An interesting side effect of confinement and the current coronavirus pandemic are vivid dreams, as it is being reported by many people around the world through blogs and social media.
While such dreams can be confusing or unsettling, dreaming is seen to help process what we go through during wakefulness, which is certainly far from normal today.
While we sleep
It is recommended for adults to sleep between seven and nine hours a day to maintain optimal health and well-being.
When we sleep, we go through different phases that form a cycle. This includes light sleep, deep sleep, and a period known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement /Rapid eye movement), which usually occurs most prominently during the second half of the night.
Dreams can occur within all the mentioned phases, however, it is considered that the REM phase is responsible for those that are more emotional and visual —as much as they even feel «real» -, although we do not always remember their contents in detail. According to specialists, it would also have unique properties that would help us regulate our mood, performance and cognitive functioning.
Some days — or rather nights — dreams act as a defense mechanism for our mental health, giving us a simulated opportunity to work on our fears and rehearse for real-life events.
The coronavirus pandemic (covid-19), and restrictions on our associated individual liberties, can have an impact on how and when we sleep. This has both positive and negative effects, according to the person, although in both situations dreams seem to have intensified.
Oneiric alterations
During the pandemic, which has already spread for several months, studies from China and the United Kingdom have shown that many people are reporting an increase in the state of anxiety, while their dream patterns have been altered. This is mainly due to the harmful action of the media, whose alarmism and over (or dis) information conspire against our tranquility and night rest.
Had an awful anxiety dream this morning. I was trying to buy a train ticket to get to Ms13. I couldn’t get the machine to work (it was like a pinball machine). Then the person at the desk booked me a 6 hour coach trip instead & wouldn’t change it. Woke with my heart pounding!
– Dr Siouxsie Wiles (@SiouxsieW) April 8, 2020
Likewise, if the routine that ends when we go to sleep is altered —as has happened for most of us—, the latter may not be done properly. That is why the pressure to reach the REM phase increases, so when we can finally reconcile the rest that the body and the mind need, there is a rebound effect, which leads to the REM phase being deeper, with dreams more vivid and emotional than usual.
More time in bed
Other studies indicate that people may be sleeping more and moving less during the pandemic.
Had my first #CoronaDreams last night.
It was a sequence of maze-like events trying to get from PointA to PointB in the real-world (note: that’s my usual stress dream) but now there’s the added feature of trying to avoid all the UNmasked ppl in my path ???– Kate Ertmann ???⬆ (@ GOK8) April 25, 2020
If you are working or learning from home with flexible hours and without the usual commutes to the outside world, you may not need to get up so early “to be on time.” An increase in the ability to remember dreams has been associated with having more time sleeping as well as waking up more naturally – without alarm clocks – from the REM state.
If you don’t live alone, you certainly have someone to share stories about your morning dream. This act of sharing dreams reinforces our memory of them, while preparing us to remember more details on subsequent nights.
Pandemic concern
Dreaming can help us mentally deal with our current situation as well as simply reflect our realities and concerns.
In this time of changing social norms, our brains have a lot to process during bedtime, so a deeper dream content is expected than expected if we feel anxious or stressed from the pandemic, our work or family situation.
#WednesdayThoug This unique time is leaving me with really messed up dreams. anyone else? #CoronaDreams
– Elizabeth Humphrey (@ lizhump77) April 29, 2020
Therefore, more dream reports are expected with contents related to fear, social taboos, work stress, pain and loss, members we miss from the family or group of friends, or about the risks of the disease circulating in the Exterior.
Such experiences have already been reported before during events associated with abrupt changes, such as those unleashed after the September 11 attacks in the United States, natural disasters, or war.
Source: ScienceAlert.
