can AP or lucid dreaming lead to developing PTSD?

Hi,

I had several dreams last night where I was either lucid dreaming or APing.

They were so wild and so intense and some of them on the violent side.

It makes me wonder if it can lead to developing PTSD in some people?

I'm in shock at the dreams I had. They seemed so real, so intense, so physical....I felt everything. It was quite unnerving.

Thank you for any insight.

PS. I am prone to PTSD. I've suffered several bouts of it in my life. I'm just wondering if these types of dreams can exasperate the condition or even in some cases be the cause of it?

[astralsuzy]

My honest answer is I do not know. You could talk to an expert about it for their opinion. I would not mention ap as a lot of people do not believe in ap. I think if you are afraid or worried, it is better not to try to lucid dream or ap.

Originally Posted by astralsuzy

My honest answer is I do not know. You could talk to an expert about it for their opinion. I would not mention ap as a lot of people do not believe in ap. I think if you are afraid or worried, it is better not to try to lucid dream or ap.

Thanks for your reply.

The thing is, I'm starting to not be able to just not lucid dream anymore. I have noticed that I just seem to fall into it before I realize I am doing it.

I had another one last night, it was so disturbing, it jolted me up and out of bed and I snapped out of it.

For the most part, lucid dreaming has been a good experience, but lately, some of them are turning quite violent :(

[Perfect Storm]

May I ask how they are violent? In what way? The dream contents?

[desert rat]

I would not think so , but I dont think any one could say for %100 .

I'd really rather not share the ways they are violent, other than they are very physical :(

On the upside, I was able to AP a little while ago and that one turned out to be a rather pleasant one. No violence, no contact with others. The surroundings were nice and calm. I hope these types of AP will continue now.

[Lucyan28]

I think those kind of violent drems could be the result of an inner anger that you might have, maybe at subconscious level. You should get help from a specialist, like a psychologist.

This little tip will help you to have better dreams:
Try for 5 or 10 minutes before sleeping to see beautiful images of the nature, like forests, water, flowers, animals, etc. Make a mental statement: "I will be here while dreaming in complete peace" or something like that.
Also you can listen to classic music during the day and try to meditate.

This really can improve the quality of your dreams.

Good luck :)

[Tobi]

I'm inclined to agree with Lucyan. Strangely enough, no matter what experiences we have had in the past, or however they have made us feel, we can consciously choose to feel something else. That is one of the powers at our disposal.
Repetitive conditioning will result in attunement with whatever vibration you choose. Yes it may not be easy to do, especially at first, but it is by no means impossible! Knowing you can do it is another thing to bear in mind. Never thinking for one moment that you can't.

So each day, choosing to attune to any things which are completely opposite from violence or disharmony will definitely help condition the mind.

[Astral Explorer]

Originally Posted by yumi14

Hi,

I had several dreams last night where I was either lucid dreaming or APing.

They were so wild and so intense and some of them on the violent side.

It makes me wonder if it can lead to developing PTSD in some people?

I'm in shock at the dreams I had. They seemed so real, so intense, so physical....I felt everything. It was quite unnerving.

Thank you for any insight.

PS. I am prone to PTSD. I've suffered several bouts of it in my life. I'm just wondering if these types of dreams can exasperate the condition or even in some cases be the cause of it?

You mentioned you were prone to PTSD which indicates to me that you already suffer from PTSD. Regarding PTSD a HUGE part of it and what makes it so bad for a lot of people who suffer from it is that they re-live the traumatic events over and over again in their dreams. With that said the fact that they have to re-live over the traumatic events that caused PTSD certainly means that the PTSD usually can and will intensify due to the repetitive dreams. In most cases every time they have those dreams it puts them back into or into a much worse state of mind. With all of this said someone who already suffers from PTSD currently could have those traumatic events repeat in their projections as well as their lucid dreams.

