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It could be that people who are more likely to have lucid dreams are also more likely to have sleep-disrupting nightmares, not that lucid dreaming disrupts sleep directly. Some studies have found that more lucid dreaming is associated with a lower quality of sleep, but a closer look revealed that the connection was not significant if nightmares were accounted for. More research is needed to determine if being more “awake” during your dreams makes sleep less restful.
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Researchers caution that this may interfere with processes that normally occur during REM sleep, notably memory consolidation and emotional regulation. In this regard, lucid dreaming may be conceived as a hybrid form of consciousness. Preliminary studies have revealed that lucid dreams incorporate unusual patterns of brain activity with elements of both sleep and wakefulness. Disrupted SleepĪlthough lucid dreaming generally occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, lucid and non-lucid REM sleep periods differ from one another. The most concerning potential dangers of lucid dreaming are disrupted sleep and mental health issues. Risks of Lucid DreamingĪlthough more research is needed, some experts suspect lucid dreaming could come with negative consequences. However, some experts caution against using methods to intentionally induce lucid dreaming until more research on the safety of lucid dreaming has been conducted. People are interested in lucid dreaming in hopes that it may stimulate psychological growth, allow them to try impossible acts like flying, or even treat nightmares. Researchers propose that dream interpretation may also provide the dreamer with personal insight into their life and unconscious mind.ĭuring a lucid dream, the sleeper gains awareness that they are dreaming and can sometimes control the trajectory of the dream. Dreams might help process emotions and form memories of waking experiences. Each night, people dream for a total of about two hours as they sleep.
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