The phenomenon of LUCID NIGHTMARES is seemingly a less known and less encountered experience. Hopefully, more studies and articles will be written about it. Maybe, with better understanding of it, more people can learn how to stop them when needed, or use them to face their fears and grow through them.
Below is some information on studies and articles relating to it.
“LUCID NIGHTMARES – FEAR, INITIATION, AND BEYOND” – BY RYAN HURD
“…Fear plays a huge role in lucid dreams because fear can manifest exactly what we don’t want to see. In lucid dreams this well-known phenomenon is called the expectancy effect…
…The neural pathways that connect fear to certain past experiences are so strong, they are like deep grooves in a dirt road, making it the easiest path for our minds to follow…
… In other cases, especially for young men, there is a real craving for confrontation in lucid dreams. Sometimes we go “looking for trouble,”…
…So here is a potpourri of tactics… Find safe ground…Know your boundaries…Ask for a helper or guardian…Ask threatening dream characters how you can help them…Give a gift… Cultivate gratitude…Take up a body practice…Explore your core beliefs…” – Lucid Nightmares – Fear, Initiation, and Beyond – Ryan Hurd – http://dreamstudies.org/2008/10/13/lucid-nightmares-fear-initiation-and-beyond/
“LUCID NIGHTMARES: A SURVEY OF THEIR FREQUENCY, FEATURES, AND FACTORS IN LUCID DREAMERS” – BY TADAS STUMBRYS
“This article reports the first systematic study on lucid nightmares—terrifying lucid dreams with a lack of dream control….
…According to the reports of lucid dreamers, less than half of them had experienced a lucid nightmare, and only 1% of them could be considered as suffering from lucid nightmares…
…Lucid nightmares are more likely to occur for women and nightmare sufferers, yet also for more frequent lucid dreamers and for those who experience lucid dreams spontaneously rather than them being induced deliberately…” – Lucid nightmares: A survey of their frequency, features, and factors in lucid dreamers – Tadas Stumbrys – Dreaming, Vol 28(3), Sep 2018 – Psycnet – http://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fdrm0000090
“LUCID NIGHTMARES & FRIGHTENING NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES” – BY RYAN HURD
“…But not everyone has a good time in their NDE [Near Death Experiences}… frightening experiences include:
- Phenomenology similar to peaceful near-death experiences but interpreted as unpleasant
- A sense of nonexistence or eternal void
- Graphic hellish landscapes and entities
Brushing off negative imagery as reflections of fear only stigmatizes dreamers and visionaries, and therefore devalues the warnings and messages…
I tell this story because those dreamers who suffer from lucid nightmares often feel persecuted, misunderstood, and that they are “doing something wrong.” Any path (be it for fun, self-knowledge, or self-empowerment) is beset with darkness and light. This is true of dreamwork, spirituality, and any creative process….” – Lucid Nightmares & Frightening Near Death Experiences – Ryan Hurd – http://dreamstudies.org/2008/10/09/lucid-nightmares-frightening-near-death-experiences/
“LUCID NIGHTMARES: CAN LUCID DREAMS BECOME NIGHTMARES?” – BY REBECCA TURNER
“…And when the unconscious decides to air some anxieties, you have a nightmare…I often relinquish control of my lucid dreams and allow my unconscious to show me what it wants…”Passive lucid dreaming” as I’ve come to call it, can be far more enlightening than my conscious dream choices. .. Think of it as an opportunity to face your inner fears and overcome them…
…The childish method of shouting “WAKE UP” can help at this point – but I recommend confronting your demons or just letting the nightmare play out… – Lucid Nightmares: Can Lucid Dreams Become Nightmares? – Rebecca Turner – https://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/lucid-nightmares.html
“MY LUCID NIGHTMARES AND LUCID DREAMING STORIES” – BY JUSTIN APTAKER
“…I also want to comfort such people by assuring them that I have only pleasant lucid dreams now, so it really is possible to stop having lucid nightmares and begin enjoying lucid dreams…
…After the first time this happened, with fearful results, I could no longer stop it from happening. The simple reason for this is that I would go to sleep afraid that I might have more lucid nightmares, and this very fear planted all the seed-thoughts needed to make the experience repeat itself. ..
…I stopped becoming lucid in my dreams. I think that this happened because my subconscious mind finally registered the fact that I no longer wanted to lucid dream….” – My Lucid Nightmares and Lucid Dreaming Stories – Justin Aptaker – updated on May 23, 2017 – https://exemplore.com/dreams/Lucid-Dreaming-A-Note-of-Caution
“LUCID NIGHTMARES: THE DARK SIDE OF SELF-AWARENESS IN DREAMS” – BY RYAN HURD
In this paper, I will illustrate how some nightmares offer a unique opportunity to dreamers not because they can be transformed but because they transform us. These are lucid nightmares…
…Lucid nightmares are a little understood phenomenon that has been long overlooked, in part due to the cultural reluctance of reporting negative lucid dream experiences…
…Ego psychology is effective at pushing the shadows back to where they belong, and has eased the suffering of thousands of tortured souls. – Lucid Nightmares: the Dark Side of Self-Awareness in Dream – Ryan Hurd – Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams – 2009 – Academia – http://www.academia.edu/34277759/Lucid_Nightmares_the_Dark_Side_of_Self-Awareness_in_Dreams
“LUCID NIGHTMARES EXPLAINED, AND HOW TO AVOID THEM” – BY STEFAN – HowToLucid
“…Dreams have been known to act almost like health warnings. Repeated nightmares that show us images or scenarios that relate to health issues or diseases can be a way of our bodies trying to make us aware that something is wrong…
…Facing your fears in your dreams can lessen the terror of similar real life situations and also make future nightmares less frequent…
…Watch the dream as you would a movie…” – Stefan – HowToLucid – https://howtolucid.com/lucid-nightmares/
“LUCID NIGHTMARES: AN EXPLORATORY ONLINE STUDY” – BY MICHAEL SCHREDL AND KELLY BULKELEY
“…Of the 160 nightmarish dreams, 67 could be classified as lucid nightmares with two thirds of the dreams including the inability to wake up. “Including nightmarish elements in the most recent lucid dream report” and “Being able to change the distressing content vs. having a lucid nightmare” was not related to age, gender, education, and ethnicity in this exploratory study. Future studies should focus on the variety of lucid nightmare topics – possibly expand the definition as this is currently focused on the inability to wake up or not being able to change the plot – and intervention strategies, i.e., the most effective ways to deal with lucid nightmares…” – Lucid nightmares: An exploratory online study | International Journal of Dream Research
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