Which is worse?

[MarioWorldGamer]

Is it worse to experience an intense negative emotion in a nightmare or to experience that same emotion at the same intensity while awake? Does being fully conscious somehow make the emotional experience worse? Or would both emotional experiences be just as bad?

[Endy0816]

At least when you are sleeping you have a chance of forgetting. Nobody will be able to provide an objective answer as to how you will feel though.

 

If you feel comfortable, can you tell us a little bit about what has been going on in your life to cause such emotions?

[Sensei]

Is it worse to experience an intense negative emotion in a nightmare or to experience that same emotion at the same intensity while awake?

Does being fully conscious somehow make the emotional experience worse? Or would both emotional experiences be just as bad?

 

The real life experience can lead to posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder

 

ps. I see your nickname. There were a few cases that gamer committed suicide in the real world, after death of his/her player in game. But these are very rare events.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction#Notable_deaths

This comment should not be understood as "request to ban computer games". They can also cure somebody else.

There is time for game, there is time for learning, there is time for friends and sport, and other activities.

I have often played f.e. Counter-Strike, and Counter-Strike: Source, while waiting for restart of map, making exercises (joining sport and entertainment)

 

ps2. OTOH, your nickname suggest you are already addicted. Not sure what for telling inside of nickname on the science forum, you play some game.

Edited August 1, 2016 by Sensei

[Lyudmilascience]

for me its kind of obvious that a real life emotion is worse but thats because I dont remember my dreams really well when I wake up and i dont really have emotions in them. but everyone different.

[MarioWorldGamer]

I've had horrible nightmares and I don't wish to experience those feelings just as they were in my nightmares during a near death experience. Some people who have ndes have distressing ones in which they experience those feelings just as they were in their nightmares.

I was wondering if the prefrontal cortex being offline during the dream state makes emotional experiences during nightmares worse than they would be in waking life. When, for example, I am fully awake and my prefrontal cortex is on, then any unpleasant emotional experiences I have here in my waking life are just simply unpleasant experiences no matter how intense they are.

But the emotional experiences in my nightmares are far worse than any emotional experience I could possibly have here in my waking life and I was wondering if it has something to do with the prefrontal cortex being offline during the dream state that makes those emotional experiences worse.

So if I were to have a distressing nde in which I am fully conscious during the experience where my prefrontal cortex is fully on, then I was wondering if any distressing emotional experience I were to have won't be that bad as what I would experience during my nightmares.

People are more conscious than normal waking conscious during ndes and, even though they report very intense negative emotional experiences during distressing ndes, I was wondering if those emotional experiences aren't as bad as they are in nightmares since these people are more conscious than normal. Their prefrontal cortex is more active than normal.

[Function]

I've occasionally had dreams in which I was subjected to the most cruel happenings and experiences one can discover. I can't deny having woken up once in a blue moon, crying about what happened in my dream, still influenced heavily by the emotions still persisting from those dreams. Our limbic system is very interesting, isn't it?

 

But the opposite has - luckily enough - occured to me too, and much more. I pity people not dreaming. It seems terrible to me not to have those experiences. Even the bad ones, keeps you ... probably not sane, specifically, but idk, I feel like I wouldn't enjoy sleeping as much if it weren't for the dreams.

[MarioWorldGamer]

I also have another question. If you have a horrible emotional experience in a nightmare, you are not fully aware of that experience since you were not fully conscious. But it was still obviously a horrible experience. But if you were to be fully awake and have that exact same emotional experience just as you did in that nightmare (both the same type of feeling and the same intensity level), would that experience be worse since you are fully aware of it? Or would it be just as bad as what you experienced in your nightmare? I ask this question because I wonder if being fully aware (conscious) makes the experience worse since you are fully aware of that experience.

Edited August 14, 2016 by MarioWorldGamer

[StringJunky]

Is it worse to experience an intense negative emotion in a nightmare or to experience that same emotion at the same intensity while awake? Does being fully conscious somehow make the emotional experience worse? Or would both emotional experiences be just as bad?

My own experience is that emotions in dreams are much more intense and fearsome than when awake; it's like everything is turned up full volume. There is no tempering of them, like in waking life.

Edited August 14, 2016 by StringJunky

[MarioWorldGamer]

My own experience is that emotions in dreams are much more intense and fearsome than when awake; it's like everything is turned up full volume. There is no tempering of them, like in waking life.

I am talking about near death experiences in which people are fully conscious during these experiences and experience negative emotions just as intense as they would in their nightmares. My question is, if these are the exact same emotional experiences (one from a nightmare and another during the near death experience) and they are both just as intense, then would it be worse during the near death experience since the person is fully conscious (aware) of the experience? Does being fully aware of the experience make it worse? Or would it be just as bad as during a nightmare even though there is less awareness during a nightmare?

