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    1. #1
      .Prospective Corpse. xSuper_Sadistx's Avatar
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      Mental Health And LD

      Hello.I just registered and I have a few questions I was hoping someone experienced could answer me.Im not too familiar with this site, so i apologize if my question is already answered somewhere.

      I was wondering if it is completely safe for my mental health to practice LD.I have mental illness and I dont want to make myself any worse than I already am.(As of right now,i am fairly stable though.)

      The main reason I want to learn to LD is to help with my reccuring nightmares of years of trauma i've experienced in my past.These nightmares are preventing me from getting better control over my illness due to all the stress it causes me to relive these memories.

      I hope to find relief with LD in the future,and possibly some answers to my struggles.


      Thank you very much.

    2. #2
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      Do you have a therapist of any sort? If so, introduce them to lucid dreaming if they haven't heard of it, and ask them what they think you should do. Lucid dreaming has been shown to help many people with all sorts of different problems, so it's likely you could even use it as a form of therapy.

      Lucid dreaming has been shown to be especially beneficial (obviously) with stopping recurrent nightmares, so it definitely sounds like you should give it a go.

      I find it hard to see how lucid dreaming could have any bad effects; either on a healthy person or a mentally ill person.

      Good luck!

    3. #3
      .Prospective Corpse. xSuper_Sadistx's Avatar
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      I do have a therapist, but I have never brought it up with her because sometimes she has no idea what i am talking about when I bring things up such as this...Hmm.Maybe its time for me to find a new therapist, Huh? Haha.


      Thank you so much for your reply.

      ...Life.Death.Time...
      ....Mors venit velociter quae neminem veretur....

    4. #4
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      Quote Originally Posted by xSuper_Sadistx View Post
      I do have a therapist, but I have never brought it up with her because sometimes she has no idea what i am talking about when I bring things up such as this...Hmm.Maybe its time for me to find a new therapist, Huh? Haha.


      Thank you so much for your reply.
      I think you should maybe bring her Stephen LaBerge's book, Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Try to explain lucid dreaming to her, and how it can be a fulfilling and helpful experience. She should come round to it, and see its possible benefits.

      I for one don't think I'd be able to cope with the world without lucid dreaming - but I'm quite an escapist.

      And no problem - Happy to help

    5. #5
      .Prospective Corpse. xSuper_Sadistx's Avatar
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      I think i might just do that! Hopefully the public library has a copy.

      I wish I had an escape of some kind.I feel like i've lived my life so far with no relief whatsoever! My life is not over yet though, and there is still time for change.Hopefully sometime soon I will be on my way with the help of this community and much dedication on my part.

      ...Life.Death.Time...
      ....Mors venit velociter quae neminem veretur....

    6. #6
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      Quote Originally Posted by xSuper_Sadistx View Post
      I wish I had an escape of some kind.I feel like i've lived my life so far with no relief whatsoever! My life is not over yet though, and there is still time for change.Hopefully sometime soon I will be on my way with the help of this community and much dedication on my part.
      Totally. Lucid dreaming has helped me cope a little bit better with life's problems, and be more relaxed in general. I value it very dearly!

      Good luck, and I hope you feel welcome here - we're always around to help.

    7. #7
      .Prospective Corpse. xSuper_Sadistx's Avatar
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      Thats nice to hear.Im glad its helped you.

      Thanks again for your quick response to my post.And thank you for the welcome.

      ...Life.Death.Time...
      ....Mors venit velociter quae neminem veretur....

    8. #8
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      Quote Originally Posted by xSuper_Sadistx View Post
      I was wondering if it is completely safe for my mental health to practice LD.
      Completely safe? No, it isn't. It might help you, but then again it might make you worse.

      Good luck.

    9. #9
      Member Ryan's Avatar
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      I just want to stand behind Patrick on the point that making sure your therapist is completely on-board is critical before attempting any of these practices. Usually, lucid dreaming is self-selective, because, after all, it is difficult to become aware of something you don't want to be aware of. If your mental illness is more of a mood disorder, you'll probably be okay.

      I'm not a doctor, but I know there's a lot more to getting rid of nightmares than making them into lucid nightmares. this could actually re-traumatize certain memories. Truth is, the research on this subject is pretty sparse.

      You may be interested to read this classic article by Scott Sparrow, a psychotherapist and lucid dreamer too: http://www.sawka.com/spiritwatch/let...tt_sparrow.htm

    10. #10
      .Prospective Corpse. xSuper_Sadistx's Avatar
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      Oh,wow.Thank you.I'll check it out.

      ...Life.Death.Time...
      ....Mors venit velociter quae neminem veretur....

    11. #11
      .Prospective Corpse. xSuper_Sadistx's Avatar
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      Thank you.

      ...Life.Death.Time...
      ....Mors venit velociter quae neminem veretur....

    12. #12
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      Are there risks for the rest of us?

      Even with no known "mental illnesses", are there any known risks that everyone takes when we practice LD?

      I know the research might not be conclusive, but I wonder if anyone has heard if this practice is generally safe. I'm quite new.

