Thread: Intense fear when becoming lucid

I was googlin' around for answers, but I didn't find anything like this. So I figured this forum was the place to ask.

I have managed a few times to become lucid by telling myself "this is not real" before I fall asleep. But I keep hitting this brick wall when I'm actually in the dream.
I experience the most intense fear, chaos, loud noises, hallucinations, and general terribleness. Causing me to become completely paralyzed, just watching this for minutes before waking up.
There is nothing in particular that makes me afraid, and I'm not an easily scared person. This is just completely bonkers.

Have any of you had this problem? In any case, I'm looking for an explanation. I get some frightful thoughts when I wake up after that.

Originally Posted by An0nymous

...But I keep hitting this brick wall when I'm actually in the dream.
I experience the most intense fear, chaos, loud noises, hallucinations, and general terribleness. Causing me to become completely paralyzed, just watching this for minutes before waking up.

Just before you enter lucid dream, you may experience hypnagogic hallucinations. They may get scary, especially if you have no idea what's comming. I think this is what is frightening you.

These HH can be loud noises or images. But they do happen before you enter lucid dream. So try and stay calm, just tell yourself these are hallucinations, can't hurt you in any way. They will last just seconds and after that or during that you can enter lucid dream. There, the scene will be most likely different than what your HH were. And you will have control. If you don't like something, just think about changing it and it will change.

Here is a great WILD (sageous) tutorial that explains the whole process in detail.

*Moved to WILD

Originally Posted by gab

Just before you enter lucid dream, you may experience hypnagogic hallucinations. They may get scary, especially if you have no idea what's comming. I think this is what is frightening you.

The hallucinations come after the fear kicks in (out of nowhere). I was just reading a post on this forum with something that was recurring in my dream as well. /dream-interpretation/7477-state-intense-fear.html <- This post (can't post links yet) describes almost the exact phenomenon, I even caught a glimpse of a orb shaped mirror emitting a yellow glow.

It is just a lucid dreams there is no need to be scared. Now you will have some time in this community you understand these things.

I'll check out that post.

HH are like the dreams. If you think something will happen, then it will. So if you get scared before HH, they just react to your fear and show you something scary.

That's how you summon and change things in lucid dream. But thinking that they will be there or they will change.

EDIT: Is that thread on first page in Interpretation? Can't find it. Who is the poster?

Originally Posted by gab

Is that thread on first page in Interpretation? Can't find it. Who is the poster?

dreamviews.com/dream-interpretation/7477-state-intense-fear.html
It worked! :3

Unfortunately, the fear might just be something you have to work through. Time and practice may help to erode it; after repeated experiences with it, it may no longer have the same impact. Observe and work on becoming detached.

Just to clarify: are you attempting WILD, are you waking up paralyzed/partially paralyzed and hallucinating, are you going lucid in nightmares - what exactly is going on?

I suffer from actual sleep paralysis (not REM atonia) so I know how terrifying HH can actually be even when you're completely aware that the scary stuff you see isn't there. I've had a demon climb into my mouth before while in the throes of sleep paralysis... I've had witches scream in my face, my room has been full of ghosts, etc. Knowing that I'm actually dreaming (or at least hallucinating) isn't always helpful because the logic can't override whatever it is in my brain that's causing the intense fear.

1. Don't fight the paralysis. Try your best to relax. This can be hard to with sirens blaring in your ears or a demon screaming in your face; trust me, I know. The important thing is actually not to struggle. The more you struggle, the more you will panic. The more you panic, the worse it will get.

2. Understand that sometimes you won't be able to fight the fear. Don't let that frustrate you; just accept it. It's not as easy as going "this isn't real" because the fight-or-flight part of your brain is in overdrive. What you actually CAN do is work on not letting stuff get to you in real life. Expose yourself to scary stuff: play scary games and sit through scary movies - that helped me work on my sense of detachment. This will carry over into your dreams, so that scary stuff you see is less able to rattle you. On the other hand, it could just give your dreaming brain more scary stuff to throw at you... it's a double edged sword.

3. Give it time and keep trying. You can actually "get used to" this. I still have issues where I end up paralyzed and begin to hallucinate, or I go lucid in the middle of a nightmare and I'm still super terrified. If you can keep yourself together long enough to let it play itself out or do a scene change, those can go a long way toward helping. If the Scary Thing is mostly visual, close your eyes and focus on your sense of touch because whatever you are not actively paying attention to will go away.

Originally Posted by Bubble

Just to clarify: are you attempting WILD, are you waking up paralyzed/partially paralyzed and hallucinating, are you going lucid in nightmares - what exactly is going on?

I tried and (sorta) succeeded in inducing WILD. I was conscious in the dream.

Somehow, the fear kicked in immediately after falling asleep. Just unexplainable, irrational and intense fear.
I was lying in my bed, so I sat up only to see that the room was empty. After that, I was completely paralyzed (in the dream), and the hallucinations started.
However, the hallucinations weren't scary at all. I remember seeing a still image of Postman Pat... I didn't even watch that show. It seemed very random.
Then there were sounds. Both high and low pitched pulsating sounds, very loud.
This kept going for a while. Just sitting in panic, looking at an image of Postman Pat >.>
Then there was this, peculiar thing, before I waked up. Everything stopped, and this orb appeared in front of me. It was reflecting the entire room, but not myself. Then it started glowing yellow, until it was so bright, that I couldn't see the reflection in it anymore, yet the room were still dark.
It started shaking, and I heard muffled screams coming out of it, like something wanted to get out, and then I woke up.
I had some thoughts about starting killing people, which I quickly dismissed. Otherwise I was fine.

Originally Posted by Bubble

1. Don't fight the paralysis. Try your best to relax. This can be hard to with sirens blaring in your ears or a demon screaming in your face; trust me, I know. The important thing is actually not to struggle

I struggled... noted

Originally Posted by Bubble

Expose yourself to scary stuff: play scary games and sit through scary movies

I do this almost every day. Listen to this if you're into that kinda thing -> youtube.com/mrcreepypasta

Sounds like you're experiencing the byproducts of rem atonia, "sleep paralysis". Intense fear is also one of the byproducts, along with the hallucinations. Just try your best to calm yourself, arm yourself with the knowledge that the fear has no real basis and is merely a part of the ride. If you know there is nothing to be truly afraid of, you can get past it.

How many lucids have you had before? I'm asking, because what you are describing really sounds to me as pre-lucid dream. The sounds and HH are all happening before you enter lucid dream.

When the HH are very realistic, and just before you enter LD, they are, they could be confused for a LD. HH are the sounds and hallucinations. But once you enter LD, they stop. Do you experience any change of 'feel' when entering LD? Like you are there, instead of just being an outside observer?

And I would recommend you fill your mind with pleasant images, not scary ones. Especially, right before bed. Whatever your mind is filled with, that's what you will experience in your HH.

Thanks for posting that YouTube channel. It is my type of creepy. I need to perfect my nightmares.

Personally I have always been really confident in real life and in my dreaming self. So during normal dreams it is hard to have a nightmare since I am confident. When I am in a lucid dream I am extremely confident in my abilities there, so I don't worry about anything. Learn how to wake yourself up if things get too bad.

Originally Posted by An0nymous

I was lying in my bed, so I sat up only to see that the room was empty. After that, I was completely paralyzed (in the dream)

So it was in-dream paralysis, not sleep paralysis? I have experienced paralysis in the dream before(including fake SPs), so if that's the case i would suggest to be calm and either wait it out or try to break out using dream control, but in both cases be confident and believe that you aren't paralyzed in first place and/or just something restrains your movement, and then get rid of/take off this something.
Good luck!

I also experienced some dream paralysis. My dc wife had a hold of my neck and I couldn't move. I woke up and my wife had fallen asleep with her arms around me like in the dream it was weird.