In Nightmare Obscura, the sleep scientist explores how dreams impact waking life and the growing research into techniques to control them.

How do dreams affect our lives?

Researchers are taking dream studies much more seriously as we discover more and more links between dreaming and the waking world. Dreams affect creativity, learning, memory, and emotional well-being. Artists, musicians, writers, even scientists, report brainstorming and problem-solving through dreams. Then there are dream disorders such as recurrent frightening dreams, like nightmares, which can signal psychological problems or suicide risks.

What distinguishes a nightmare from a bad dream?

A nightmare is a very intense bad dream, so frightening and arousing that it interrupts sleep and is usually accompanied by physical symptoms, like rapid breathing and a pounding heart. It’s normal to have the occasional nightmare. It’s often a response to stress. But when nightmares become repetitive and overwhelming, they can interfere with one’s ability to function during the day, create crippling anxiety, and lead to fear of falling asleep.

You describe yourself as a “dream engineer.” What is that exactly?

Dream engineering is a broad umbrella term for any approach to trying to inform the content of dreams—any means of interfacing with the dreaming mind. This can be done through exercises in imagination and visualization, which can be enhanced by pairing them with a sensory stimulation such as a flashing light or a beeping noise. People with persistent nightmares often feel helpless; dream engineering shows them how malleable dreams actually are and how it’s possible to have control over dream content. For example, sufferers can learn to rewrite their nightmares by rehearsing alternate versions of the script. It’s possible to learn to become friends with the monsters and have fun dreams.

What is lucid dreaming?

A fully lucid dream is one in which you’re aware that you’re dreaming. These are insightful experiences into the incredibly vivid world inside your mind. Most people have had at least one lucid dream, but to have these on a regular basis is rare. On the other hand, dreaming isn’t necessarily an all or nothing experience. There are techniques for teaching yourself to have some conscious agency in dreams.

Are there any downsides to dream engineering?

For most people, these techniques should only be an occasional tool. You don’t want to risk continually disrupting your normal sleep cycle. Some researchers have warned about the potential for introducing advertising and influencing consumer behavior using dream engineering techniques, but that doesn’t really seem likely. This isn’t the sort of manipulative dream-sharing technology shown in the movie Inception.