archived as http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/Lucid_11.doc [pdf]
more related articles at http://www.stealthskater.com/Science.htm#Lucid
note: because important websites are frequently "here today but gone tomorrow", the following was archived from http://brain.web-us.com/Dream/dreamfaq.htm on June 27, 2003. This is NOT an attempt to divert readers from the aforementioned website. Indeed, the reader should only read this back-up copy if it cannot be found at the original author's site.
Dreams and Dreaming FAQ
Table of Contents
1. General
1.1. Does everybody dream ?
1.2. Why do we dream?
1.3. How can I increase my dream recall ?
1.4. How do external stimuli affect my dreams ?
1.5. Do substances like drugs, herbs and foods affect our dreams ?
1.6. Is it possible to control your dreams - lucid dreaming ?
1.7. Is sleep deprivation dangerous?
2. Dream interpretation and symbols
2.1. Can you interpret this dream for me?
2.2. What does this [symbol] mean?
2.3. Is this [dream scene] common?
2.4. Is there anything special about recurring dreams?
3. Sleep paralysis, walking and talking, night terrors, narcolepsy and nightmares
3.1. What causes sleep paralysis?
3.2. Information about sleep walking
3.3. Information about sleep talking
3.4. What are night terrors?
3.5. What is narcolepsy?
3.6. What causes nightmares?
4. Paranormal issues
4.1. Can dreams predict the Future?
4.2. Is it possible to share dreams?
4.3. Can I view distant locations from my dreams
4.4. Out of Body Experiences OOBE
1. General Dreams and Dreaming
1.1. Does everybody dream?
Yes. All humans (and mammals) have REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. The most vivid dreaming occurs in REM-sleep. You start a new REM phase roughly every 90-minute throughout the whole night with increasing duration. But all this can change depending on what you eat, if you are on drugs, or if you have missed your REM sleep for some reason. People stopping with REM deprivation drugs will experience a REM rebound.
So you dream a lot during the night. And most of your dreams are forgotten. If you don't pay attention to them and only sleep a few hours, you most likely will not remember any dream at all. Dreaming in non-REM tends to be more thought-like.
1.2. Why do we dream?
Dreaming is highly involved in learning and memory. If you have a bad experience, it will be digested in your dream (most likely in a nightmare). Dreams are quite often a reflection of your day memory.
The protein-synthesis is highly active during REM. S if you want to learn, then staying in REM is a good move. REM is also necessary to supply the cornea with oxygen. Delta sleep -- associated with large, slow brainwaves -- is what most people call the "deepest" kind of sleep (i.e., when you are hardest to awaken).
It is necessary for the brain/body to rest and heal. A good balance between delta sleep and REM is important for learning. Growth hormones are also produced during delta sleep.
1.3. How can I increase my dream recall?
Some people remember every dream they have while others can't remember any dream. But with the right techniques and enough practice, virtually everyone can remember their dreams.
The first step is paying attention to your dreams. Think about them. Write them down. Talk about them. Discuss them. Your best recall is when you wake up. So you should write them down or record them with a tape recorder right after you wake up. But spend some time recalling as many dreams and details you can before you start writing them down. Alarm clocks are dream-killers, so stop using them if you want to retain dreams.
If you wake up naturally, you will most likely wake up from REM sleep. So you should get to bed early so that you don't have to use an alarm clock. You can still set the alarm clock, but make sure you have gotten to bed so early that you wake up before the alarm clock goes off. Sleeping longer will also make you dream more. You will almost literally have continual REM sleep after 8-9 hours. If you sleep 9 hours are you almost bound to remember at least one dream.
Waking up several times during the night may increase dream recall and possibly induce Lucid Dream. Since dreaming has a lot to do with learning and memory, you should try new activities and learn new things. This will increase dreaming and thereby dream recall. Drugs, food, and herbs may also affect your dream recall. And as usual the power of suggestion is extremely powerful, so you should state (aloud if you want) your intention to recall your dreams.
