Decreased Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Following Lucid Dream Healing Workshop

Objective: Recent investigations of lucid dreams – dreams with a veridical awareness of dreaming - suggest that this unique form of dreaming may be useful for promoting healing due to the lucid dreamer’s capacity for goal-directed action in the dream.

Methods: Following a prospective, within-participant research design, 49 adults experiencing chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were recruited to a 6-day online lucid dreaming healing workshop. The primary outcome was self-reported PTSD symptom severity, measured using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5. Secondary outcomes included the degree of distress caused by nightmares and measures of well-being. Salivary alpha-amylase biomarker was assessed as an exploratory measure with four of the participants who collected saliva samples each morning.

Results: Most participants (n = 37) achieved at least one lucid dream during the workshop and over half of those participants (n = 25) enacted a healing lucid dream plan as intended. Compared to baseline values, significant improvements were observed in PTSD symptom scores, nightmare distress, and well-being. Salivary alpha-amylase awakening response profiles for two participants enacting healing lucid dreams were consistent with a pattern of stress reduction, compared to controls.

Conclusion: Future studies are warranted that incorporate experimental conditions designed to distinguish effects unique to dream lucidity and to explore the mechanisms of action underlying health benefits experienced following healing lucid dreams.