LUCID DREAMING AS A TREATMENT FOR RECURRENT NIGHTMARES

Background: Lucid dreams occur when a person becomes aware that he or she is dreaming while still in the dream state. Previous reports on th e use of lucid dreaming in the treatment of nightmares do not contain adequate baseline data, follow-up data, or both. Methods: A treatment of recurrent nightmares incorporating progressive muscle relaxation, g uided imagery, and lucid dream induction is presented for case studies . Three other cases were treated with lucid dream induction alone. The duration of the nightmares ranged from once every few days to once ev ery few months. Results: The procedures were effective in all 5 cases. A 1-year follow-up showed that 4 of the subjects no longer had nightm ares and that 1 subject experienced a decrease in the intensity and fr equency of her nightmares. Conclusions: The alleviation of recurrent n ightmares in these 5 cases parallels the results reported by other aut hors who have used training in lucid dreaming to treat nightmares. Our results support the idea that treatments based on lucid dream inducti on can be of therapeutic value. Based on these and other case studies, ir remains unclear whether the principal factor responsible for the a lleviation of nightmares is lucidity itself, or the ability to alter s ome aspect of the dream.