Here is where hypnosis also may enter the picture. Listening to hypnotic tapes may help a lot.
1.4. How do external stimuli affect my dreams?
Your senses never rest. Whatever input you get from hearing, vision, smell, touch or taste may be incorporated into your dream. You may have dreamed that your alarm clock is ringing in your dream while it is really ringing in the physical world too.
This is how lucid dreaming devices work. They give your signals as light or sounds that you have to train yourself to recognize. But it can go the other way around, too. While dreaming lucidly, you can command yourself to talk while dreaming. This way you can record your dream while it is occurring. Having a tape recorder that turns it self on when you speak comes in handy. You can also train yourself to move your eyes in a certain pattern.
1.5. Do substances like drugs, herbs and foods affect our dreams?
Yes. During REM protein-synthesis is highly active, so your body needs high levels of aminoacids. The neurotransmitter in use during REM is Acetylcholine. It is made from the B-vitamin Choline and the vitamin B-5.
But there are more vitamins that can make us dream more. The body can synthesis the B-vitamin Choline. But in order to do that, it needs vitamin B-12, Folic acid (B-9), and the amino acids Methionine and Serine. Vitamins B-12 plays a role in the activation of amino acids during protein formation. It has also the ability to increase the production of Acetylcholine and normalize neurotransmissions in the brain.
Vitamin B-6 is another important vitamin. It is a co-enzyme, which participates in over 60 enzymatic reactions involved in the metabolism of amino acids. It is involved in the production of several body proteins and neurotransmitters. It is particularly indispensable to the action of amino acid neurotransmitters like Serotonin, Dopamine, Melatonin, and Norepinephrine which effect brain function. It is also involved in the metabolism of Selenium, Calcium, and Magnesium.
Melatonin is a neurotransmitter/hormone that is only active during sleep. It is being metabolized when you fall asleep from Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is being metabolized from the amino acid Tryptophan. Melatonin increases non-REM sleep and makes it easier for you to fall asleep. But it has also an interesting rebound effect that gives more frequent and vivid dreams. The vividness might even give you a lucid dream.
The Kava Kava root (a traditional drug from the Polynesian islands) is little known but highly recommendable. It is said to take away stress and tension, very mildly tranquilizing while clearing and sharpening thoughts. It is also said to help dreaming -- especially for Lucid Dreaming exercises. From my own experience, it causes a deeper but shorter sleep with more intense dreams.
The amino acid Tryptophan can be metabolized into Serotonin and Niacin (B-3). Vitamin B-6 promotes this conversion. Taking Niacin or Nicotine patches will increase the Serotonin production. The more Niacin you take, the more Serotonin is produced and more Melatonin is metabolized. Calcium and Magnesium promotes Serotonin production as well. Zinc is in every cell of the body and is a part of over 200 enzymes. So Zinc supplements may increase REM-sleep, too.
DMAE (Dimethylaminoethanol) is a very important B-vitamin. It flows easily through the brain's blood barrier, where it is converted into Choline. During REM, Choline is added the coenzyme A (Vitamin B-5) and we have Acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter in use during REM. 5-HTP (5-Hydroxy-TryptoPhan) is a Serotonin precursor that also flows quite easy through the brain's blood barrier. It is a good alternative to Melatonin.
Vitamin C helps metabolizing several amino acids and hormones. It is also important to have adequate levels of amino acids. A few important ones are Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Methionine, Cysteine, Serine, and Tryptophan.
Using tobacco, alcohol, or coffee prohibits the absorption of necessary vitamins and amino acids. Depressants suppress REM sleep. One of them is alcohol. But taken in right doses, they can create a rebound effect so that you wake up remembering many vivid dreams. And anti-depressants may increase dream recall. Caffeine will make you sleep lighter, will increase your dream recall, and maybe even give you a lucid dream.
