Drug induced lucid extended dreaming.

[arthwollipot]

I've never been able to dream lucidly. Many of my dreams are quite vivid and have strong emotional content. Problem is, I can never remember the details. Recently I've started Tweeting early-morning summaries of what I can remember. Here are my latest two:

#idreamed that I fell in love with a beautiful, white-haired Gypsy girl, but her family didn't approve.

#idreamed that I was Sherlock Holmes, duelling with Milady Di Winter, using gun katas from Equilibrium.

 

[ExMinister]

About the only "peculiar" dream aspect I ever get are the Doppelgangers, the one's where there are people or animals that look like the one's I know, but they aren't. I get sinister impressions and feelings about their motivations but I can't say that I recall ever having any really bad experiences. I tend to either wake up or realize I'm dreaming and take control of the experience, whenever dreams first start to indicate that they are going dark. but, mostly my dreams are, minor variations of my normal daily routine, often with interesting and enjoyable little twists, but nothing extraordinary.

My bizarre sinister dreams were lucid dreams. Some were sleep paralysis. Other than those, I have rarely ever had nightmares.

I was direct opposite of Gate and TB, never violent towards anyone else in a lucid dream unless I was on the defensive. Once I went back on seizure medication they stopped.

Normally I recall dreams all night long. Usually they're just very ordinary and somewhat nonsensical.

 

[Gate2501]

If being honest with yourself includes thinking that there's nothing unusual about regularly having aggressively violent dreams about assaulting other people, then I guess that's not a level of "honesty" I've achieved yet.

I don't think that there is anything unusual about it.

I have never hurt anyone in real life, nor do I fantasize about hurting or otherwise assaulting anyone(outside of a video game) or destroying their property.

When I am having a lucid dream, I am aware that I am in a sort of "fake reality", in which the other people don't have minds of their own, emotions, etc. I am also in a much more primitive state of mind than I am when I am awake. The combination of these two things in conjunction with my having matrix-like super powers results in myself going on a assault/sex(sometimes even rape)/destruction spree.

I don't see a problem with it.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

TShaitanaku, THOUGHT POLICE!

My lucid dreams seldom involve many people, though. I'm usually doing things like tossing cars, or destroying cities with space lasers. I also enjoy throwing fireballs and thunderbolts.

 

[Mister Earl]

I have lucid dreams from time to time. I'm dreaming quite vividly, I realize I'm dreaming, and then I start weird experiments. Like trying to lift my leg up off the bed. As soon as I put serious muscle tension into it, the "world" starts to fade away and I can tell I'm beginning to wake. I relax my leg and the "world" stabilizes. It's pretty interesting stuff. I'm at the point now where I can lift my arm up and grab at something while still dreaming. (cardboard shelf taped to the wall by the bed, small foam ball held with tape) I've tried sitting up in bed, while dreaming, just to see if I'd wake up that way. Couldn't do it without waking.

Maybe one day I can strap a one handed keyboard to my hand and write down what I see in the dreams. It'd be pretty neat to read in retrospect, I think.

 

[Mister Earl]

Same here, though the two are usually related, exaggerated jumping and running are common, the flying comes from "remembering" how not to fall. First you control falling to merely drift down, and then you learn how to miss the ground and fall/drift in different directions,...I know, sounds rough, but it makes sense in dreamland!

That's odd. When I "dream fly", I have to consciously strain and project a "force" down at the ground to hold myself up. If my concentration lapses, I fall. It's interesting that I "fly" in this way via a completely different method than you!

 

[Trakar]

I don't think that there is anything unusual about it.

I have never hurt anyone in real life, nor do I fantasize about hurting or otherwise assaulting anyone(outside of a video game) or destroying their property.

When I am having a lucid dream, I am aware that I am in a sort of "fake reality", in which the other people don't have minds of their own, emotions, etc. I am also in a much more primitive state of mind than I am when I am awake. The combination of these two things in conjunction with my having matrix-like super powers results in myself going on a assault/sex(sometimes even rape)/destruction spree.

I don't see a problem with it.

Obviously, and dreams are just dreams, even when we exert some control and influence into them. In general, however, this seems to indicate that there is a distinct difference between the way people choose to act when they know there is no connection or consequence to their actions. In general, my actions would be much the same as they are in my normal daily life, for some, it would seem, that veneer of ethical civilized social behavior and interaction is paper thin.

 

[Trakar]

That's odd. When I "dream fly", I have to consciously strain and project a "force" down at the ground to hold myself up. If my concentration lapses, I fall. It's interesting that I "fly" in this way via a completely different method than you!

Agreed, that is interesting, for me it is more a relaxation issue than it is a tension issue, and a peculiar inner-ear balancing sensation. There is a bit of tension as I try to find the "balance" that lets me drift down instead of falling at the normal rate, once I've found it, however, it is a matter of relaxing to sustain it.

