Is Lucid Dreaming Safe or Dangerous for the Brain?

Is lucid dreaming dangerous and are there any negative effects on your brain or body? Lucid dreaming occurs when a dreamer is asleep, but aware that she is in the midst of a dream.

Some small portion of consciousness is able to transcend the boundary between sleeping and wakefulness. Dreamers may then be able to exert control over the events of their dreams, which can have benefits for wish-fulfilment and more.

Lucid dreams can occur spontaneously, or they can be induced by practicing strategies for obtaining lucidity. But is it safe to induce a lucid state and could there be dangerous side effects?

More research is needed in this area, but there is no evidence that lucid dreaming can cause serious health risks or bad effects. Some may experience nightmares or disrupted sleep, but these risks are no different than with typical dream behavior.

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Is Lucid Dreaming Bad for You?

Many people are intrigued by the concept of achieving lucidity while dreaming, but they are afraid of perhaps losing touch with reality, or slipping into permanent madness.

This is an old myth and is very, very unlikely to result. No research suggests that lucid dreaming causes mental illness or psychosis of any kind.

The fears about lucid dreaming being dangerous are often linked to the myth that it can be harmful to wake someone up in the middle of a dream or during REM sleep.

While some individuals can experience confusion and discoordination upon waking from a dream – or after a lucid dream – there is no evidence of long-term harm.

Lucid Dreaming Effects

Research does show that lucid dreaming may be beneficial in several ways. Possible therapeutic potentials of controlled lucid dreaming include ending recurring nightmares, enhancing physical therapy measures and expanding self-knowledge and self-confidence.

Many psychologists believe that lucid dreaming improves the ability to cope with recurring bad dreams, problem solving and generalized resilience. Lucid dreaming may help to enhance psychological and cognitive health.

Both people with dementia and lucid dreamers report seeing things that do not exist in reality. In the case of lucid dreamers, their visions are called hypnagogic hallucinations.

These may include imagery, sounds and feelings induced by the brain during transition from wakefulness to sleep (hypnagogia).

Some mental health disorders are also associated with lucid hypnagogic hallucinations.

Various mental illnesses are marked by arousal dysfunction which may increase the chances of awareness at the onset of sleep. In fact, in schizophrenia, this type of awareness is often an early symptom.

The hypnagogic hallucinations experienced commonly in lucid states is not the same as the hallucinations in schizophrenia and other mental disorders.

Rather, the hypnagogic imageries, feelings and sounds experienced as lucid dreaming onsets are quite normal. They cause no physiological dysfunction and are parts of healthy sleep.

Some psychiatrists today still misdiagnosed lucid hypnagogic imagery and sleep paralysis as early signs of schizophrenia. This is part of the reason why some people still feel that lucid dreaming is dangerous.

Is Sleep Paralysis during Lucid Dreaming Safe?

Many people experience sleep paralysis when they first start lucid dreaming, especially when using Wake-Induced Lucid Dreaming (WILD) techniques.

Sleep paralysis is a mechanism the brain employs to shut down bodily movement during sleep. It is important to do so to ensure restful sleep and safety from movements while unconscious.

Every person experiences sleep paralysis when he or she goes to sleep – and again every time waking occurs.

There are three main states of being: wakefulness, NREM (non-rapid eye movement) sleep and REM sleep. Some people experience overlap in these primary states, if only for a few seconds at a time.

Hypnagogia is the process of transitioning into sleep from wakefulness. Hypnapompia is the process of transitioning from sleep to wakefulness.

When the brain is switching from being awake to sleeping, or from sleeping to waking, a person might experience awareness of natural sleep paralysis.

Is Sleep Paralysis Dangerous?

Research indicates that sleep paralysis is often accompanied dreamstates based on dreadful circumstances – like abduction, imprisonment, suffocation or extreme danger.

Because there are many negative stories associated with sleep paralysis, again, the bad reputation may be transferred onto lucid dreaming.

Like people who have sleeping disorders marked by repetitive sleep paralysis, lucid dreamers also commonly knowingly experience this phenomenon. The differences are awareness and intention.

It is true that many people experience fear and dread in association with sleep paralysis. However, that is not always true for lucid dreamers.

People who experiment with lucid dreaming induction techniques and tools (like masks), actually train themselves to anticipate sleep paralysis.

Becoming semi-consciously aware of the transition between wakefulness and sleep is one primary goal of lucid dreaming.

Developing this awareness is the most challenging part of the skill set for many – and sleep paralysis is often used as a stepping stone for lucid dreaming practitioners.

Conclusions

Is lucid dreaming safe or dangerous to attempt? The answer is that it seems to be very safe for the vast majority of those who experience it.

There has been interest in lucid dreaming for many centuries. Historic mention of lucid dreaming is common – and many important artists and innovators credit lucid dreaming for their finest creative accomplishments.

Most lucid dreaming experts agree that patience and continued effort are the best keys for reliably inducing lucidity.

Those who develop the proper skills claim to be able to control the courses of their dreams – at least to some degree – before waking.

Lucid dreaming is a set of skills which research shows can be practiced and improved. While lucid states occur naturally for some, most others have to dedicate effort to this cause.

Some lucid dreamers practice different induction techniques for years before succeeding.

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