Moderators please If this is in the wrong thread please may you post it in the correct one, i was not sure where it was for.
I hate to do this to myself but it’s time to stop remembering my dreams. Does anybody know how i can go about this so i don’t get dreamrecall anymore.
Many years ago dreaming was not a problem to me i would awaken deeply refreshed but these days well for the last 7 years it’s getting worst, i get way too much sleep, and i have also got anxiety and depression in the last few years. So when i go to bed at night and enter the dream world it sort of help me, but i get double the amount of normal sleep and wake up feeling like a zombie. 7 years ago i used to smoke and at that time i would remebmer a dream once in a while but it felt better, i don’t want to go back to smoking, but is there anything else?
Also the smoking kept my anxiety and depression away which i believe i had back then, it was like an andidote that mixed in with my blood that kept my levels down and i was able to do so much, but ever since i stopped my life has felt like it’s gone down hill. I started and stopped again during these 7 years for like a 2 week smoke period but then quit and i have not been smoking for about 4 years now or maybe more than that. I quit smoking not because i wanted to get good dream recall, but just because i felt i did not have to do it anymore, i even quit drinking alcholol, coke cola, coffee so i could have a healthy life i did not even know about lucid dreaming and an OBE back then.
I have had 4-5 lucid dreams ever and one OBE from a dream. I would like to get LD and OBE’s but i think i must get more healthy so i need to stop remembring them.
btw i burn incense, i don’t know if thats much sense, but i have not burnt it for a long time
Just do the opposite of what everyone suggests on dream recall topics Wake up and immeaditly think about something else, get up and and do something, waking up to music would probably help loads with this. Don’t keep a dream journal, tell yourself at night “tomarrow I will wake up and not rememeber a single dream”, and try just not to think about dreams during the days.
Sureal is right. Not recalling dreams doesn’t help you from having dreams.
So as you got contradictory claims: you don’t want to remember dreams, and at the same time you want to get LD’s, then you need to chose one of them. And as minimizing dream recall does not solve your problem, then better try to turn those dreams into LD-s so you could make your nights into healing times. Believe me, LD’s have the possibility to reduce the stress and anxiety, and even to give you some solutions, because your subconcious can give out the reasons of your depression. I suggest you to make everything possible (i mean using healthy methods, not smoking, or stuff) to find out the reasons of your depression and one of the great tools can be LD’s in this healing road.
Weed kills dream recall, but it’s not good with depressions.
[edit] By the way it is not entirely clear to me exactly WHY you would want to reduce or eliminate dream recall, could you specify your reasons a bit more perhaps?
This reminds me my story.I also once wanted to not remember my dreams- ironically i got the opposite effect,they became long and vivid.
Normally i would advice you to start smoking pot again but it would be plain stupid when having depressed time.Pot deepens it and its not worth it.
Also- not remembering dreams is only partially solving the problem as the emotions and generall feeling is left and present when you wake up.
Trying to not have dreams is like breaking this annoying oil indicator in the car- even if it does not flash,car will broke anyways.
I dont know the reasons why you want to do it but if i assume right,the only proper way would be to work more towards inducing ones that you want instead of forgetting them totally.Trying to visualize more nice and pleasant stuff,turning towards meditations and eventually having more lds where you firstly have the influence on whats in them and additionally you can then look for the answers that bother you.
Just my point of view but i know that running away from something only attracts it.Standing up to what you fear/dont like solves problem for good.
All the best and take care:)
Thank you for all the replys, when i used to smoke i never seemed to fear anything, the anxiety and depression would never come on. About 4 years ago i felt very shy, and had anxiety, was always depressed but i had met an old friend and through him i started smoking again. All my pains, my fears went away. The smoke really seems to help, but back then i only smoked for a few weeks and then i had quit again and i have been off it ever since.
The problem is that every evening i set up my alarm clock which is a radio alarm, i never hear it in the morning because i am in a very deep state of sleep, my mum always tells me how she wakes me up at about 3 times in the morning and i awaken and say ‘yes’ and then i fall asleep again, after i awaken and confront her and she tells me how she came into my room and told me to wake up and how she said that i said yes, well i just tell her the truth that i don’t remember any such thing, anyway when i awaken i come out directly from a dream, i don’t have to lye in my bed waiting to gather my thoughts on the dream i just had, it’s more like that i see everything in the dream world all the way up to when i come out of bed in the next day, and i believe becasue of this it’s making me really tired and wearing me out.
I would actually like to not have any more LD or OBE’s just stop remembring my dreams, or at least remember one once a month like how it was before i think.
I don’t drink alcholol, perhaps drinking alcholol would stop me from remembring, but i have also read here that alcholol is the best method of inducing a lucid dream.
I also don’t want to smoke as of fear of killing myself, starting again is not such a good idea.
Thanks for the reply, yes i am very tired out from my dreams and i need to stop remembring them, can i also ask, is this normal or does most people get tired from their dreams?
