EDIT: The fact that I don’t dream in 1st-person is probably the most relevant bit here. For others I guess I’d say try looking into a mirror to make sure you’re you, at least if you can remember who you are and that other people are not you (therefore if you’re them it cannot be reality).
Though lacking experience, I don’t know if mirrors in dreams have common effects though if they just didn’t work in dreams sounds like something I may have heard before.
Probably unhelpful, but I do not dream with enough clarity for that to be an issue. The more vivid ones I’ve had seem to be shorter (I’ve had a dream once that was basically just a still picture with moving colors), everything else is usually just weird and at-best might be mistaken for a cheesy movie. I also cannot recall any from my own (or any) 1st-person perspective, even if the dreams might have details or themes from my own life.
Lack-of-detail/vividness may be related to me having aphantasia, but it also might be an issue with REM sleep due to health issues particularly if I don’t remember having a dream even long before I’ve woken up.
Those are the hardest dreams…about half my dreams have me in them, and about half of them are just a movie with various characters, none of whom are me, not even me playing some other character. I’m just an omnipresent observer. I can’t change anything, because I don’t exist.
BUT! Those are also usually the most interesting dreams, so I don’t want to change anything anyway.
EDIT: The fact that I don’t dream in 1st-person is probably the most relevant bit here. For others I guess I’d say try looking into a mirror to make sure you’re you, at least if you can remember who you are and that other people are not you (therefore if you’re them it cannot be reality).
Though lacking experience, I don’t know if mirrors in dreams have common effects though if they just didn’t work in dreams sounds like something I may have heard before.
Probably unhelpful, but I do not dream with enough clarity for that to be an issue. The more vivid ones I’ve had seem to be shorter (I’ve had a dream once that was basically just a still picture with moving colors), everything else is usually just weird and at-best might be mistaken for a cheesy movie. I also cannot recall any from my own (or any) 1st-person perspective, even if the dreams might have details or themes from my own life.
Lack-of-detail/vividness may be related to me having aphantasia, but it also might be an issue with REM sleep due to health issues particularly if I don’t remember having a dream even long before I’ve woken up.
Those are the hardest dreams…about half my dreams have me in them, and about half of them are just a movie with various characters, none of whom are me, not even me playing some other character. I’m just an omnipresent observer. I can’t change anything, because I don’t exist.
BUT! Those are also usually the most interesting dreams, so I don’t want to change anything anyway.