Insomnia is a sleep disorder wherein a person has difficulties falling asleep several nights a week. People with insomnia often wake up during night and their dreams are more likely to contain negative emotional content than the average healthy person. Scientists believe this could be directly correlated to a person’s mood before and after going to sleep.
In a pilot study published in March 2020 in the journal Behavioral Sleep Medicine, Jason G. Ellis et al. examined how lucid dreaming affects insomnia and mood symptoms, as well as the accompanying anxiety and depression associated with insomnia.
The experiment involved 48 people suffering from insomnia, who had no previous experience of lucid dreaming. Before the study, the participants completed a questionnaire evaluating their symptoms and level of depression. They were then taught lucid dreaming techniques over the course of two weeks, which they later continued to practice at home for a month.
The results of the experiment showed that during this time, 37 out of 48 participants experienced at least one phase-state experience, with 25 of them no longer experiencing symptoms of insomnia. Anxiety and depression were likewise reduced. In the 11 participants who failed to enter the phase, symptoms remained the same. Thus, the scientists’ hypothesis that people can reduce the negative content of their dreams with the help of lucid dreaming, thereby improving their symptoms during wakefulness, was confirmed.
Do you sleep better or worse since you’ve started phase practice? Share your thoughts in the comments!
