Do emotional people have better recall?

the Stuff Dreams are made of...
1

Or should I say, when you are most aware of your emotions or most susceptible to them, are you likely to remember more dreams?

My recall has been pretty damn terrible lately. Pretty much before and during the course of the whole LC. It would only be on certain nights where I would stimulate myself in some way. I’ve been pretty mellow and content and more and more so, emotions were simply things that gave me information/direction on problems. I’ve mostly acknowledged them rather than really experience them. For the last few days I’ve been especially upset, and wouldn’t you know it? My recall has improved suddenly without effort.

It would make sense since dreams can be largely emotional in content or that they’re more likely to respond to our emotions in incubation or dream control. This would also explain why people with depression either suffer in recall (they go emotionally numb) or the recall spikes (they are especially sad)… this based on what I’ve seen in myself and others, anyway. (Well, when it’s not affecting your ability to sleep well, anyway. In which case, recall could suffer).

So, opinions? Have you noticed any effect on recall when you were especially emotional good/bad?

2

I haven’t noticed a positive change when I have been emotional in WL. I guess this isn’t exactly what you asked, but if something in a dream makes me emotional, I do remember it better.

3

I’m not sure… I haven’t seen any connection with my emotions and my level of recall… it’s more been my final thoughts on dreams before I’ve fallen asleep before bed. Affirming that I want to recall immediately before bed seems to always do good for my recall…

That said, I’ll say that I think I’m pretty… emotionally active and easily euphoric. :razz: Certain musical pieces influence my emotions greatly and make me giddy. :razz:

4

I’d say it’s not that a particular emotion directly affects recall, but that the effect of that emotional state in our practice is what influences our ability to remember our dreams. For example, someone who feels motivated will most likely influence his/her recall in a positive way because motivation gives us an emotional boost. Think about the effects of motivation: we practice more throughout the day, we do better at what we do, we feel we can accomplish anything at all, and thus our confidence increases. Now, if we take a look at a “bad” emotion like depression, the results are completely the contrary. Emotionally depressed people wake up not wanting to do anything at all, so practice decreases. Also, there’s a notable lack of confidence in one’s actions, and a lack of interest in the practice. These people might go to sleep not caring whether they remember their dreams or not, or not putting the effort at least to remember them when waking up. A “negative” emotion might create doubt, lack of confidence, fear of failure, and anything else that could affect our practice in a negative way.

You also need to evaluate what “good” and “bad” emotions represent. For example, anger is an emotion I consider rather positive and a helpful aid when properly used. Anger can move us into action, thus making us practice harder and longer to attain our goals. Just the same, someone else might react to anger with annoyance, desperation, and a complete withdrawal from the practice.

Emotions aren’t good nor bad, they’re just emotions. We are the ones who give them meaning, whether we consider them beneficial or detrimental to our lives.

The thing is, many people fall into their emotions. My recall is mostly based on what I do or stop doing, not on how I feel or not for that particular day. I tend not to worry too much about emotions, and I like it that way, as my recall usually remains consistent. Still, if I feel particularly good for the day, then I welcome that feeling, as it’s an aid to my practice. If I feel emotionally bad however, I move on from that emotion, because I know that if I do my practice, in spite of not feeling good, I will still be able to recall my dreams. It’s when I stop practicing that my recall decreases.

So, do emotions affect dream recall? Sure they do, but that depends on whether or not you chose to become influenced by them.

5

[color=olive]^Yes at the end of the day that’s what all it boils down to if emotions tend to affect recall or motivation to dream. In the end its all up to you.

Another thing to consider is the factor(s) triggering the emotion(s) and the strength or degree of the emotion(s). We all deal with different emotions in some shape or fashion on varying intensities. We are also wired differently, some constantly changing/rewiring, so how emotions influence recall will vary.

When depressed or in a dark place, I used to sleep more and use LD -ing as a form of escapism and my recall either remained consistent or improved. Some of my most vivid, memorable, disturbing and action packed dreams were had while depressed or feeling negative emotions. It depends on how you deal with or channel these emotions . At some point I cut myself off from that to face the cold facts of reality, so now it shows in my recall because I tend to sleep less in order to find answers to the problem. Triggered an epiphany afterward…(Both partially explain the shift in dream performance and some themes).

Have you asked yourself recently, why you dream? Is the reason you dream fuelled by emotion? [/color]

6

I think that Wyvern’s hypothesis is pretty plausible.
It conforms to my currently accepted recall training methods.
Think of the emotions as mnemonics that are linked to related memories. Good or bad they can help you to associate more and more memories.
Being rather emotional myself I know that I can remember moments just by thinking about the emotions themselves. Perhaps by being more emotional, you have a greater range of emotion intensities that makes it easier to discriminate specific moments.

7

I am pretty dang emotional…and i’ve always had awesome dream recall :happy: