Over 85% of participants to a pilot study were no longer classified as having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after being treated with a lucid dreaming therapy.
The study, conducted by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in California, is the first study to use lucid dreaming for treating PTSD (1).
Prior to this, lucid dreaming was only used for the treatment of nightmares.
Lucid dreaming is very powerful in relieving anxiety, which can be particularly helpful for people suffering from regular nightmares.
It is believed that over 80% of posttraumatic stress disorder patients suffer from nightmares (2) causing major distress and impacting their daily life.
It is also believed that recurring nightmares only affect 4% of the population and up to 20% of children and adolescents in the US.
In the UK, 1 in 10 people is expected to experience PTSD at least once in their lives (3).
It is also estimated that there were about 230,000 PTSD referrals in the England between 2020-2023.
References
1. Lucid Dreaming Study – PTSD UK. (n.d.)
2. Holzinger, B., Saletu, B., & Klösch, G. (2020). Cognitions in sleep: Lucid dreaming as an intervention for nightmares in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder. Frontiers in Psychology, 11
3. Davis, P. (2023, June 8). New study finds “lucid dreaming” can significantly decrease PTSD symptoms - Tortoise. Tortoise