Cognitions in Sleep: Lucid Dreaming as an Intervention for Nightmares in Patients With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
Brigitte Holzinger, Bernd Saletu, Gerhard Klösch
Frontiers in Psychology 2020 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01826 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post intervention study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) |
| Intervention | Lucid dreaming therapy (LDT) |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Lucid dreaming Dreaming PTSD |
| Keywords | Posttraumatic stress disorder Sleep quality Therapy |
| Citations | 30 |
| Key points | Lucid dreaming therapy significantly reduced anxiety and depression levels in PTSD patients, though it had no effect on sleep quality or nightmare severity. |
Abstract
About 80% of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients suffer from nightmares or dysphoric dreams that cause major distress and impact nighttime or daytime functioning. Lucid dreaming (LD) is a learnable and effective strategy to cope with nightmares and has positive effects on other sleep variables. In LDs, the dreamer is aware of the dreaming state and able to control the dream content. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of lucid dreaming therapy (LDT) in patients suffering from PTSD. We suggest that learning a technique that enables the affected subjects to regulate the occurrence and content of nightmares autonomously increases the chance of coping with the complex symptoms of PTSD and can reduce suffering. Sleep quality (PSQI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), daytime sleepiness (ESS, Epworth Sleepiness Scale), quality of life (MQLI, Multicultural Quality of Life Index), psychological distress (SCL-90-R, Symptom Checklist 90-Revised), distress caused by traumatic events (IE-S, Impact of Events Scale), anxiety (SAS, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale), depression (SDS, Self-Rating Depression Scale), and nightmare severity were assessed in a self-rating questionnaire before and after the intervention. LDT had no effect on the investigated sleep variables. No correlation between reduction of nightmare severity and changes in PTSD-profile (IE-S) was found. Nevertheless, levels of anxiety and depression decreased significantly in the course of therapy. LDT could provide an alternate or complementary treatment option for nightmares in PTSD, specifically for symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practicing a Motor Task in a Lucid Dream Enhances Subsequent Performance: A Pilot Study Volunteers assigned to lucid dream practice, physical practice, or control groups | 2010 | Pilot study | n = 40 |
| Managing Insomnia Using Lucid Dreaming Training: A Pilot Study. Adults with Insomnia Disorder | 2021 | Open-label trial | n = 48 |
| Lucid dream mathematics: An explorative online study of arithmetic abilities of dream characters Proficient lucid dreamers | 2011 | Pilot study | n = 12 |
| Lucid dreaming of a prior virtual-reality experience with ego-transcendent qualities: a proof-of-concept study. Frequent lucid dreamers | 2025 | Pilot study | n = 4 |
| Targeted dream incubation at sleep onset can influence later dream content in REM sleep: a pilot study Participants undergoing a daytime nap following TDI at sleep onset | 2026 | Pilot study | n = 11 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 20
- A systematic review of new empirical data on lucid dream induction techniques. Journal of Sleep Research June 1, 2023
- The effectiveness of lucid dreaming therapy in patients with nightmares: A systematic review. L'Encephale October 1, 2023
- Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Traumatized Us Collectively? The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Sleep Factors via Traumatization: A Multinational Survey Nature and Science of Sleep August 1, 2022
- Spontaneous and induced out-of-body experiences during sleep paralysis: Emotions, "AURA" recognition, and clinical implications. Journal of Sleep Research February 1, 2023
- Sleep Paralysis and Lucid Dreaming-Between Waking and Dreaming: A Review about Two Extraordinary States. Journal of Clinical Medicine May 12, 2023
and 15 more in the library
Cites 17
- Neural Correlates of Dream Lucidity Obtained from Contrasting Lucid versus Non-Lucid REM Sleep: A Combined EEG/fMRI Case Study Sleep June 29, 2012
- Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2006
- Lucid Dreaming as a Treatment for Recurrent Nightmares Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics February 18, 2010
- An Ambulatory Polysomnography Study of the Post-traumatic Nightmares of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Sleep November 21, 2017
- Studies with lucid dreaming as add-on therapy to Gestalt therapy Acta Neurologica Scandinavica January 30, 2015
and 12 more in the library