Are our emotions heightened in dreams?

I dont know if this is just me or if anyone else is the same, but for some reason my emotions are heightened in a dream.

For instance, in the case of fear I have noticed that some really stupid and seemingly normal things have the ability to frighten the life out of me. I remember in one dream I looked at a very tall building and was terrified by its height, whereas in waking life I don't have a fear of heights.

In the case of anger I have noticed that some people I know might insult me with a smug remark and instead of answering back with a witty reply I'll wake up kicking and thrashing at thin air. :shock:

So my question is, has anyone else experienced the same and if so do you know what causes these sudden bursts of emotion?

Most things it seems are heightened in dreams, emotions and also your senses. I believe a lot of this has to do with the fact that you are not as connected to your body as you are when awake and therefore not limted to it's restrictions.

Emotions are often generated or regulated though various endocrine processes, senses are limited by what the nervous system and the various sense organs can process.

In a dream, you are all in your head, without limit, pretty cool huh?

That makes a lot of sense, and yes it is pretty cool!

So if I dreamt I was relaxing on a warm beach I would enjoy it more than I would when awake?

Its that kind of thinking that gives me motivation to become lucid. I'd also like to find out what freaky things my mind can conjure up and see how far the fear can go. Its one thing to watch a horror film, but actually living it?

I can only imagine what that thrill would be like! :boogie:

Be careful though. I think too much fear could awaken you.

The id part of your brain is mostly active in dreams, the id has instinct and emotion so yes emotions are heightened (the instinct part of that is also why you sometimes get and urge to...well yeah, in a lucid dream)

i'm insanely more passionate about things in my dreams

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Originally Posted by Zezarict

The id part of your brain is mostly active in dreams, the id has instinct and emotion so yes emotions are heightened (the instinct part of that is also why you sometimes get and urge to...well yeah, in a lucid dream)

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That is very interesting.

A lot of artists like to draw inspiration from their emotions. So as a beneficial side effect of being more emotional in our dreams we become more creative aswell.

It makes me wonder if there is an important reason for having dreams in the first place. Maybe our subconscious creates these stories to test how creative we can be.

Who knows? :)

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Originally Posted by Heavy Sleeper

That is very interesting.

A lot of artists like to draw inspiration from their emotions. So as a beneficial side effect of being more emotional in our dreams we become more creative aswell.

It makes me wonder if there is an important reason for having dreams in the first place. Maybe our subconscious creates these stories to test how creative we can be.

Who knows? :)

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Well i do know that dreams are more than what we think they are. Multiple times i have had dreams about a large large group of police, and then the very same day a whole force of police storm my neighborhood looking for drugs.

Also i remember dreaming about smoking with my friends in the woods and trying to hide my stuff but police found it and then being in the back of a cop car (same dream), but when we were getting close to the police station it ended. that very same day, i got in trouble for smoking with my friends in the woods because two cops came and busted us, yet they didnt arrest us only gave us trespassing warnings. I didnt remember the dream until i was in the back of the cop car.

One dream that sticks out the most is when i did go to jail a very long time ago, a week before i went to jail, i dreamed i was in the back of a cop car and going through the gates into the jail parking lot where they unload inmates. When i actually did get arrested, it was the exact same place as in my dream. before this point i had never seen this part of te police station outside my dreams. Dreams are ALOT MORE than what we percieve them to be ill tell you that.

Oh and the reason i dreamed alot about police is because i USED to be involved in drug trafficking, but that was long ago.

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Originally Posted by Elem3nt0

Dreams are ALOT MORE than what we percieve them to be ill tell you that.

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Very true. I think we don't bother to question dreams much because we see them as an every day thing (or an every night thing). This I think is a very bad habit that a lot of people suffer from. We should learn to stop and question things more often. Some of the world's greatest scientists have made discoveries that have helped mankind take giant leaps in technology just by questioning the world around them. If we don't ask questions we won't get any answers, which means we won't move forward.

I consider myself a person who likes to ask the big questions. I know I wouldn't be able to answer them but I ask myself anyway because I find it interesting.

When I found out about lucid dreaming it put more questions in my head. Its one of the reasons I want to lucid dream. I want to explore it for myself and see what effect it has on my views. Sadly when I told some friends about lucid dreaming they said it sounds quite cool, but other than that they showed no interest. I guess they think its boring. :roll:

So I'm glad these forums are here. I get to talk about lucid dreaming and learn some new things about it. :D