Haller

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Leslie Haller
Comp II
Ms. Lindsay Hastings
September 25th, 2016
Persuasive Research Paper on Dreams
Imagine youre in a cold, dark forest. The trees around you seem to tower over you with
their prickly branches. The dry leaves crack beneath your feet with every step you take. Crack.
Crack. You stand still. Crack. You snap around and look behind you. You see a tall dark
figure standing behind a tree. Blood rushes from your head and your body begins to tense up.
The figure steps closer, crack, and closer, crack, and closer, crack, until it is 30 feet away. The
moonlight shines upon its face. Your heart begins to race when you catch a glimpse of the
creature. You being to run, as fast as you can. All the while, the creature howls and starts
barreling towards you. You see a spec of light, a house. You make way towards it, looking for an
opening. When you reach the door, you turn the handle. Locked. The creature is 50 feet away.
You run to another door. Locked. 40 feet away. You pound on the door. No answer. 25 feet. You
see a doggy door. 15 feet. You sprint towards it, 10 feet, drop to the ground, 5 feet, and try
desperately to fit through the tiny opening but the creature grabs you and- you wake up.
Nightmares, such as this one, can often be a reoccurring dilemma for people. But, imagine being
able to change the outcome and take control of the dream. This ability is called Lucid Dreaming.
Lucid Dreaming can be extremely helpful in instances like this, where you can have the
capability to take control of the situation and make it much less frightening. Lucid Dreaming can
also benefit you in less fearsome dreams.

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Whenever you go to sleep, your body enters different stages called NREM (Non Rapid
Eye Movement) and REM (Rapid Eye Movement). NREM sleep is categorized into stages N1,
N2, N3, and N4, and REM, 5th and final stage of sleep. But, one must fully complete each cycle
before they reach the REM stage of sleep. If the cycle is disrupted, it will start over again,
commencing with stage N1. The amount of time that is spent in each stage varies. We spend
almost 50 percent of our total sleep time in stage 2 sleep, about 20 percent in REM sleep, and the
remaining 30 percent in the other stages. (ninds.nih.gov) Also, the stages vary in length at
varying times of night. In the beginning of the night, there is less REM sleep, and then as the
night progresses there is more REM sleep and mostly stage two sleep. This continues until the
sleeper wakes up (Shaw 48). Scientists believe that most dreams occur in stage 5 of sleep. In
this stage, the brain produces more activity than when it is in NREM.
(healthysleep.med.harvard.edu)
A question that many dreamers pose is this: Why do we often forget our dreams
whenever we wake up? Many a time, whenever one has had a dream, the recollection of it often
fades after we awake. We often wake up, remember that we had dreamed, but we often forget
what exactly we had dreamed about. Authors including Strumpell and Calkins suggest that we
often forget very quickly dreams that we know were very vivid, while many shadowy, faintly
perceived images are to be found among those retained in our memory. (Freud 39) However,
dreams can be remembered. According to Strongman, REM sleep is also that which is inductive
to memory of dreams upon wakening (190). So, this means that you are more likely to
remember your dreams if you awake when you are in the REM stage of sleep rather than if you
awake when you are in the NREM stage of sleep. Also, according to recent studies, patients who

