Mental Health And LD

**Shift** · 10-16-2008 03:12 AM

Originally Posted by Ryan

I agree with Shift: thousands of years, what is more natural than that? but because of the tendency of lucid dreams to bring up unconscious material (such as shadow elements like Nazzul suggested) it's best to discuss the experiences with others, and play it safe by doing things like having a body practice like yoga, have a "safe place" in your mind or someone you can call upon for help, and not mixing Serotonin re-uptake inhibitors with alcohol, etc

also I think it's important that we, as a community, unstigmatize negative experiences in lucid dreams, and create the space to discuss negative experiences for everyone's benefits.

Well I wouldn't say that it's natural or unnatural. Just that it's been going on, with no apparent alarming effects. Still, it's probably much more dangerous to drive your car or sit under artificial lighting than it is to lucid dream.

My only problem with reading about others' negative experiences is that it can create an expectation in one's mind about such negative experiences, causing them to occur upon achieving lucidity (or even just in regular dreams). If a person isn't confident, or has less than sufficient dream control and awareness in a lucid, this could have negative consequences. For me it's not about stigma. I avoid reading others' negative posts, and I read their positive ones just because I feel it can help me to filter like that. I'm all about them being posted. I personally just choose not to read them.

For someone starting out, or someone who has a history like this, I think they should do the same until they are confident in their own lucid dreaming ability.

**seeker28** · 10-16-2008 08:36 AM

I also have mental illness. I also had recurring nightmares related to some trauma I went through when I was younger. For a while they were so bad I was afraid to go to sleep. I'd stay awake for days to avoid them.

Now I almost never have any nightmares that are related to my past. The reason is I embrace lucid dreaming as a tool to systematically tackle them. When I first started to actively work at lucid dreaming I was taking minipress (a prescription medication) to prevent the nightmares. It worked fairly well, but I'd gotten to the point in my therapy that I felt that not being able to work on the nightmares was holding me back in my recovery.

So, with the approval and help of my therapist and doctor, I started to slowly reduce the amount of minipress I took. Each time I'd go down the nightmares would start up. I'd tackle them with lucid dreams and then talk about them to my therapist. Eventually I was completely off of the minipress and I was pretty much nightmare-free.

Now when I dream about my traumatic past I don't feel so overwhelmed. Usually I don't even feel scared, no matter what happens in the dream.

This is just my experience.

**venusflesh** · 11-07-2008 12:47 AM

Originally Posted by nightflyer

I agreed with Nazzul on the above post. The "Shadow" is the worst one. And if you are not mentally stable then it can cause more harm than good. But just realized that all you see in your dream are just that...dream stuff. Don't make it out to be more than that then you should be ok to go.

Good luck on your journey,
nightflyer

Can someone explain to me what is meant by the "shadow?" When it comes to lucid dreams, what is this?

**xSuper_Sadistx** · 11-07-2008 01:40 AM

Well its nice to hear that you over came it.It makes me feel as there may be some hope for me in the future too.Thank you for commenting.

**Darklight45** · 11-12-2008 04:47 AM

I am not going to say complely safe but it is very safe, but I do agree consulting somewon before you do attempt to ld, again it is pretty safe.
[in my opinon]

**Snowy Egypt** · 11-12-2008 05:23 AM

Um, question; Why would he need to consult someone??? It's not like it's a disorder...

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