Hi there, been reading around the forum, and my first question is - do any of you see a downside to lucid dreaming, in general and specifically trying to experience them? I had a friend describe what (I know now is) a lucid dream - he woke up several times, and couldn’t “wake up”…freaky, fine, but if you spend your time trying to dream like this, is it psychologically healthy? Do you confuse real life and dream life, if you constantly do reality checks throughout the day? I read a thread where someone is “addicted” to dreaming…extreme, granted. Do you think it’s indicitive of anything general?
Coincidence you posted this, as I have had thoughts along similar lines. I’m not saying by any means that I think the fears which stem from any stigma surrounding lucid dreaming outweight the benefits, but I do believe there are some things to watch out for. It’s fairly accepted that the unconscious/subconscious/preconscious mind does not distinguish between reality and fiction (Kosslyn, S.M. & Rosenberg, R.S., 2001). This being said, I have found over the previous days that I have had certain impulses to follow through in RL with actions I have taken in LD, but an impulse is all it was - I monitored my thoughts and was intrigued that I seem to have pulled down some ‘inhibitory’ barriers.
There is a transcript of a conversation between Paul Tholey and Stephen LaBerge which I found useful, and provides a teeny bit of info about the potential dangers of lucid dreaming (https://www.spiritwatch.ca/conversa.htm)
I’ll just post what Tholey says here:
I think that everything that makes one feel good is addictive.
If it comes to stuff thats dangerous its allways in the eyes of the beholder- only one can tell wheter its ok for him to go to such and such extremes.I mean- some people are addicted to cofee and they dont mind even though many sources tell you its not too good for your health.Same with cigarettes,pot,sex,just name it.But many do all those things and worry not- it all depends on what you consider dangerous too much for yourself.
Personally i live very hedonic life and dont care how dangerous it is but only for how pleasant it is.
If talking about lucid dreaming- for all those years of reading everything with the word “dream” in it i never stumbled across one report of a person that made some harm to him/herself in connection with lucid dreaming.
But who knows,dead ppl dont talk:)
cheer up,theres nothing to fear here:)
First of all, I don’t think that LD’ing is addictive, because you generally have to make efforts in order to obtain lucid dreams, and when you relax these efforts, LD’s disappear.
About Paul Tholey article, he said : "We also believe that these experiments might lead to psychosomatic disorders. But he has never published afterwards any article concluding that his suppositions were justified. Moreover, Flo (a great LD’er) has made a lot of experiments with agressions against DC’s, and she has never experienced any side effect.
Feeling you’re unable to wake up is sometimes experienced by beginners. It can be frightening, but it doesn’t correspond to any real danger. If your friend told you this experience, it’s because he has woken up, hasn’t he ? 
When you start a new activity, you’re frequently stressed or frightened. It doesn’t mean that this activity is psychologically unhealthy.
From my experience, it never happens. This method has been created by Paul Tholey, a German psychologist, and he has never related such problems with it.
These questions have been developped in the Lucid dream dangerous? topic, and I never found a conclusive issue against LD’ing. IMO, it’s normal, because lucidity (or consciousness) is the natural state of dream.
Paying to much attention to dreams can be dangerous for psychotic people, but that’s the case for ND’s too, not only for LD’s.
You’re friend meerly had a string of FA’s. If you try to wake yourself up from a dream, it’s not unusual for you too have a FA instead. If you then realise you’re dreaming again (and so try to wake yourself up) you may have another one.
And so.
Think of it like rolling a dice…
Roll a dice - if you get 4 or higher, you roll again. If you get lower than 4, then you stop, and the game ends.
Eventually you’ll stop - and in most cases, you’ll stop quite fast (maybe on your first roll, maybe on your second).
However, there will always be the occasional case in which you keep on rolling 4’s (or higher) and so go for four, five, six (or even more) turns.