I have always wanted to know whether you could be physically or mentally scared after have a dream or nightmare? Like when people always say that you can die if you fall from a cliff in your dream, are things like this true, this might sound stupid but i would appreciate any help. x.
2007-02-01 08:01:17 · 14 answers · asked by bessy_1962 2 in Health ➔ Other - Health
In theory the mind is a very powerful thing. If you are in a deep enough sleep and your dream is very vivid then you could (maybe) have mental damage from this, possibly leading to death. If you mind thinks that you are dead then it will stop telling your heart to beat, stop telling you to breathe and therefore kill itself.
This is very, very, very unlikely. The human instinct of survival is much more powerful, your mind would probably tell you to try and breathe even if it thought that you were dead. If you drown then you will always try and take a last gasp breath before you die. If you dreamt this you would do the same and probably wake up.
Mental scarring from dreams is actually quite well documented. Theorists say that if you are very suggestible then you can convince yourself that you have experienced something even if you haven't. This is what hypnotism is, the hypnotist simply suggests something to you in a special way and you can then believe that you have experienced that. If he tells you to forget something you can forget that. In theory you can hypnotise yourself whilst sleeping and then suggest things to yourself. If you believe that you have been raped, for example, you could be just as sensitive about it as someone who actually had been raped. All it takes is a very good imagination, to be very suggestible and to believe.
This is very rare, but also very much true.
You cannot cause youself much physical harm by simply suggesting it to yourself, unless you sleepwalk. You could cause youself physical brain damage in a very extreme case, but this has not yet been documented. Theorists claim that this would be possible if you believed that you couldn't breathe and starved your brain of oxygen. Unlikely though.
Sorry for waffling!
2007-02-01 08:16:05 · answer #1 · answered by mad_caesar 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dear Bessy, I can't say I agree with all that's been said by Steven F or Jazmyn J, although at least Steven's trying to calm you down.
Just for the record (I should probably have this anounced publicly) I did hit the bottom in a dream!
I dreamt I was falling and landed in a seated position with my legs out straight. I woke up with a sore back!
No doubt I was sleeping in a bad position, which hurt my back and caused the dream. I'm clearly still alive, though some folk might wish to contest that!
Dreams are just thoughts you have in your sleep, and neither can hurt you. A dream won't mentally scar you, you may instead simply upset yourself with worry when you wake up.
Then again, perhaps I'm weird in surviving my dream fall, as I seem to have done other impossible things, like:
Sneeze with my eyes open - twice;
lick my elbow (trick is to keep your arm straight);
think in four dimensions (supposedly we can only think in three),
and tickle myself.
I think Bessy, that like me, perhaps you simply worry too much when you have time on your hands.
2007-02-01 08:26:51 · answer #2 · answered by andrew m 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ive had a lot of dreams of being shot, stabbed and even drowning . also my teeth falling out or somebody running after me and i just cant get knowhere. ive been crying in a dream a few times and actually woke up with tears in my eyes. but im ok.
2007-02-01 08:14:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I once dreamt that I was at a concert headbanging, and I woke up in the morning with bumps, dents and cuts on my head, only to realise that I had been headbutting the edge of the radiator.
2007-02-01 08:12:27 · answer #4 · answered by Nic 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dream-injuries do not carry over into the real world. Simply put, dreams are just hallucinations created by your brain. Does your brain have the power to kill you? Yep. Does it have any reason to? Nope.
2007-02-01 08:11:51 · answer #5 · answered by Steven F 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think you can but just don't have a dream about rolling you could roll right off the bed. WEll I have atleast.
2007-02-01 08:11:07 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i was hurt once but it was down to snoring whilst sleeping at work (Im a firefighter and i get to sleep at wotk, yipee) cos someone threw thier boot at me. Not quite what your asking but i thought i would share it.
2007-02-01 08:07:12 · answer #7 · answered by kenneth m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In your dreams you can get hurt, but as long as it's only in your dreams it wont hurt.
2007-02-01 08:10:39 · answer #8 · answered by Hi T 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i got hurt in a dream.....about 2 weeks ago, i dreamed i was being chased by a guy with a gun. i ran and ran, but i was running in slow motion, you know. he caught me, and i punched him in the face. but it was not his face. it was my pet tiger's face. he clawed me in the scrotum, resulting in what doctor's call "tigerclawscrotumitis". so, long story short, if someone is chasin' you with a gun, look out for tiger claws.
2007-02-01 08:05:40 · answer #9 · answered by katdaddyk79 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can be mentally harmed by dreams and also if you have something on your mind you can physically harm yourself or someone else
2007-02-01 08:06:39 · answer #10 · answered by jazmyin j 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