Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, Vol 10(2), Jun 2023, 152-163; doi:10.1037/cns0000288
Lucid dreams—dreams in which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming—are generally positive and empowering experiences, for which a variety of benefits have been demonstrated, for example, alleviating nightmares and insomnia, improving motor skills, contributing to creativity and personal growth. Recently, however, certain concerns were raised about the possible risks of lucid dreaming on sleep and health. This study aimed to explore three potential domains of adverse effects—sleep quality, dissociation, and mental well-being—as well as to capture any self-observed negative consequences of lucid dreams within an online sample (N = 489) in which the majority of respondents (94%) were lucid dreamers. According to the results, lucid dream frequency was not associated with poorer sleep quality or with greater dissociation but was linked to greater mental well-being. Moreover, most of the lucid dreams were reported to be emotionally positive experiences and the majority of lucid dreamers did not ascribe any negative consequences to lucid dreaming. Thus, at least from the present findings, the experience of lucid dreaming does not seem to exert evident detrimental effects, although a small proportion of lucid dreams (about 10%) were negatively toned. However, to establish causal relationships future longitudinal studies are needed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)