The category of lucid dreams (LD) also includes lucid nightmares – dreams in which the person realizes that they are dreaming but cannot escape the frightening scenario. According to researchers from Hong Kong – Wong Siu-Sing Yu and Calvin Kai-Ching – this constitutes a hybrid state between nightmares and LD.
The authors suggested that some nightmares can be transformed into lucid dreams. In this sense, nightmares are harbingers of both lucid nightmares and lucid dreams. The scientists tested their idea on 249 volunteers and analyzed the results using statistical modeling.
As the researchers note, the feelings that the dreamer experiences are crucial in determining the nature of the dream. Lucid nightmares, obviously, suggest negative emotions. In general, the study confirmed the authors’ hypothesis that there is a connection between nightmares, lucid nightmares, and lucid dreams.
Have you ever experienced a lucid nightmare? How did it end: as an ordinary nightmare, a lucid dream, or an awakening?
The article was published in February 2022 in the journal Dreaming.