    13. #13
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      Hey
      My psychiatrist thinks I have Bipolar disorder, so I take lamictal and lithium every day. She didn't seem to have any problem with me trying to lucid dream when I brought up the topic last time. I also mentioned taking some of the supplements and she said it was unlikely there would be a problem but obviously there hadn't been any studies done on those types of interactions. I just had a semi lucid dream yesterday, the first since I first started trying at the end of august. Wasn't a problem.

      goals: make something explode by pointing at it [ ] create an object [ ] create a person [ ]
      radically change landscape: by walking through a wall [ ] by turning around a corner [ ]

    14. #14
      Flying squirrels FTW!!! Snowy Egypt's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by fenchurch View Post
      Even with no known "mental illnesses", are there any known risks that everyone takes when we practice LD?

      I know the research might not be conclusive, but I wonder if anyone has heard if this practice is generally safe. I'm quite new.
      There are no risks.
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      This guy, , and this guy, , are mine. BACK OFF!

    15. #15
      .. / .- –– / .- .-. guitarboy's Avatar
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      are there any risks for kids? im pretty sure that commen sense would say no because ive been having lucids a while, probably since i was really young. i never looked in to the topic alot, i just thought that som dreams are controllable and some arent. for instance, when i was young i kept on having dreams about dinosaurs chasing me. the last one i remember was that i was being chased around a room by a giant t rex,then i realized i was dreaming. i thought if it got me i would wake up so i stopped running. as it came nearer it shrunk until it was so small i stepped on it and that was the last dinosaur night mare i had

    16. #16
      Flying squirrels FTW!!! Snowy Egypt's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy View Post
      are there any risks for kids? im pretty sure that commen sense would say no because ive been having lucids a while, probably since i was really young. i never looked in to the topic alot, i just thought that som dreams are controllable and some arent. for instance, when i was young i kept on having dreams about dinosaurs chasing me. the last one i remember was that i was being chased around a room by a giant t rex,then i realized i was dreaming. i thought if it got me i would wake up so i stopped running. as it came nearer it shrunk until it was so small i stepped on it and that was the last dinosaur night mare i had
      It's extremely easier for kids to have LDs than the rest of us, so your right when you think it's fine for kids.
      http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1596/sleepingpikachu4.jpg
      This guy, , and this guy, , are mine. BACK OFF!

    17. #17
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      I'd say that you should work on becoming lucid, and then face whatever causes/is in your nightmares. Armed with the ability to control your dream, but, more importantly, with the awareness that you have absolute power in dreams, and nothing can harm you, you should be able to relieve your stress. But I'm no psycologist. I suggest you confer with a professional.
      Willing to talk about/listen to anything you have to say.

    18. #18
      Member Ryan's Avatar
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      lucid nightmares

      hey, I wrote a long series about lucid nightmares on my blog last week , partially inspired by this forum conversation.

      http://dreamstudies.org/2008/10/06/l...ream-research/

      It's a five part series, but to cut to the chase, the last post deals with tactics for dealing with and working with lucid nightmares.

    19. #19
      Dream searcher. Nazzul's Avatar
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      Only danger I could think of is having a traumatic lucid experince of brining out your "shadow", or perhaps SP. When trying to get better dream control and go into lucids Ive had some knarly SP episodes that would of been traumatic for some people. For someone who is scared of not being able to move or experinceing auditory hallucinations I could see some problems arising.

    20. #20
      REALITY CHECK nightflyer's Avatar
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      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

    21. #21
      .. / .- –– / .- .-. guitarboy's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by Snowy Egypt View Post
      It's extremely easier for kids to have LDs than the rest of us, so your right when you think it's fine for kids.
      i wanna be a kid again

    22. #22
      Dream searcher. Nazzul's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by guitarboy View Post
      i wanna be a kid again
      Really? For me it's been diffrent Ive had more LD's when I was more experinced in the process of dreams then when I was a younger kid.

    23. #23
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      It's hard to make any sort of judgment since we don't know the true nature of your problem. That's why it's best if you are able to explain it to a therapist who is familiar with you, present the evidence for it (EWOLD is great for that), and see what they think. Personally, as long as you educate yourself properly first I think it has a million uses for therapy. But best to play it safe.

      Snowy, you shouldn't say that there are NO risks. No one knows that. But so far, Super Sadist, we have a huge community here, with thousands of users, none of whom have reported debilitating problems that we can link to lucid dreaming. It's also been done over thousands of years. I personally think the benefits far outweigh any sort of risks, but again I do not have a history of mental health issues (no more than the avg. person, at any rate).

    24. #24
      .. / .- –– / .- .-. guitarboy's Avatar
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      Quote Originally Posted by Nazzul View Post
      Really? For me it's been diffrent Ive had more LD's when I was more experinced in the process of dreams then when I was a younger kid.
      im a natural, ive always had lds, even when i was young

      after i joined this sight, i havent had any good ones
      DAMN YOU DV
      that is all

    25. #25
      Member Ryan's Avatar
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      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.

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