What Are Lucid Dreams, and Are There Any Real Dangers To Them?

Discover what causes lucid dreams and whether they pose any potential dangers. New research suggests that lucid dreaming is generally a positive experience — and could even benefit your mental health.

By Conor Feehly
Aug 30, 2023 1:00 PM
Lucid dream illustration showing situations people can experience in dreams
(Credit: Khrystyna Hurelych/Shutterstock)

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Lucid dreams — where people become aware that they're in a dream, and can actively alter or adapt it — are weird and wild, especially for the dreamer.

Want to talk to animals? Go right ahead. Turn that recurring nightmare of falling in an endless void into a power fantasy of soaring through the air like Superman? No problem. In a lucid dream, in theory, if you can imagine it, you can do it. What's more, the phenomenon has recently become fertile ground for psychological research.

Is Lucid Dreaming Real?

Yes, there is scientific evidence that lucid dreaming is a real phenomenon. In 2021, an international group of researchers were able to establish real-time dialogue between lucid dreamers and the experimenters. Participants were able to answer yes-no questions and simple math problems, while dreaming, by intentionally moving their eyes and facial muscles.

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