Dream Journaling with Schizophrenia: Seeking Your Experiences and Advice

[Serhat]

Hey everyone, I've been thinking a lot about starting a dream journal. As someone with schizophrenia, I'm curious about how this could affect me. I know many of you here have various experiences, and I'd love to get your insights.

I've heard that writing down dreams can be therapeutic and help with self-awareness. But I'm also a bit worried – could focusing too much on my dreams blur the line between them and reality? Especially with schizophrenia, I'm unsure if this is a good idea. Dreams can be pretty wild, right? I'm concerned that diving deep into my dream world might trigger some of my symptoms or make them worse. Has anyone here experienced anything like this? How did you handle it? I'm thinking of discussing this with my psychiatrist, but I wanted to hear your thoughts first. Do you think it's necessary? Has anyone had a similar conversation with their mental health professional? How did it go? I really appreciate all your responses. It's so helpful to hear from others who understand what it's like. Thanks for sharing your experiences and advice!

 

[Snafu in the Void]

What do your dreams generally consist of? Are they ever related to any delusions you've had, or just normal/nonsensical dream stuff?

Have you ever experienced hypnagogic hallucinations or sleep paralysis?

 

[Serhat]

What do your dreams generally consist of? Are they ever related to any delusions you've had, or just normal/nonsensical dream stuff?

Have you ever experienced hypnagogic hallucinations or sleep paralysis?

Recently, I experienced sleep paralysis, and it wasn't the first occurrence. On this particular occasion, there was a shadowy figure in my room, which left me quite scared. My dreams usually involve scenarios like bombing a hospital with evil individuals inside and subsequently saving millions of lives or even flying. I find it challenging to recall my dreams unless I write them down. Previously, I considered my dreams to be nonsensical. However, it's worth noting that I do experience sleep paralysis from time to time, and it occurred less frequently when I was taking antipsychotic medication, I have experienced hynagogic hallucinations but they are very rare.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

I think the main danger, which you seem to already predict/understand, would be if you were to dream about something related to a delusion you may experience, then the transcribed dream on paper may serve as "evidence" to further embed that delusion as false reality.

If you think about something enough, you will dream about it, but that doesn't make those thoughts any more true or valid.

I personally believe dreams can have meaning, but an abstract meaning, and they come from our subconscious desires and fears-- yet still are not reality.

The reason I asked about sleep paralysis is because I often experience a paralyzed state in which I have incredibly real and elaborate hypnagogic hallucinations, in which I am awake and conscious, but I cannot discern that I am dreaming/hallucinating. These episodes are often terrifying, a common theme is I will hear people breaking into my house/room, walking around and talking. When I snap out of it, I believe those people are actually there. I don't understand that I was dreaming for awhile, takes me several minutes or longer to realize I was dreaming. It often leaves me very upset for awhile after this happens. Anyways, my point is if this happens it could be problematic.

I am sort of curious what your psychiatrist would say.

 

[Serhat]

I think the main danger, which you seem to already predict/understand, would be if you were to dream about something related to a delusion you may experience, then the transcribed dream on paper may serve as "evidence" to further embed that delusion as false reality.

If you think about something enough, you will dream about it, but that doesn't make those thoughts any more true or valid.

I personally believe dreams can have meaning, but an abstract meaning, and they come from our subconscious desires and fears-- yet still are not reality.

The reason I asked about sleep paralysis is because I often experience a paralyzed state in which I have incredibly real and elaborate hypnagogic hallucinations, in which I am awake and conscious, but I cannot discern that I am dreaming/hallucinating. These episodes are often terrifying, a common theme is I will hear people breaking into my house/room, walking around and talking. When I snap out of it, I believe those people are actually there. I don't understand that I was dreaming for awhile, takes me several minutes or longer to realize I was dreaming. It often leaves me very upset for awhile after this happens. Anyways, my point is if this happens it could be problematic.

I am sort of curious what your psychiatrist would say.

Really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. It means a lot to chat with someone who gets the whole mental health journey and its ups and downs.

You touched on something crucial about dream journaling and its potential to mess with our grasp on what's real and what's not, especially for someone dealing with schizophrenia like me. That's definitely been on my mind. Dreams are such a weird mix of real and make-believe, and it can get even fuzzier when you're juggling something like schizophrenia.

But, you know, I've also been reading up on how keeping a dream journal might actually be kind of helpful for folks with schizophrenia. It seems like it could be a good way to sort through emotions and experiences, kind of like a self-therapy session. The trick, though, is to not let it tip over into reinforcing any false beliefs or getting lost in fantasy land.

I'm thinking the key is to keep my feet firmly in reality while I explore whatever crazy stuff pops up in my dreams. Maybe talking about my dream journal with a therapist or psychiatrist could help keep things balanced.

I'm gonna bring this up with my psychiatrist pretty soon and see what they think. I'll definitely fill you in on what they say. Getting a pro's take on this who knows me could shed some light on how to navigate dream journaling without it getting too out of hand.

Thanks again for your perspective and the heads-up on the risks. Chatting about this stuff really helps.