is it possible to ld when depressed?

hey well i’m new to the site. been trying to ld for a while now. i came across this amazing concept of controlling your dreams and thought it would be amazing to do. aswell as actually be something exciting and could possibly lift me out of being so depressed. so far no luck with doing dj and rc’ing. i’ve tried wild’s and mild’s a couple of times and i just stay up for hours with wild and mild’s haven’t yielded anything yet. so i’m wondering if it is possible to ld while depressed. if its a worth while thing to do, as in will it make me a little more happy or will it disconnect me further from real life?

I think it is very well possible. Practicing things like Lucid Living (LL) might also be helpful when dealing with depression. Just be careful that you don’t start using dreams as escapism and you should be fine. :smile: Remember though that it can take some time until you have your first LD, but it’s worth the effort, so keep trying and stay motivated!

As far as I understand it seems very possible, although if it wrecks your motivation then it will be a lot more difficult. WILD and MILD are techniques that don’t usually work for beginners, and keeping a DJ and doing plenty of RC’s will surely help.

yer i’ve tried and given up a couple of times but i’m determined to finally be able to do it this time. what is lucid living i’ve never come across it before. well i know its different for everyone but when should i expect to of had atleast one ld if i’m using dj and rcing?

Yes it is possible, but motivation will go down if you don’t keep your interest in it. What I experienced was I was super motivated one week and lost interest after two weeks, motivation went up the next week but it went down the other…cycle continues. Keep your mind off other things and keep your motivation up because without strong motivation, it was hard for me to wake up after 5-6 hours of sleep for WBTB/MILD.

It’s deffinitely possible. I do suggest trying to do whatever it takes (professional help, for example) in case you aren’t doing it already. I say this because I’ve seen my skill, motivation andinterest increase through the years as I’ve gotten better from depression. As said abova, I think the only problem is if it affects your motivation. I say try hard to take LD’ing lightly, as a fun hobby, not as something you MUST achieve. This way even when you don’t feel like it you might still record your dreams and if you take a break you’ll always come back to it. Breaks are natural, it just sucks when people give up for good… I’ve been LD’ing for 5 years and progress has been slow at times, but learning to enjoy what little lucidity (or SP or HI) and speciually having fun with your ND’s really helps keep things going (and trust me, some ND’s can be better than any LD!!)

Good luck, and welcome! :wave:

well i’ve been trying this attempt of lding for 5 days now. it is nice to remember my dreams. so i hope i’ll be able to actually realise i’m dreaming some time. i mean i’ve been depressed for a while now only my two people know, my two closest friend. i don’t want to tell parents and idk about professional help. of course its the senseable option, i just have no idea why i don’t.
i’m glad that i’m not wasting my time trying to chase something that is unobtainable. just have to stay motivated. thanks for replying guys/girls its nice to get a response from people that are actually able to do this :smile:

Super yes.

LD helps me with my depression more than almost anything else at times. It allows me a safe place to explore and express myself with no constraints or burdens.plus, no matter how down I am feeling, flying in a dream, lucid or not, always seems to give a lift to my spirits.

It is well worth the effort. WILD ultimately was the technique that works best for me, but everyone is different, the key is persistence. It took me months to be able to start lucid dreaming, everyone develops this talent at a different pace. If you stick with it I am sure you will be rewarded with many of the benefits for yourself. Have you considered sharing your DJ on the forum or with your friends? (they may even want to try LD as well!) it helped me to have a friend encourage me along as I got closer to my goal, or if you share on the forum there are dozens of people that may be able to provide tips and encouragement for your journey to lucidity.

Very best of luck.

X

P.S. Mattias, eater of grues is spot on with his post.

yer i’ve told it to my friends before, they aren’t interested in it at all unfortunately =/. saying that i don’t need to ld to be happy. but i mean flying and all the other cool things i can think of doing will surely cheer me up. sharing on this community seems like a cool idea, possibly a good way of keeping motivated. thanks for the reply and support :smile:

Absolutely! I got booted out of a depressed phase by my first WILD last week. It was so truly amazing that I felt like a whole renewed person when I woke up from it! Thing is, I wasn’t trying to LD. I pretty much leave off the whole “trying” thing while I’m depressed, I use that time to reflect before I swing back to whatever state of mind I get dealt next…

So yeah, totally possible, but I can’t control it to any degree whatsoever. If I could, I’d let you know how :smile:

I have found it easier to LD when I’m depressed, lucid dreams feel so comforting then. :content:

I haven’t been clinically depressed, but I have been in deep grief after a loss. I was certainly able to LD then, in fact, the bad sleep quality at that time made it almost easier to become aware of dreams. It felt like my brain wouldn’t let itself rest. However, when becoming lucid, I would remember all the bad things, so lucid dreaming wasn’t something I actively tried to achieve then.

A family member went through a severe depression a few years ago. She is a natural lucid dreamer, had lucid dreams, but was still depressed in them from what she shared. It would take her hours to fall asleep because of heavy thoughts, so those lucid dreams usually came in naps in the day.