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are awaken when they are in the REM stage of sleep report to have more recollection of dreams
than when they are awaken in the NREM stage of sleep. (healthysleep.med.harvard.edu)
Dreams come from our memories, our experiences, that happened in our life. Somehow,
your brain pulls information from daily life, movies, books, etc., and creates it into a dream.
(A)ll the material composing the content of the dream derives in some way from our
experience, and so is reproduced, remembered, in the dream- this at least we may count as
undisputed knowledge (Freud 12). So, depending on what is happening in your life, it may
cause you to have different kinds of dreams.
There are two therapeutic approaches to treating nightmares. One is imagery rehearsal
therapy (IRT) which, involves developing pleasant imagery and drawing on past nightmare
images to slowly create a new dream, which is rehearsed 5 to 20 minutes per day (Holzinger
356). This could help you to reduce the frequency of nightmares by imagining dreams before you
go to bed. However, this technique only helps you to try and prevent nightmares. It wont always
work no matter what. The other technique is to Lucid Dream. As stated by Holzinger, this
approach allows the sleeper to have a tool which can be applied when the nightmare occurs
(356). Although the ability to lucid dream is no easy task to accomplish, it isnt all together
impossible. Lucid dreaming is a learnable skill that can be achieved by anyone. According to
Bethan Victoria Smith and Mark Blagrove, It is estimated that 50% of the general population
experiences at least one occurrence of a lucid dream in their lifetime, and approximately 20% of
people are experiencing lucid dreams regularly (i.e., at least once a month) (291). So, it is not
impossible to achieve the ability to lucid dream, seeing as it is a skill that can be learned. Lucid
Dreaming comes with many benefits, other than the fact that you have the ability to change the
outcome of a nightmare. The benefits of lucid dreaming comprise a positive change of the

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personality structure, which manifests itself in the disappearance of nightmares, increased ego
strength, the disappearance of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, increased selfconfidence, and emotional safety and balance (Holzinger 356). Along with all these aids, you
could use lucid dreaming to help you prepare for an event that may happen in your life. You can
dream a scenario and play out different outcomes so that you would be prepared for whatever
may come your way.
Sometimes, you may be lucid dreaming and not even realize it. Some dreams are more
lucid than others, which will cause you to realize that you are in fact lucid dreaming. Stumbrys
states, It is important to acknowledge that dream lucidity is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon
but rather a continuum with different degrees: some dreams can be more lucid than others
(1457). Depending on the lucidity of the dream, you will be more conscious of your state and
some dreams will allow you to be more controlling of the events that take place.
Lucid dreaming can be extremely beneficial to you in many ways. As stated in the
previous paragraphs, lucid dreaming can not only improve your mental health, but can also help
you prepare for different scenarios. Even though it is no easy task to accomplish, lucid dreaming
is an attainable skill if practiced enough.

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Work Cited
Freud, Sigmund, and James. Strachey. The Interpretation of Dreams. [8th ed., rev.]. New York:
Avon, 1965. Print. Discus book.
Shaw, Bryony Developments in the Neuroscience of Dreams Academic Search Complete Nov.
1-2, 2016
Strongman, Luke. Conscious States of Dreaming. Journal Of Mind & Behavior 35.4 (2014):
189-200. SocINDEX with Full Text. Web. 20 Sept. 2016
Smith, Bethan Victoria, and Mark Blagrove. "Lucid Dreaming Frequency And Alarm Clock
Snooze Button Use." Dreaming 25.4 (2015): 291-299. Academic Search Complete. Web.
2 Oct. 2016.
http://0-search.proquest.com.iii-server.ualr.edu/docview/1688913453?accountid=14482

ninds.nih.gov http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/understanding_sleep.htm-"Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library
of Medicine, 25 July 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2016.

http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/science/what/sleep-patterns-rem-nrem
"Natural Patterns of Sleep." Healthy Sleep. Division of Sleep Medicine, WGBH Educational
Foundation, 18 Dec. 2007. Web. 01 Oct. 2016.

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Holzinger, B., G. Klsch, and B. Saletu. "Studies With Lucid Dreaming As Add-On Therapy To
Gestalt Therapy." Acta Neurologica Scandinavica 131.6 (2015): 355-363. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.
Schredl, Michael, and Anja S. G;ritz. "Changes In Dream Recall Frequency, Nightmare
Frequency, And Lucid Dream Frequency Over A 3-Year Period." Dreaming 25.2 (2015):
81-87. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Oct. 2016.
Stumbrys, Tadas, et al. "Induction Of Lucid Dreams: A Systematic Review Of Evidence."
Consciousness & Cognition 21.3 (2012): 1456-1475. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3
Oct. 2016.