking down a hall and then turned my head and right in front of my face were two really ugly HUGE spider/dragon fly looking things, I jumped up startled and let out a little shreak. Again my boyfriend looked at me like I was crazy. It was like that feeling you get when you feel like your falling and your wake yourself up, but this time I saw these creatures.

I dont' know if anyone else is experiencing this, but now I'm understanding how people can hallucinate and have to go to a shrink. I'm not saying I'm there yet, but if this is happening only after a couple months of LDing then I have to wonder..... Does it get worse?? or Maybe I am crazy??? :shock:

Do you mean like... as you're falling awake you're more aware and processing your hypnagogic hallucinations? Or that you're flat-out hallucinating all the time? If it's the latter I'd say you're already to the point where a doctor might be a good idea :?

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Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

It was like that feeling you get when you feel like your falling and your wake yourself up, but this time I saw these creatures.

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it sounds like you're just becoming more aware of your own everyday hallucinations.

Yes. You are crazy.

Seriously though, I think it's only hypnagogic hallucinations.

I've never heard of it happening so often before though.

ahhhh....Yeah I think it's just HH, but like i said, so many instances in just 2 months, eek.

I'm curious to know what other "bad or ugly" LD experiences ppl get....can one get to the point that the lines of reality and dreaming are blurred beyond distinction, I also heard once that LD is bad for the liver?? WTH

I"m sure there's a thread on here somewhere....

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Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

can one get to the point that the lines of reality and dreaming are blurred beyond distinction,

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It would be a poor lucid dreamer indeed who could end up this way, because learning to lucid dream means learning to distinguish between dream and reality, not the other way around. You have the knowledge and understanding of what you're experiencing, it's just that you're aware of them now as most people aren't. Are you intentionally WILDing, or just aware of your hypnagogics as you drift off?

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Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

I also heard once that LD is bad for the liver?? WTH

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...good lawd.

lmao!

Bad for your liver?

Slap whoever told you that.

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. As mentioned before, this is most likely hypnagogic hallucinations.

I have this happen to me every so often. Once I was home alone and I heard my mom's voice saying things about a brand of paper towels, as if she were doing a commercial. It was only a brief snippet, couldn't have lasted more than a second. I see things more often than hearing them, though.

Anyway, I really don't think it means you're going crazy.

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I also heard once that LD is bad for the liver?? WTH

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Whoever said that didn't have a clue what they were talking about. :wtf:

my advice would be to just be observant. of everything, so that you arent bursting out if something bothers you or freightens you. simply, dont act out, just observe and see what comes of whatever it is that is bothering you. It also helps to have someone whom you can openly discuss the things going on in your mind with,

good advice thanks...

Yeah I told my boyfriend about it, he didn't really seem to understand or care a whole lot, he hasn't had a lucid dream either so....

Last night I heard more singing :shock:

maybe you're too focused on lucid dreaming then, and its more important than it, i dont want to say should be, but, could be. maybe try pouring your focus into other thinggs, like, .. well i dont know what interests you, but maybe a little break, focus wise, from lucid dreaming could help. dont get in the mind set that you're crazy though, the more you think that the more it will affect you. I say dont be too conserned with what you cant control, because you were really never in control in the first place :D, if that makes sense,. take what you're getting as a gift, and next time you hear singing, sing along with them :boogie: lol.

and if anyone is telling you you're crazy. theyre more than likely just ignorant. a

lucid dreaming is perfectly healthy and normal, it doesn't cause hallucinations

but bad sleeping habits can!

wait does this stuff happen when your awake during the day? or just when your going to sleep. coz if it was just when you were going to sleep i totally wudn't worry about it. you prob just have hard core HH which can involve hearing things. but if its during the day... i dunno. mayb get it checked out. unless your always tired and drifting off coz then u go straight to rem and cud be HH agen lol

MM - No, its definilty only when I"m going to sleep.... and I'm sure it is just HH and its' also me being AWARE of falling asleep which is why I'm probably hearing/seeing these things...

