[encrux]

Not a researcher, just interested in the topic:

I see it like this: You spend a third of your life asleep. By not "utilizing" your dreams, you effectively waste that time.

dream recall is very easy to learn and even easier if you actively write down your dreams. From there on, it's not much further to start looking into lucid dreams, where you can take control, even over nightmares.

Facing my nightmares in my teens (even without being lucid) was very liberating.

[t_mann]

Sure, but are those hours really wasted if they make you feel refreshed? Sleeping is very important in terms of long-term memory organization, health etc. I always felt that those life hacks of trying to learn new skills or solving difficult problems in your sleep were pretty short-sighted optimization attempts, since those hours are not "lost", but indeed very productive, only in ways we don't directly notice. I might reconsider if there is overwhelming evidence of the benefits of recalling dreams, until then I am very happy about what I've achieved in terms of getting restful sleep. In terms of lucid dreaming or facing distressing memories, I prefer doing those things in more controlled meditation or therapeutic hypnosis settings (for which we do have evidence that it works).