Comments on: Lucid Nightmares & Frightening Near Death Experiences

By: John Cartwright

John Cartwright — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:07:19 +0000

I used to have terrifying Sleep paralysis when I was younger, now I have gotten over it, but it is amazing how realistic these experiences can seem, they seem like you are really there. The mind is a powerful thing.

By: Ryan Hurd

Ryan Hurd — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:24:01 +0000

Nancy – thanks so much for coming by! Your work is inspiring. Can you point out any new NDE research? – feel free to add a link.

The whole issue of expectation = fear comes out in sleep paralysis experiences too. in that case, sometimes account for fear in them moment can be transformational. in other cases, the negative imagery continues to be expressed regardless.

By: Nancy Evans Bush

Nancy Evans Bush — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:40:29 +0000

So far there’s no evidence that expectation plays a part in any type of NDE.

Very supportive site! Yes,the public response to frightening NDEs, lucid dreams–frightening anything–is pretty much the same rejection all around. Much too little solid information for folks.
neb

By: Veronique Dupuis

Veronique Dupuis — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:52:53 +0000

Hey, I am so glad I stumbled upon your post. Since I’ve turned 20 I’ve had ( demon dreams) very frequently and have lost a lot of sleep over it. I seen sources such as diagnostic of panic attack, or sleep apnea…but I don’t truly believe these are the sources… a lot of the dreams are repetitive, and I swear on my life I can feel things when I dream, you might think I am crazy lol but I know what I feel and see. Most of the dreams I have consist of the most horrifying things you could never even begin to imagine, or you might since you’ve had such dreams before… Just wanted to say thank you for writing this, its a bit easier to deal with something when you know a bit more what it is.
Peace:)

By: Dungan

Dungan — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:10:09 +0000

ooh, good question. In Grayson and Bush’s research, expectation may explain the first type of their NDE type: “Phenomenology similar to peaceful near-death experiences but interpreted as unpleasant.” But I doubt that expectation (as fear) is the sole creator of “negative” imagery in many cases…. there is some other process at work, deeper than conscious expectation.

By: Gwen

Gwen — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:43:48 +0000

What role does expectation play in NDE’s? (Particularly negative NDE’s?)

By: Dungan

Dungan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:00:44 +0000

David, thanks for commenting. There are a lot of places on the web that specialize in lucid dreaming techniques – check out my resources page:

http://dreamstudies.org/resources/lucid-dreaming-resources/

I recommend especially LaBerge’s site, then stop by the forums. Good luck!

By: David

David — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:05:05 +0000

Hi. Just stumbled across your blog; interesting post. I was into lucid dreaming about 4-6 years ago. I was keeping a regular dream journal and was able to remember up to three dream a night in some detail. I have had numerous lucid dreams, both during that period and still every now and again I will have one. However, I always had great problems:

a) Getting too excited an waking up
b) Maintaining lucidity

I tried one trick, which was spinning around on my axis. This worked to clam myself down. I also found it very hard to do anything in lucid dreams. Last time I had one I tried to move someone across a room, but at first attempt I just ploughed my hand into their face. I guess it takes a lot of perseverance.

Looking forward to trying to get back into it now I have found this blog.

By: Dungan

Dungan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:17:11 +0000

good point, Gyrus. It’s easy to devalue that which we don’t want to see. Sort of like the psi cynics who loudly rail against the field of anomalous psychology but refuse to actually look at the data…. what is being threatened here?

So the larger question asks: is fear for fear’s sake in these experiences? ie, does the imagery and perception of the imagery change if fear is swallowed? That’s what I’ll be exploring next.

By: Gyrus

Gyrus — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:44:15 +0000

There’s some interesting psychology in the idea that these horrific images are “just” reflections of fear. Buried in that dismissal there seems to be a denial of fear. When you want to put on a tie or some lipstick, you don’t ignore the mirror because it’s “just” a reflection! It’s a useful perspective.

There’s some sort of blame psychology tangled up in there somewhere. Like, let’s dismiss these visions as “reflections”, because if we really look in that mirror seriously, the only psychological stance in our Judeo-Christian tradition is one of guilt and sin.

Of course your suggestion is exactly right: don’t dismiss them, take them seriously, but not with the woeful guilt consciousness of traditional religion.