BUT I think that happening could go either way, I think it is a double-edged sword that could certainly cut both ways. Yes you could in a sense be forced to re-experience whatever events caused you to have PTSD but it could also be liberating. In a conscious state of thought and awareness during a lucid dream or projection you could actually re-live that experience but change the way it unfolds. You could basically re-live the experience and make things turn out the way you would of wanted them to so that you can finally have closure. Obviously if it has to do with war which includes friends dying or anyone dying for that matter you're not going to be able to bring them back to life. But the Universe has a way of helping us when we need it and giving us what we need even if it's difficult. I believe people re-live their traumatic experiences in their dreams because it is an opportunity for them to move past them and learn from them and if they just shove them down inside and never think about them that will never happen.

It's very possible that in a projection you re-live these traumatic experiences BUT this time you make a different decision in them or do something different and the outcome changes. And then after doing so you are escorted into the "light-realms" in which case they will tell you what has happened, what you have done, why they waited until then to help you, etc. The "light-realms" are not necessarily full of soft and warm love like some people would like to believe. They are certainly full of light and love yes but that love is very often tough love because soft love can never teach us as much as tough love. We will always learn more figuring things out on our own than if we have someone babying us the whole way. I know that all of my experiences in the "light-realms" happened when I had huge breakthroughs in my projections and that makes me inclined to believe someone who suffers from PTSD having a breakthrough would probably lead to a similar event.

Now if you don't currently suffer from PTSD could you actually create PTSD through projections? I think you could under certain circumstances BUT the chances of it happening are no more than during dreams. If you haven't created the condition of PTSD through your dreams then it is unlikely you will through projection. You would have to have not dealt with your fears at all honestly and I don't think someone in that position should be projecting to begin with. That's the only way I could see projecting creating PTSD in a person if something happened during the projection that scared them so bad they could not shake the thought of it. And honestly I've had any and nearly everything "bad" you can possibly imagine happen to me in projecting yet I do not suffer from PTSD. That is because I have long dealt with my fears to the point where they no longer exist, where nothing can scare me or shake me up, where I can literally look in the face of the darkest beings you can imagine and smile and laugh without a worry. For someone who hasn't dealt with their fears I think that those types of beings could certainly add to a person's fear to the point where it's hard for them to stop thinking about it which just leads to more fear. But other than that scenario I don't think projecting can create the condition of PTSD under any different circumstances than dreaming could. So unless the person never dreams I doubt projecting would give someone the condition of PTSD because they have already experienced the possible causes in their dreams. Part of why PTSD is so bad in people's dreams is because in dreams they have no control because they don't know they are dreaming, in lucid dreams and projections that is not the case. In LDs and APs they have control and therefore LDing/APing could actually be the cure to PTSD instead of the cause.

[reconsarge1975]

Regarding the PTSD, I have been living with it for 11 years now. Notice I said "living with" and not "suffering with". Mind-set and perspective are powerful things. Once a reexperiencing dream turns lucid I begin to make sense of things and notice the difference. My dreams, though they are very realistic and troubling, are in of themselves inaccurate. They may be MOSTLY true but what sets them apart are the variables. The mind plays these things over and over and frequently substitutes people, events, timeframe etc. Once it's lucid I get my memory back and I am the only one that remembers the last 11 years. This didnt happen automatically, Ive had a very good therapist who has been working with me on it.
I suppose I'm rambling and the original intent I had to say was that these dreams, in my opinion, are better to deal with if you can do it lucidly.
During AP's I have had elements of them there, but I really feel as though those elements were in some way constructs my mind put in place or an entity misrepresenting and attempting to manipulate me for one reason or another.
BTW, AE I agree with the concept of facing the fear. When we look at them like that they don't have a foothold to control us any more.
PTSD for the most part is what several of my friends have called "the amygdala hijack". It modifies your "fight or flight" response on a physiological level, it's no longer just a thought or a memory. At the time of the traumatic experiences there was likely an abundance of adrenaline in our systems and when that happens those memories become hard-wired into our survival mechanisms. But try to remember that these are memories, not visions of the immediate. They are evidence of what we lived through. Hence what I said about mindset.