Thanks again for the advice BChill, however, I"m not obsessed or focused on Lding right now at all, tha'ts the wierd thing. Yes, ofcourse its always on my mind, but ever since I had my first controlled WILD, I'll get spontaneous wilds and these spontaneous hallucinations wihtout wanting them or thinking about it or inducing anything.

I work M-F 40 hours, go to gym, walk my dog, do community work, family time, social time, so I have other areas where I focus alot, but something in my head has changed..... I don't know. I love lucid dreaming and want to do it more, but I 'm just curious if anyone else has felt this..

Also.... I started having SP episodes about 5 years ago and would get one every couple months, now, since I began LDing more, I get into SP (unvoluntarily) once a week!

Maybe my body/brain reacted too well to LDing and I guess I have to get used to it....I just hope it doesn't go beyond my control...

Jur - Thanks for the optimism, although, I have to disagree slightly, I don't think LDing is that NORMAL, infact its very abnormal, i'ts normal to us though. As far as perfectly healthy, well there is no proof saying it isn't but there is no proof saying it is....it is still a very unknown world of the abnormal (but I love it and fear it) hehe

If you say this usually happens when you go to sleep, it definitely sounds like HH to me. It's probably more pronounced now that you think about it more...which is not a bad thing in terms of being successful at lucid dreaming. However, if it does get too out of control, I'd suggest taking a break from lucid dreaming for a while..obviously. It may also just be a phase, I mean.. how long ago did you discover lucid dreaming? I don't know about you, but when I get into something really exciting such as this, I get a little obsessed with it for a little while...then it stabilizes again you know. Maybe you're just under the excitement shock as of now. Who knows... but I know for sure that you will probably become a pro at it though, haha.

What do you mean when you say lucid dreaming is abnormal? Do you consider meditation abnormal? It just seems like a long forgotten ability to me... It's been around before this country was founded.. but I'd like to hear your opinion of that. :)

The only bad thing about lucid dreaming for me, is the feeling of insanity I get when I do RC's around my friends. After I perform a reality check, I then ask myself... am I really testing if I'm awake right now? It sounds ridiculous.. and in a metaprogramming or conditioning perspective, I can't help to think if questioning my reality constantly will eventually lead me to insanity.

Now that I think of it...there are a lot of crazy folks on this site. Is lucid dreaming really a way of mastering schizophrenia? Mouhahahaha! ....scary thought. :eek:

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Originally Posted by High Hunter

It sounds ridiculous.. and in a metaprogramming or conditioning perspective, I can't help to think if questioning my reality constantly will eventually lead me to insanity.:eek:

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High - great insight and good advice :D

You really nailed what I've been trying to say with your quote above; that if an avid lucid dreamer gets so in the habit of questioning thier reality then maybe something "slips" in the brain and suddenly reality and fantasy are mixed. Suddenly you see things that aren't really "there", they are in your mind so they are real to you, but tell that to the shrink. :shock:

About the normality of lucid dreaming, I meant that it is not a "normal" thing if we want to classify it as normal under the societal vail. Normal would be going to sleep, having dreams, and having no control over them....so in that sense and to the mainstream, LDing is not normal

Hope that made sense....thanks again young'n :P

There's no escaping it old lady... We're insane !

:woohoo: :drool: :mwahaha: :imslow: :wino:

I can think of a few disturbing things.

1) Waking up crying, whether I remember the dream or not. I woke up laughing once as well. Crying twice.

2) Thinking the dream really happened and being confused the rest of the day or at least for a while about whether or not it really did happen. I've had to question my mom a few times whether she really asked me a question or told me something or not (simple things like me telling her I need shampoo, or her asking if I put soda in the fridge that all happened in a dream).

3) Having a really bad dream, like about my mom yelling at me, and feeling uncomfortable around her for the rest of the day in RL. Hate that. :(

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Originally Posted by Keitorin

I can think of a few disturbing things.

1) Waking up crying, whether I remember the dream or not. I woke up laughing once as well. Crying twice.

2) Thinking the dream really happened and being confused the rest of the day or at least for a while about whether or not it really did happen. I've had to question my mom a few times whether she really asked me a question or told me something or not (simple things like me telling her I need shampoo, or her asking if I put soda in the fridge that all happened in a dream).