 

[Gate2501]

Obviously, and dreams are just dreams, even when we exert some control and influence into them. In general, however, this seems to indicate that there is a distinct difference between the way people choose to act when they know there is no connection or consequence to their actions. In general, my actions would be much the same as they are in my normal daily life, for some, it would seem, that veneer of ethical civilized social behavior and interaction is paper thin.

Actually, if there were no consequences(I see causing harm to another human being to be a consequence in almost all cases), I wouldn't see any problem with acting just as I do while lucid dreaming. If other people were nothing more than imaginary virtual entities generated by my mind, devoid of any ability to actually feel, understand, or experience the reality that they virtually inhabit, I would see no problem with killing them, having sex with them, etc.

I really don't understand your point? You try to argue as if my terrible behavior in a virtual dream world is somehow related to how I would behave in real life were there not consequences for my actions, but the very fact that it *is* real life, and other people would have to experience my terrible rampage *is* a consequence, the consequence, that I would never be willing to bear. This renders your entire point completely moot, and makes you look like some kind of do-gooder virtual world thought police.

I don't see how my killing someone in a lucid dream is much different from my killing someone in Grand Theft Auto.

How do you feel about violent video games?

 

[Verde]

I don't think that there is anything unusual about it.

I have never hurt anyone in real life, nor do I fantasize about hurting or otherwise assaulting anyone(outside of a video game) or destroying their property.

When I am having a lucid dream, I am aware that I am in a sort of "fake reality", in which the other people don't have minds of their own, emotions, etc. I am also in a much more primitive state of mind than I am when I am awake. The combination of these two things in conjunction with my having matrix-like super powers results in myself going on a assault/sex(sometimes even rape)/destruction spree.

I don't see a problem with it.

Yep. See sig.

V.

 

[Trakar]

Actually, if there were no consequences(I see causing harm to another human being to be a consequence in almost all cases), I wouldn't see any problem with acting just as I do while lucid dreaming. If other people were nothing more than imaginary virtual entities generated by my mind, devoid of any ability to actually feel, understand, or experience the reality that they virtually inhabit, I would see no problem with killing them, having sex with them, etc.

The fact that you shape, identify and interact with them in other ways as though they were people with feelings, considerations and individual existences, however implies a mental connection to reality. Afterall, they aren't hedges or amorphous blobs which you are vicariously eviscerating, they look and act like people.

I really don't understand your point? You try to argue as if my terrible behavior in a virtual dream world is somehow related to how I would behave in real life were there not consequences for my actions, but the very fact that it *is* real life, and other people would have to experience my terrible rampage *is* a consequence, the consequence, that I would never be willing to bear. This renders your entire point completely moot, and makes you look like some kind of do-gooder virtual world thought police.

Please indicate anywhere that I have condemned your dream activities or in anyway stated that these can or should be considered a reflection of your non-trauma persona. All I said is that I, don't have these types of dreams, myself, and they aren't common themes among most people I've spoken to about their dreams.

I don't see how my killing someone in a lucid dream is much different from my killing someone in Grand Theft Auto.

How do you feel about violent video games?

It probably isn't much different, and, in fact, that may be the spawning ground for your violent dreams.

As for me personally, such hold little or no attraction in general, but I guess that depends upon how you define violence. First-person shooters, I generally consider boring and without any real entertainment value. For most people such games (and violent gore-fest films) are probably without serious harm or detriment, but in a broader sense they do build up a societal callus to such issues and may lower the threshold for real-life triggers in some people.

 

[Lithrael]

First-person shooters, I generally consider boring and without any real entertainment value. For most people such games (and violent gore-fest films) are probably without serious harm or detriment, but in a broader sense they do build up a societal callus to such issues and may lower the threshold for real-life triggers in some people.

Oh yeah, I mean when I hear about an undead rampage in the news it doesn't really even bother me anymore, and I have to admit the last time a zombie surprised me outside the minimart my first instinct was to shoot it in the face.

ETA: My dreams are about floating cities and finding motherlodes of robot action figures.

 

[arthwollipot]

Whenever I have violence in my dreams it's always simulated violence - ie, game playing. It's all wargames and roleplaying.

 

[Bluegill]

Whenever I have violence in my dreams it's always simulated violence - ie, game playing. It's all wargames and roleplaying.

In my dreams, violent conflict almost always jumps back and forth between something I'm observing (usually as a movie, sometimes feeling like a real-life participant.) The lines between make-believe and what's real don't really exist in my dreams, and after I wake up I feel like this sense of being a detached observer during violent or tense moments helps take the nightmarish edge off of some of it. I wonder if it's some kind of subconscious defense mechanism?

I have had lucid dreams, but not often, and usually at the point where they become lucid, it's not long before I wake up.