[StringJunky]

I am talking about near death experiences in which people are fully conscious during these experiences and experience negative emotions just as intense as they would in their nightmares. My question is, if these are the exact same emotional experiences (one from a nightmare and another during the near death experience) and they are both just as intense, then would it be worse during the near death experience since the person is fully conscious (aware) of the experience? Does being fully aware of the experience make it worse? Or would it be just as bad as during a nightmare even though there is less awareness during a nightmare?

Pass. I've been petrified upon waking up from a nightmare before so the quality must be similar I would thought.

[sethoflagos]

Your subconscious knows your deepest anxieties and will happily play them out for you under some (fortunately for me, fairly rare) circumstances.

 

I've had a couple of serious scares in real life, but the adrenaline surge seems to focus you on how best to react (guess this probably varies by individual). Also I tend to get this strange curiosity for 'Ooh, I wonder what happens next'.

 

But dreams can take all that precious control away from you (trying to run through a lake of bitumen springs to mind). Now it gets really scary!

[StringJunky]

Your subconscious knows your deepest anxieties and will happily play them out for you under some (fortunately for me, fairly rare) circumstances.

 

I've had a couple of serious scares in real life, but the adrenaline surge seems to focus you on how best to react (guess this probably varies by individual). Also I tend to get this strange curiosity for 'Ooh, I wonder what happens next'.

 

But dreams can take all that precious control away from you (trying to run through a lake of bitumen springs to mind). Now it gets really scary!

Yes, what can be scarier than your own imagination where the impossible becomes possible?

[MarioWorldGamer]

I have had horrible depression in my nightmares and if I ever have a hellish or distressing near death experience someday, I could experience that same level of depression while fully awake since people who have near death experiences are fully conscious during these experiences. I am seriously troubled by this because I wonder if being fully conscious (aware) of that horrible depression during a near death experience would be worse than being less conscious (aware) of the experience as in during a nightmare.

Edited August 15, 2016 by MarioWorldGamer

[sethoflagos]

.............. if I ever have a hellish or distressing near death experience someday..........

........you will feel absolutely elated to have survived it.

 

Or totally unmoved because you're a bit of a psychopath. Or a bit guilty because you made it and others didn't.

 

You won't know until you've been there.

 

One thing is for sure. Tormenting yourself with the thought of the possibility is (I was about to say 'really stupid') irrational. It will happen one day, but maybe only once, and you may not be aware of it. If you are, the pain will probably be fleeting, followed by everlasting peace. Why spoil the precious time we all have between now and then worrying about an eventual certainty. Immortality probably gets a bit boring after a while anyway.

[Function]

My own experience is that emotions in dreams are much more intense and fearsome than when awake; it's like everything is turned up full volume. There is no tempering of them, like in waking life.

 

Yes, indeed. In a wakeful state you can also put things in perspective and approximate them rather rationally. In dreams, you are fully subjected to your strongest emotions.

[MarioWorldGamer]

........you will feel absolutely elated to have survived it.

 

Or totally unmoved because you're a bit of a psychopath. Or a bit guilty because you made it and others didn't.

 

You won't know until you've been there.

 

One thing is for sure. Tormenting yourself with the thought of the possibility is (I was about to say 'really stupid') irrational. It will happen one day, but maybe only once, and you may not be aware of it. If you are, the pain will probably be fleeting, followed by everlasting peace. Why spoil the precious time we all have between now and then worrying about an eventual certainty. Immortality probably gets a bit boring after a while anyway.

 

The reason this worry has completely taken my life away from me is because I can't let it go. I absolutely cannot let this go since that depression I experienced in those nightmares was beyond anything imaginable and to experience that again fully conscious and aware during a hellish or distressing near death experience has completely troubled me. There is no way I can let something like that go and just enjoy this life. I am thinking that being fully aware and conscious of the experience during a near death experience would obviously be far worse than being less aware of it during a nightmare. That is something that has completely and seriously troubled me. I can hardly function in life.

Edited August 15, 2016 by MarioWorldGamer

[dimreepr]

I have had horrible depression in my nightmares and if I ever have a hellish or distressing near death experience someday, I could experience that same level of depression while fully awake since people who have near death experiences are fully conscious during these experiences. I am seriously troubled by this because I wonder if being fully conscious (aware) of that horrible depression during a near death experience would be worse than being less conscious (aware) of the experience as in during a nightmare.

 

 

I think the subtext is now clear; don't look to others to solve your problems, the solution is yours, alone, to find.

 

I'm not trying to be harsh but no-one owes you shit so don't expect the cavalry, that's not to say you shouldn't ask for help; but it's up to you, ask and you will probably be helped, don't ask and you might (but probably not) be helped.

