Anxiety disorders and Lucid Dreams

The most common and broad symptom of anxiety is the stress and worry over everyday life (Dean) but lucid dreaming allows the person to put themselves in that situation they are worried about, knowing it’s not real and they will wake up the next day and be okay. It can help people with phobias get over fears, it can help people with panic disorder gather courage to live their life and surround themselves with people. Lucid dreaming is like a simulation that a person can go into knowing they will come out. It may be worrisome, but it has the potential to help, and it’s more merciful than experiencing the situation in real life.

Stress is the largest component of anxiety. It has been found that as stress increases, nightmares also increase, and anxiety increases, creating a positive feedback loop (Macêdo). Higher nightmare rates are also linked to increased suicide rates. Lucid dreaming can help control nightmares, preventing this scenario, and it can also help reduce the person’s anxiety by placing them in the situation they are afraid of and helping them cope with it and develop control over it.

Picture by Matteo Vistocco