# Sleep and Dreams > Sleep and Health >  >  Does depression or anxiety stop people dreaming?

## noodlehead

I feel like I'm at my lowest ebb at the moment. I've contemplated and attempted suicide numerous times over the past couple of months. I've always been plagued by depression and anxiety but at the moment it is currently going through the roof! I couldn't help but notice in one of my more calm moments that I can't recall my dreams as well as I used to and the few times I do they are nowhere near as vivid or exciting as they used to be. Any thoughts?

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## JoannaB

Yes, absolutely depression, anxiety, and stress can interfere with dream recall. Note: you will still have dreams, but are much less likely to remember them. That is potentially a big issue because you may well be having very negative dreams that fuel your depression and anxiety subconsciously, but you do not remember them, so it is harder for you to understand the cause and effect.

I remember when I first came to this site, I was pretty low in part because of interactions on a different forum which had undermined my self esteem. I did not remember my dreams. I did however realize eventually after almost a year of being on that forum that it was having negative effects on my psyche. I quit the other forum, and I felt good about that, but I was still not well overall psychologically. I out of some reason remembered my lucid dreaming hobby from twenty years ago, and decided to try it. At first my dream recall was very poor. But when I worked on it,I was able to improve it somewhat despite not being well, and to my surprise, I realized that while in waking life I had left that forum, in my dreams I kept reliving the worst parts of those interactions. So you see, when I had not been remembering my dreams, I likely was having these dreams, and it was contributing to my depression subconsciously.

My example shows that you can and should try to improve your dream recall even if you are depressed and anxious. It will be harder because depression and stress make dream recall harder, but you may discover part of the cause of your problems lies in negative thinking in your dreams which you now don't remember and thus are less likely to be able to counteract. And yes, one can improve one's dreams with effort. Sometimes even becoming aware of them may help you improve. Peace be with you.

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## Arra

> I've contemplated and attempted suicide numerous times over the past couple of months. I've always been plagued by depression and anxiety but at the moment it is currently going through the roof!



This sounds serious, like you need to seek help first.  Lucid dreaming perhaps shouldn't be your priority now.  Once you start feeling better via medication or a life change or whatever ends up doing it for you, then return to lucid dreaming and you'll have a much easier time with it.  Lucid dreaming requires feeling motivated and enthusiastic about it, and it's hard to feel that when you're depressed.

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## ccolby

I've dealt with Depression and Anxiety for most of my life as well. Lately I've been having trouble with it too. My lucid dreaming and recall never seem to be affected by it. Maybe it's different for everyone? Sometimes I feel like a night of sleep without remembering my dreams would be a godsend, because I can never remember having one. I'd send you some of mine if I could.  :smiley: 

As for the depression. From one person who suffers to another, no matter how low you are, no matter how exhausted you feel, never give up hope. There is always a reason to live. I promised myself a long time ago I wouldn't commit suicide, mostly because I don't like physical pain, I'm terrified of the actual dying part lol, and I don't want to ever hurt my family like that. My family and friends are what give me the motivation to keep going. I'm new to this site, but you're more than welcome to send me a message. (I just realized you posted this a few months ago.) Sometimes it eases the pain when you find someone you can just unload or vent to, someone who can empathize. I have a family friend who also has severe/moderate depression and it takes some of the burden off when I talk to her about it. Us depressed people have to stick together and be there for each other the best we can. It's nice to feel like you're not alone.

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## Rippakone

Hey noodle, I'm in the same boat as you feel free to send me a message if you wanna talk

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## iamalostsoul

the more my emotions plummeted my dreams got worse hate ta break it to ya but i would rather not remember but now that continued and i can't sleep more than 5 hours a day at most so i kind of envy ya

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