3) Having a really bad dream, like about my mom yelling at me, and feeling uncomfortable around her for the rest of the day in RL. Hate that. :(

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o wat i hate is when u have a dream and wake up and are confused like u mentioned im always like wait what, like one time my mom woke me up and i guess i was thinkin of the dream so i was like "the score of the game what happened wit the game....the game?" i was like nvm cuz i was confused as F**K im assumin i woke up b4 the game or watev could finish hence my confusion

I know when lucid dreaming started to become part of my life, I also became aware of a lot more of the going-ons during my waking life. I think there is a thread on here that asked about the negative ways that LDing had effected peoples lives. I think I said something to the effect that it had made me more paranoid, or something. I now know that "paranoid" isn't the right word for it :)

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Originally Posted by High Hunter

I can't help to think if questioning my reality constantly will eventually lead me to insanity.

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I've often wondered exactly the same thing.

Really? Good to know, I'm glad I"m not alone. Too much reality checking might not really lead to pure insanity but like Zmila said, you definitly notice more in your waking life. I think it could lead to living your waking life with complete lucidity. And lets face it, it's easier to put on rose colored glasses in your every day life and ignore things in the world and in your life that you don't want to deal with. But with complete lucidity, you don't have a choice, you see everything as it is with a pure clarity. This may be too much for some to handle.... I don't know.... Interesting, Interesting....

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Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

Really? Good to know, I'm glad I"m not alone. Too much reality checking might not really lead to pure insanity but like Zmila said, you definitly notice more in your waking life. I think it could lead to living your waking life with complete lucidity. And lets face it, it's easier to put on rose colored glasses in your every day life and ignore things in the world and in your life that you don't want to deal with. But with complete lucidity, you don't have a choice, you see everything as it is with a pure clarity. This may be too much for some to handle.... I don't know.... Interesting, Interesting....

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Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

High - great insight and good advice :D

You really nailed what I've been trying to say with your quote above; that if an avid lucid dreamer gets so in the habit of questioning thier reality then maybe something "slips" in the brain and suddenly reality and fantasy are mixed. Suddenly you see things that aren't really "there", they are in your mind so they are real to you, but tell that to the shrink. :shock:

About the normality of lucid dreaming, I meant that it is not a "normal" thing if we want to classify it as normal under the societal vail. Normal would be going to sleep, having dreams, and having no control over them....so in that sense and to the mainstream, LDing is not normal

Hope that made sense....thanks again young'n :P

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eeeehhh Ive had less nightmares

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Originally Posted by Keitorin

I can think of a few disturbing things.

1) Waking up crying, whether I remember the dream or not. I woke up laughing once as well. Crying twice. :(

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lol I have woken up laughing many times :D its a great start to the day.

As you guys mentioned, I have had times where something happened in a dream and I was confused whether whatever happened was in RL or in a dream. Its very confusing, only way around that is to increase your dream recall to remember all your dreams at night, so, that if you aren't sure if something happened in RL, you can check your dream journal for proof :)
In terms of the bad and ugly for LD, I have no clue. Only LD'd once and it was accidential and quick, but, I'm too lazy these days to do any RC, so, at least I know I'm keeping my sanity :lol: But to be serious, I can't think of many bads of LDding besides if induce an LD every night, you'll miss out on your random dreams which I would rather not to, so, make sure to keep a balance if you are ever able to LD at will :)

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Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

..can one get to the point that the lines of reality and dreaming are blurred beyond distinction..?

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Yes, one can.

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Originally Posted by shift

It would be a poor lucid dreamer indeed who could end up this way..

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Well, that's your opinion, but it's not borne out by some people's long-term experience. Some extremely proficient LDers of many years standing have experienced this very effect.

Now I suppose that some will counter with words to the effect of "Well, they must have been mentally disturbed in the first place.."

No comment.

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Originally Posted by dreamingofdreaming

I also heard once that LD is bad for the liver?

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Who knows? Maybe it is.. maybe it isn't. What is for sure is that nobody here knows one way or the other, no matter what they might say. As always, I sit on the fence regarding something about which I know nothing.