Herbs like Valerian, Mugwort, Mullein, Kava Kava, Dittany of Crete, St. Johns Wort, Calea Zacatechichi, Salvia Divinorum, Scutellaria Indica, Licorice Root, Vervain, Jasmine, Honeysuckle, Datura, Bee Pollen, Catnip, Hops, Scullcap, Mimosa, Lavender, Damiana, Withania Somnifera, Passionflower, Chamomile, Cardamom, Gotu Kola, Ginkgo Biloba, Ibogaine, Verbena, Rose, Cinnamon, Marigold, Nutmeg, Peppermint, Holly, Yarrow, and Anise may help you dream more, recall more, or even have a Lucid Dream. Make sure you know more about these herbs before you use them. Some are to be used in pillows, some are to be smoked, some are to be used in tea, etc.
And finally we have psychedelic drugs like DXM that may induce Lucid Dreams. Some of the drugs and herbs can be addictive and be poisonous if taken in too large doses. Crystals and magnets may also affect your dreams.
1.6. Is it possible to control your dreams?
Yes. If you are aware that you are dreaming, you can develop full conscious control over the dream. These are referred to as lucid dreams and it is one of the most exciting part about dreaming. But more on this will be discussed on the Lucid Dreaming FAQ.
Have you tried Virtual Reality? Well, VR is a flop compared to Lucid Dreaming. Things can't get more virtually real than in a lucid dream. You may use all your senses in a lucid dream. Yes -- even your psychic senses!
1.7. Is sleep deprivation dangerous?
Yes.
REM deprivation:
● Increased frequency of occurrence, duration and intensity of REM.
● Increase in seizure threshold, and progressive rise in heart rate.
● Increased activity, food motivation and sexual behavior.
● No major emotional problems.
Delta sleep-deprivation:
● Prolonged sleep deprivation (+48 hours) results in severe mental disturbance, attention deficit, withdrawing, visual complaints, hallucinations, and time distortion. After 5 days you may even end up in a mental institution.
2. Dream interpretation and symbols
2.1. Can you interpret this dream for me?
As shown by dream-researcher Jon Tolaas, day-memory is often incorporated into the dream. Many times negative, ambivalent, or neutral events are incorporated. It is difficult to answer why mostly negative events are incorporated. It may be that the negative events make stronger impressions on us. Or that not many positive events occur during the day. It may be that the brain is working on these negative events so that it may handle it better next time.
The most qualified person to interpret your dream is yourself. You know all the details from the dream; you remember what you did the previous day; and you know what your problems are.
But dream interpretation isn't always that easy. If you fail to interpret your dream, it is nice to know that there are many people on the Internet that you can turn to. A good place to start is posting your dream to alt.dreams.
But sit down and think about your dream before doing so. Try to find the meaning and think about what you have done the last few days. Keep in mind that the "language" of dreams is metaphors. Sharing dreams with others are a great way of paying attention to your dreams. Writing them down, reading those of others, and discussing them will increase your dream recall. Be sure to include factors from your life that might be relevant to your dream. This may help on the interpretation.
2.2. What does this [symbol] mean?
Symbols are one way of interpreting dreams. For each common dream occurrence, researchers have tried to find a psychological situation that matches the dream in some way and link it as a cause. A well-known example of this approach is Freud's interpretation. Asking for symbols allows for (sometimes too easy) interpretation of dreams by given rules.
But this is a questionable approach. Dream interpretation using a catalog of symbols doesn't take into account individual differences between dreamers. You can imagine this flaw by taking into account that the cultural background is an important point that should not be neglected. Freud's theories -- that give high importance to hidden signs of sexual desires -- are based on a society that has suppressed sexuality. And so on. In a more global context, asking for special symbols is of dubious value. Nonetheless, in a certain given context, these symbols can have a valuable meaning.
2.3. Is this [dream scene] common?
Probably so. One way of finding that out is posting your dream to alt.dreams. You might also stick around and see if other people post similar dreams. Or you might check the archive at www.dejanews.com and maybe do a search on a few keywords from your dream.