 

[skullerello]

I used to dream in great detail, as that was my reason for sleeping. I don't believe that I ever reached the point of "lucid dreaming"; there was a point where dream threats (whatever the situation) became lessened. Bullets fired at me from pistols transformed themselves into harmless staples fired from staple guns. I always got away from potentially dangerous situations by the skin-of-my-teeth; I never drove a fork-lift in dream-life until I'd learned to drive one in real-life. Altho' I could always spread out my big, old leather coat and ride the breezes, which I can't do in waking-life obviousely.
And, then, there were all those damned talking, shape-shifting animal/deamons that always tried to lure me into the darkness. I was always suspicious of them, because on an even more sub-conscious level, I understood that they were a part of my psyche that I couldn't address in waking-life.
I hate the fact that I cannot read in dream-life! I'm always confronted with signs or bill-boards which make absolutely no sense; it's all gibberish; telephone numbers, peoples' addresses... they're all in Runes or Phoenetian. It's been years since I did any dream-work.
I think the last time, Leonard Nimoy revealed a secret about the next Trek movie to me. That was back in '98, and it proved to be false. Damned, lying Vulcan! -

 

[Wrathernaut]

My dreams are vivid about 90% of the time, usually with a coherent story, and lucid a good 50%. If I let myself become too aware in the dreams of the dream-state, however, the storyline of the dream falls apart and I'm left wondering what the end would have been, so I usually try to just observe and enjoy what I'm seeing instead of trying to fly, sexually conquest or become violent (unless that's part of the story I'm a part of).

I also enter REM very rapidly upon sleeping, and even while awake if I'm doing something rather boring (say reading bland reports) I can enter into a dream state seamlessly from what I was reading - and I only realize that I'm not really awake when whatever I was reading starts getting interesting, or, if I'm reading something on the computer at work, I find myself dreaming that the site I'm on suddenly turns, uh, unsavory, such as people's avatars turning explicitly sexual. I'm aware of my surroundings during these times, but my eyes are closed with REM going on. I can hear everything going on around me, and I'm able to respond to anything going around me as well.

If I do something new and repetitive during the day, this tends to overtake my dreams in frustrating ways. Back in my teens when I had a job running a checkstand in a grocery store, the first night was 8 hours of dreaming non-stop of ringing stuff up, trying to make sense of numbers (which rarely work correctly in a dream). Not pleasant.

My dreams also will frequently have soundtracks.

 

[Trakar]

I used to dream in great detail, as that was my reason for sleeping. I don't believe that I ever reached the point of "lucid dreaming"; there was a point where dream threats (whatever the situation) became lessened. Bullets fired at me from pistols transformed themselves into harmless staples fired from staple guns. I always got away from potentially dangerous situations by the skin-of-my-teeth; I never drove a fork-lift in dream-life until I'd learned to drive one in real-life. Altho' I could always spread out my big, old leather coat and ride the breezes, which I can't do in waking-life obviousely.
And, then, there were all those damned talking, shape-shifting animal/deamons that always tried to lure me into the darkness. I was always suspicious of them, because on an even more sub-conscious level, I understood that they were a part of my psyche that I couldn't address in waking-life.
I hate the fact that I cannot read in dream-life! I'm always confronted with signs or bill-boards which make absolutely no sense; it's all gibberish; telephone numbers, peoples' addresses... they're all in Runes or Phoenetian. It's been years since I did any dream-work.
I think the last time, Leonard Nimoy revealed a secret about the next Trek movie to me. That was back in '98, and it proved to be false. Damned, lying Vulcan! -

Just to briefly bring us back to the OP, I don't recall any substances that have ever enhanced my dreaming, but I have run into several that seem to reduce the quality of, or eliminate dreams altogether. Alcohol being at the top of this list.

That said, I too have noticed that I rarely perform tasks not a part of my waking repertoire (the occassional spread your arms and fly stunt in exception), I do recall one dream where it was important that I fly a helicopter, but when I jumped into it, it was fitted with a rather standard small plane "W" steering yoke and I flew it just like a Cessna, I didn't think anything about it until after I had awoken and was recounting the dream to my wife. Like I said before, mostly the same routines as everyday life, with little interesting twists and incongruities. I've heard others talk a bout a difficulty with reading, but I don't seem to have any problems reading, writing or even performing fairly complex math operations, that probably falls under that "mostly the same as daily routines" aspect. I don't know if I'd call my doppelgangers demons, though when I was much younger their eyes would sometimes get that red camera flash glow, seemingly as a confirmation of my suspicions about their ne'er-do-well nature.

 

[Trakar]

...My dreams also will frequently have soundtracks.

Interesting, I have had this happen on occassion, though hearing any music is extremely rare for me, for some peculiar reason. I can hear voices, background noises, but music, even simple little cuts and clips, is an extremely rare event.

 

[arthwollipot]

Just to briefly bring us back to the OP, I don't recall any substances that have ever enhanced my dreaming, but I have run into several that seem to reduce the quality of, or eliminate dreams altogether. Alcohol being at the top of this list.

Mmmm, interesting. Not the same for me. I dream just as well when I go to sleep after a six-pack as I ever did when I don't. Pot was the thing that killed dreams for me.

 

[Bodhi Dharma Zen]

B6, B12, melatonin, for starters. Pplenty info over the internet.. sure, hardly scientific.. but interesting