Yes, you can die in a dream. I know because I have done it. Mind you it was a lucid dream. There was a car coming at me and I knew it would kill me, but I chose not to move. I wanted to see what would happen to die within the dream. I guess you could say I committed dream suicide.
It was actually a good dream though. After the car hit me, I saw a light, like everyone talks about, and I felt a peaceful warmth come over me. Now, that's probably because that's what I assume would happen when you die. Still, it was an interesting experience.
As far as the myth that you die in real life if you die in your dreams, I could imagine getting so worked up in a dream, or more like a night terror, that you might have a heart attack.
Night terrors are much worse than regular nightmares. Your body physically reacts to dreams much like it would if you were in fear or flight mode while awake. Your heart rate increases, you may sweat and/or scream out, etc.
I once had a night terror that rats were running over my body and I physically climbed over my husband and jumped out of bed. I was scared to death. The whole thing seemed so real. Luckily, I don't have those often. In fact, I think I only had that experience because I was on a medication that did not agree with me.
My nightmares, however, have been known to get very intense. If I had a weak heart, I hate to think the reaction I might have had to them.
Please feel free to share your experiences.
Labels: Dreams
