Scientists Tap Lucid Dreaming as a Means to Conquer Nightmares

Vengeful, fire-breathing demons beware: Scientists are claiming to person recovered a mode to assistance radical combat their nightmares, utilizing a operation of therapy and lucid-dreaming techniques.

While astir everyone experiences nightmares connected occasion, immoderate radical conflict with frequent-enough atrocious dreams that their waking lives are nary picnic. People with narcolepsy, a information successful which the sleeping and waking rhythm can’t beryllium controlled, are particularly prone to nightmares, which tin impact up to 40% of sufferers. Sleep researchers astatine Northwestern University judge that they’ve developed an effectual method to negociate these hard cases. They published 2 studies past period detailing their work.

In 1 study, published successful the diary Consciousness and Cognition, the squad demonstrated that they could thatch radical to lucid imagination utilizing a elemental app.

The app relies connected a method called targeted lucidity reactivation (TLR), which aims to bid radical portion awake to subordinate a circumstantial dependable cue with the volition of becoming lucid portion dreaming (people are asked to go highly alert of their surroundings and interior authorities erstwhile proceeding the cue). Since different probe has shown that sleeping radical tin comprehend extracurricular sounds and adjacent smells, the anticipation is that radical volition beryllium capable to crook their dreams lucid upon proceeding the cue again. The researchers recovered that the app was so capable to summation the frequence of lucid dreaming successful their volunteers, from an mean 0.74 lucid dreams successful a week to implicit 2 lucid dreams a week.

In a 2nd tiny study, published successful the Journal of Sleep Research, the researchers combined the usage of TLR with a signifier of cognitive behavioral therapy already utilized to dainty nightmares.

“We had them ideate what they’d similar to imagination alternatively of their nightmare, astir similar they’re penning a movie script,” said survey researcher Jennifer Mundt, adjunct prof of neurology (sleep medicine) and psychiatry and behavioral sciences astatine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, successful a statement from the university.

All six patients successful the survey received cognitive behavioral therapy, portion fractional yet received TLR arsenic well. By the extremity of the survey period, each of them reported less nightmares (with 4 nary longer gathering the criteria for a nightmare disorder). And 2 of the volunteers successful the lucid dreaming radical recalled having dreams akin to the ones that they tried to ideate having successful therapy—a imaginable motion that TLR boosted the treatment’s potency.

“This survey provides a impervious of conception for the exertion of TLR arsenic a therapeutic strategy with objective populations, arsenic good arsenic preliminary grounds for the efficacy of CBT-N successful treating narcolepsy-related nightmares,” the researchers wrote successful the paper.

Both studies are based connected tiny illustration sizes, truthful much probe volition beryllium done to person to corroborate the imaginable benefits of these treatments for narcolepsy-related nightmares. Other studies person found that utilizing dependable to positively manipulate people’s dreams tin trim nightmares successful general, however. So if the team’s probe continues to wage off, this could pb to a caller effectual enactment for galore with narcolepsy.

“It’s empowering for them,” Mundt said. “They’re truthful amazed this works. It increases self-efficacy for managing their symptoms, and they picture however gladsome they are that this helped. It’s truly a game-changer, mentally.”