False Awakening HELL!

[Justinpie91]

If you CBA to read about the lucid dream itself - skip the first paragraph. So I was dreaming away, and a 'friend' of mine (doesn't exist in real life) was talking about a course to another friend (who also doesn't exist) that he does a course about dreaming, etc. So this green car arrives, and my friend says "No way, is that the mustang??" But whatever he was talking about, he found out he was wrong. I proceeded to get into the green car with yet another 'friend' (the driver - nobody else was in the car). I got in and we set off. He seemed overly confident and said "I'm gonna take you on a quicker route." I was very sceptical about this, and thought he was going to do something out of the normal. As he almost came head-on to a bus, he made the bus move back with his mind, and swerved a bit to the right onto the grass to avoid it. At this point, I looked up, and became fully conscious. We were both in the back of the vehicle, which was somehow driving itself. I looked at the guy and thoroughly observed his face and surroundings, and said something like "I'm dreaming....... All I had to do was realise strange things like that!" He didn't have lots to say to me after this point, and still seemed to be smiling / smirking confidently as if he had lived in lucidity all his life. I began rubbing my hands to increase the lucidity (and yes, it works!), and more clarity came about. I wanted to spin (to try to further increase lucidity), so did a swimming motion with both arms in an attempt to make the car and the guy disappear so that I was on land. I realised I wasn't skilled enough for that, and he laughed. I said something like "Oh, I can't do things like this yet can I..." At this point, the dream world began to fade away; sort of like when you spill water onto a painting. It happened quite fast, and I didn't want it to end, but before I knew it I could see the bright sunlight through the bottom of my eyelids. So I got out of bed, and got ready. I think there was Britney Spears music playing, or a CD on my shelf. This seemed normal. I visualised someone having their 17th birthday, and that they were wearing a 'size 16' shirt, which was now on me, and fitted perfectly (size 16?!). I went downstairs, excited to tell my mother about my lucid dream, as I thought she'd be back from picking up my bro by now (because I had already gotten up previously and spoken to her, then gone back to bed to attempt this current WBTB-DILD). I saw her sat down with the TV on, with a burning cigarette in her hand. I was shocked, and said "What the f***?! You don't smoke..." Her reply was something like "I smoked it from the wrong end", perhaps trying to avoid what I was asking. She seemed very evil. The TV was bizarre; not working how it should be, and it sounded strange. I realised this WASN'T the reality I knew. My mother literally disappeared, and I began panicking that I could no longer differentiate actual reality, to delusion. It was as if I was lost in another dimension; a world of deluded-ness with no escape; it got the impression the place where I was, was timeless and endless; and I thoroughly 99% believed I was not dreaming, but knew something was very fucked up... this WASN'T reality. Infact, it wasn't even a matter of whether I was dreaming or not. It was like being on Salvia Divinorum, but more extreme, and reality was gone forever. I gave it a try to open my eyes to awaken, but it didn't work. I was half hanging onto the sofa, crying and panicking, heart pounding, absolutely TERRIFIED. But I then realised that if I keep this up it will turn into a nightmare. I needed to get away from any imagery, so I buried myself into my sofa, trying to sleep, in an attempt to wake up to the real reality (I really didn't think this would work). But it worked... I awoke, heart pounding; very happy to see reality; but also happy to have had this insane experience. Sollution = Do an RC upon awakening?

[Conquer]

Yeah. haha. Do a few.

[skysaw]

Sollution = Do an RC upon awakening? Always! Waking up is the ultimate dreamsign. And since FAs are very common after a lucid, it's like getting two LDs for the price of one.

[drewmandan]

Indeed. False awakenings are a freebie when it comes to lucid dreaming.

[capoopy]

When you mentioned the different dimension, It sounded like a Twilight Zone intro lol

[spockman]

The scariest thing about this is that if reality is truly mental (1984) then could we not feasibly trap ourselves in that kind of a state forever? I can see where you were scared.

[drewmandan]

Luckily, the dreaming is being done by an external agent, the brain. We've all had one of those long series of false awakenings, and it feels like a dream within a dream within a dream, but it isn't. False awakenings aren't an example of a computer simulating another computer. If they were, we would be in trouble because getting trapped in a Groundhog Day scenario would be possible. But fortunately, false awakenings are actually a dream after a dream after a dream, which means they're all limited by the physical brain, so there's always a limit. Did that make any sense?

[spockman]

Yes, it did. And you are probably right. We are grounded in reality. I was just exploring the concept of perception being 100 percent mental.

[Justinpie91]

The scariest thing about this is that if reality is truly mental (1984) then could we not feasibly trap ourselves in that kind of a state forever? I can see where you were scared. Very true. But not in this lifetime; as things decompose. But maybe in a different universe where thing's DON'T decompose... and you can't kill yourself.

