Applications of lucid dreams: An online study

Lucid dreamers are aware they are dreaming and can shape the dream. A survey of 301 lucid dreamers found the most common application was having fun (81.4%), followed by turning a bad dream or nightmare into a pleasant one (63.8%), solving problems (29.9%), gaining creative ideas or insights (27.6%), and practicing skills (21.3%). Women used lucid dreaming more often than men for both nightmare work and problem solving. Lucid dreams appear to offer multiple ways to improve life, particularly for nightmare treatment and motor skill practice.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In a lucid dream the dreamer is aware of the dream state and can influence the dream content and events. The goal of this study was to investigate some applications of lucid dreaming. Our survey included 301 lucid dreamers who filled out an online questionnaire. The most frequent application (81.4%) was having fun, followed by changing a bad dream or nightmare into a pleasant one (63.8%), solving problems (29.9%), getting creative ideas or insights (27.6%) and practicing skills (21.3%). Women used lucid dreams significantly more often than men for both work on nightmares and problem solving. Our results show that lucid dreams have a great potential for improving one’s life in different ways. More research is needed to illuminate the possibilities of lucid dreaming, especially in the fields of nightmare treatment and practicing motor skills.