Many scholars and writers have described the dream world as a form of psychosis. In a dream, we can see images that look like hallucinations, experience a weak connection with reality, and a lack of critical thinking. During REM sleep, the brain deactivates the parts of the prefrontal cortex that are responsible for decision making and critical perception.
The same patterns have been found in waking psychotic patients. According to Mirona Letiţia Dobri et al. from the “Socola” Institute of Psychiatry in Romania, this means that REM sleep is nothing more than a form of psychosis. However, lucid dreams differ from ordinary dreams in that the sleeper can control their consciousness during the dream.
This state, therefore, differs from psychosis, since perception of the surrounding reality and its assessment play an important role in lucid dreams. In this type of dream, the dreamer has the ability for self-reflection; they recognize hallucinations as something unreal and learn to control them.
Based on these data, the researchers hypothesize that by controlling their consciousness in lucid dreams, patients can make significant progress in the treatment of psychotic states. Just like within lucid dreams, psychotics can be taught to recognize hallucinations as signs that indicate a state of unreality. Thus, this technique can be an indispensable tool in the treatment of psychotic disorders, helping to develop awareness and critical thinking.
If the scientists’ conclusions are correct, lucid dreaming practices should be more resistant to psychic anomalies. Would you agree with that?
The article was published in BRAIN. Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience in December 2020.