[sjones]

I had a similiar experience on my second LD and it also scared me. I had 4-5 false awakings in a row and after the third I got afraid that I would never wake up to reality again. The first false awaking I notice when I walked out the door to drive to work and there is a church clock I can see from where I live and it had 3 fingers so I realized I was still dreaming. After that I woke up (so I thought) but this time the digital clock on my stereo was weird so I knew I was dreaming, the third time I was already kinda sceptical (I didn't know about RCs back then) and I stepped on my balcony and somehow I had a sea view even though I don't life by the sea. That was the moment when it wasn't funny anymore and I started to panic, going back to bed hopping that the next time I would please wake up to reality. I had one or two very short false awakings again until I finally really woke up.

[sirjj]

I had a similiar experience on my second LD and it also scared me. I had 4-5 false awakings in a row and after the third I got afraid that I would never wake up to reality again. The first false awaking I notice when I walked out the door to drive to work and there is a church clock I can see from where I live and it had 3 fingers so I realized I was still dreaming. After that I woke up (so I thought) but this time the digital clock on my stereo was weird so I knew I was dreaming, the third time I was already kinda sceptical (I didn't know about RCs back then) and I stepped on my balcony and somehow I had a sea view even though I don't life by the sea. That was the moment when it wasn't funny anymore and I started to panic, going back to bed hopping that the next time I would please wake up to reality. I had one or two very short false awakings again until I finally really woke up. are you sure you woke up????

[Delilah]

are you sure you woke up???? Hahaha!

[Scarhand]

When you mentioned the different dimension, It sounded like a Twilight Zone intro lol I thought the exact same thing :O

[Cougar]

Well in a false awakening is it possible to like leave your house, if you know it is a false awakening, and just go have fun.

[spockman]

Well in a false awakening is it possible to like leave your house, if you know it is a false awakening, and just go have fun. Yes, actually, if you have some control. I've had them where I can't though, even when I'm lucid. If an FA causes you to be lucid, don't stay around your house. Pshhaw on that. Do something fun!

[venusflesh]

What the... oh my god, that sounds absolutely TERRIFYING. This is EXACTLY what I'm afraid of. I was feeling better about the whole thing, and then I go and read old posts, and now I'm scared again. Do you guys think this happens often to people? :/

[PSPSoldier534]

Why are you scared? It is easy to shock yourself awake. All dreams are based on expectations, and, as BillyBob said, expect to wake up, you will. Hope to wake up, you won't (at least not right away).

[venusflesh]

Why are you scared? It is easy to shock yourself awake. All dreams are based on expectations, and, as BillyBob said, expect to wake up, you will. Hope to wake up, you won't (at least not right away). Well, apparently that person really couldn't differentiate between reality and the dream world-- they even said so. They thought they were in another dimension, and couldn't escape. It sounds terrifying.

[PSPSoldier534]

That's why you have to do reality checks. They can save you from unwanted terror.

[drewmandan]

Well, apparently that person really couldn't differentiate between reality and the dream world-- they even said so. They thought they were in another dimension, and couldn't escape. It sounds terrifying. There is a very clear difference between the dream world and the real world. If you're conscious enough to be worried that you're dreaming, you're alert enough to tell the difference.

[venusflesh]

There is a very clear difference between the dream world and the real world. If you're conscious enough to be worried that you're dreaming, you're alert enough to tell the difference. Good point...

[mazcat86]

I had a similar experience two days ago, it was indeed terrifying. I had repeated false awakenings, about ten of them and I could not escape from the 'dream world'. Usually I have the power to end my dreams/nightmares if I dont like the look of how they are going to end. This one was diff tho. I was totally aware that I was dreaming and I could do anything I liked apart from end the dream. It was the weirdest experience I have ever had. Everytime I 'false awoke' I looked down at the alarm clock and it was completely erratic. It was constantly changing, even showing letters sometimes instead of digits. I visited a cafe where I met someone I used to work with and I told him that I couldnt escape from the dream and at that instant everyone in the cafe stopped what they were doing, stopped talking and stared at me. I suddenly thought, "they know something i dont". I was so scared I even thought that maybe something had happened to me while I was asleep and that I may even be dead and stuck in some sort of afterlife!! When I eventually woke for real I was too scared to go back to sleep in fear of it happening again :-(

[Tarsier]

Hehe this happens to me all the time during naps. Endless FAs waking up in my bed to disturbed alternate realities thinking that it is real and all of that. Pretty freaky stuff. And yeah get into the habit of RCing every time you wake up and it should fix it.

[DreamMentor]

I don't get it. I thought lucid dreams were suppose to be a good thing. Why is it that so many people get scared FA after FA. If they still realize their are dreaming, why can't they just have fun and not be scared about not waking up?

[DreamQueen]

I don't get it. I thought lucid dreams were suppose to be a good thing. Why is it that so many people get scared FA after FA. If they still realize their are dreaming, why can't they just have fun and not be scared about not waking up? If you have never heard of it happening and you suddenly experience it then you just don't know what is going on. I had it happen and all I could conclude was that I had died in my sleep and that this was the afterlife. I just couldn't see any other explanation for why all of a sudden for the first time ever I could not wake up as the 'real' me again.