Edited August 15, 2016 by dimreepr

[Function]

What I find intriguing is that after some dreams (read: nightmares), I am very relieved and happy when waking up, realizing that it was just a dream.

But rarely, I find myself in an impossible situation to put it in perspective, not fully consciously knowing that it is over, and the emotions reside in their full intensity in my brains for some minutes, leaving me 'emotionally blocked' and with an incompetence of overcoming these emotions with reason.

[MarioWorldGamer]

 

 

I think the subtext is now clear; don't look to others to solve your problems, the solution is yours, alone, to find.

 

I'm not trying to be harsh but no-one owes you shit so don't expect the cavalry, that's not to say you shouldn't ask for help; but it's up to you, ask and you will probably be helped, don't ask and you might (but probably not) be helped.

 

Thank you. I will see a mental health professional for help. The reason I came here was to ask the question if being fully aware of the experience would be worse than being less aware during a nightmare. I was wondering if having full awareness somehow makes the experience worse. It is a scientific question which is why I came to this science forum.

Edited August 15, 2016 by MarioWorldGamer

[dimreepr]

 

Thank you. I will see a mental health professional for help. The reason I came here was to ask the question if being fully aware of the experience would be worse than being less aware during a nightmare. I was wondering if having full awareness somehow makes the experience worse. It is a scientific question which is why I came to this science forum.

 

 

We are aware of our conscious state "gogito ergo sum" ergo the answer is yes.

 

 

Edit/ replaced no with yes, doh

Edited August 15, 2016 by dimreepr

[MarioWorldGamer]

 

 

We are aware of our conscious state "gogito ergo sum" ergo the answer is yes.

 

 

Edit/ replaced no with yes, doh

I'm not sure about this. I had a nightmare with horrible depression and that feeling lingered on in my waking life. Even if you were to go and intensity that feeling just as it was in that nightmare, I don't think it would be as bad as it was in that nightmare. Me being fully awake and conscious somehow gives me power over my feelings so that they don't have such an effect on me as they do in nightmares even if they were to be just as strong in my waking life as in my nightmares.

 

I'm not sure how to explain this. Perhaps certain brain regions are turned off during the dream state. These would be the brain regions that allow me to be resistant to feelings so that they don't have such an impact. So maybe when I am fully conscious, those brain regions are turned on and I have far more resistance to those feelings. So that being the case, would I also have this sense of power over my feelings during a hellish or distressing near death experience as well since I would also be fully conscious during these experiences? Or would my feelings have power over me as they do in my nightmares?

[dimreepr]

It's still you that's doing the dreaming, not a discrete entity and so if what happened in your dream is replicated in reality, I'd imagine you'd feel the same; the difference is you don't get to wake up.

[StringJunky]

I'm not sure about this. I had a nightmare with horrible depression and that feeling lingered on in my waking life. Even if you were to go and intensity that feeling just as it was in that nightmare, I don't think it would be as bad as it was in that nightmare. Me being fully awake and conscious somehow gives me power over my feelings so that they don't have such an effect on me as they do in nightmares even if they were to be just as strong in my waking life as in my nightmares.

 

I'm not sure how to explain this. Perhaps certain brain regions are turned off during the dream state. These would be the brain regions that allow me to be resistant to feelings so that they don't have such an impact. So maybe when I am fully conscious, those brain regions are turned on and I have far more resistance to those feelings. So that being the case, would I also have this sense of power over my feelings during a hellish or distressing near death experience as well since I would also be fully conscious during these experiences? Or would my feelings have power over me as they do in my nightmares?

What you dream with and what you experience waking life with - your brain - is the same. The intensity of real-life experiences can potentially match those of dreams but, in real-life, you have self-awareness and can, therefore, consciously modulate or attenuate your feelings; you can't in a dream, unless you are lucid dreaming, which is not the normal state of dreaming. I don't think you will ever experience such intensity in real-life that which you experience in your dreams, for the reason just stated. I think your fear is unwarranted. You should let go of this anxiety and just be at peace with yourself, knowing that it's just a dream and that's all it will ever be..

Edited August 17, 2016 by StringJunky

[dimreepr]

What you dream with and what you experience waking life with - your brain - is the same. The intensity of real-life experiences can potentially match those of dreams but, in real-life, you have self-awareness and can, therefore, consciously modulate or attenuate your feelings; you can't in a dream, unless you are lucid dreaming, which is not the normal state of dreaming. I don't think you will ever experience such intensity in real-life that which you experience in your dreams

 

 

Potatoes, potatoes.

Edited August 17, 2016 by dimreepr

[StringJunky]

 

 

Potatoes, potatoes.

Yes, they are the same but one is more unfettered than the other i.e. dreams