I have read up on scientific articles on anxiety and depression and they said that these sort of people all that they enjoy is going to bed at night and dreaming as they can let go of the stresses of everyday life and unwind and the only place they are relaxed is in their dreams, but these people tend to sleep far more and wake up with feeling very tired.
am i feeling very tired from dreams because i go into deep sleep? also is that known as delta sleep?
I am not sure if i have depression, i have not been diagnosed. but a few years ago i went to see my doctor about my shyness and she saw my condition that i suffer from anxiety and just depressed so i saw a pyschotherapist and she tried to hynotise me but i did not have much success. Anyway most people get depressed from life, but i have to admit i have lost interest in most things, but that could just be lazyness.
Honeyjigga - The problem doesn’t appear to be with remembering your dreams… sounds more like you are linking your recall with anxiety and depression - it also sounds like you are going through a process of elimination to understand why you are having these experiences again.
(from your description of the articles) the depressed people may use dreams as a form of escapism - likewise with pot, cigarettes, caffeine etc, as they allow you to experience reality from another perspective. But that is only working around the issue as to why you are feeling that way (lethargy, apathy etc).
IMO feeling tired can be due to whole list of factors, diet, not enough sun, not enough oxygen in your room at night - too much sleep - they have always made me feel more tired, but remembering a great dream from the night before is one the more invigorating a aspects of this great unexplored nocturnal dominion!
Maybe your anxiety and your dreams are linked? But stopping your recall isn’t going to stop your anxiety.
"IMO feeling tired can be due to whole list of factors, diet, not enough sun, not enough oxygen in your room at night - too much sleep - "
I agree to this.And to this:
“The problem doesn’t appear to be with remembering your dreams… sounds more like you are linking your recall with anxiety and depression”
I dont think your condition is connected with dreams.With sleep in general,yes,maybe…but not with dreams.This looks more like a problem to ask your doctor.
All the best there!
ps.Just try experimenting a bit with other factors which El Sortilego mentioned- sleeping shorter,taking on more real life tasks,know more people,go out,get a tan…it would be extremely unusuall if your condition was linked with content of your dreams(unless they are non stopping nightmares).
I agree with all said here, I could add that you should not worry about feeling tired from deep delta sleep, since this is a dreamless sleepstage we all go through each night and which plays a vital role in restoring body functions etc. Most likely indeed your tiredness is not connected to any sleepstages but to some other factor (as jack and el sortilego were kind enough to pint out). Seeking professional help again might be a good idea, it couldn’t hurt could it?
ever since i stopped visiting the forums here on a regular basis i have noticed that my luck in acheiving LDs and improving my dream recall has all but ceased. i think the problem is i play way too many video games. i spend just about all of my free time playing them and have even been told on these forums to try to cut back on the amount of time i spend playing them in hopes it would help me on my quest to gain lucidity. i never took the advice ( i think it might have actually been from Jack about a year or so ago, dunno for sure tho). but any i pretty much play games non-stop and i normally can only remember about 1 dream a week nowadays. maybe you should pick up videos games. hey i know it sounds like a dumb idea but just go for it. find a game you like and jsut play it non-freaking-stop until you beat it. even when your not playing it just try to think about it in every aspect of life. ive actually found that after playing games for extended periods of time and then going to sleep leaves my mind too exhausted to dream( or remember the dreams ). but yea it prolly wont work but just try it if you want to i guess.
Perhaps if you just forget about remembering your dreams, and/or not remembering dreams, lucid dreams, OBEs, everything like that, basically take your mind of things like that completely, you will remember less dreams that way.
However, if your feeling tired, remembering less dreams will not make you less tired. Like everyone said, even if you don’t remember your dreams, your still going to dream, and unless you remove what is tireing you out, you will still be tired.
Perhaps you could visit a somniologist or something like that.
Anyway, if I understood your original message, you want to lucid dream, but only when your healthy and rested. This is the best way to do it. I think your on the right track forgetting about this stuff for a while, but I don’t think your dreams are why your so tired, unless your prone to nightmares, they can leave you tired and defeated after waking from them.
Yeah, I have nearly the same problem minus anxiety and depression. When I remember lots of dreams I am tired throughout the day. But to me the dreams are worth it. Sometimes if I have a really big dream I’m in a daydream state the rest of the day.
This I don’t understand because I’m having dreams whether I remember them or not. So maybe it is just all the memories from the dreams that make me feel tired.
Have you considered this possibility? Purhaps whatever is making you tired is also making you remember more dreams. If two things seem related it doesn’t mean one causes the other. Most people die in beds, that doesn’t make beds dangerous.
Wake up and immeaditly think about something else, get up and and do something, waking up to music would probably help loads with this. Don’t keep a dream journal, tell yourself at night “tomarrow I will wake up and not rememeber a single dream”, and try just not to think about dreams during the days.