Is COVID-19 affecting your dreams? Here’s what to do about it
If you have been noticing that during the pandemic you are having more dreams, or remember more of them, you’re not the only one.
Changes in how much sleep we’re getting may mean we’re having or remembering more of the dreams we have, while the pervasive threat of coronavirus may be affecting what occurs in the dreams themselves.
A survey conducted by King’s College London found that 62 percent of people in the UK were getting as much sleep or more than before strict lockdown rules were introduced in March.
With the use of similar lockdowns in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, we can assume that for some of those staying at home, the time previously used getting ready for work and commuting is being used to get more sleep.
“Lack of work schedules may be allowing individuals to wake up without an alarm clock,” says Mark Blagrove, a psychologist at Swansea University in the UK.
“Natural wake-ups are known to result in longer dreams.”
In comparison, life prior to the pandemic - and modern life more generally - typically involves shorter sleep and may lead to an “epidemic” of dream loss.
Additionally, anxiety - such as that caused by COVID-19 - can disrupt our sleep and result in us waking up from REM sleep, meaning that we are more likely to remember the dreams we were having.
What to do about it
Though there are different theories as to why we dream and the function that they serve, it is also likely that the content and tone of our dreams at the moment are also being affected.
Blagrove’s research supports the theory that dreams help us process our emotions and memories, which he says means dreams “are more likely to incorporate memories from recent waking life that are emotional”.
Russell Foster, a circadian neuroscientist at the University of Oxford, also supports this theory.
“Dreams are thought to be the brain’s way of working out our emotional problems,” he says.
“After 9/11, many New Yorkers reported dreams of being overwhelmed by a tidal wave or being attacked and robbed.”
Blagove recently set up a dream discussion forum for healthcare workers, with one of the people to contribute being Libby Nolan, a nurse in Swansea who contacted COVID-19 and started getting nightmares while quarantining.
A repeated nightmare experienced by Libby Nolan while in quarantine for COVID-19, turned into a painting by Dr Julia Lockheart on the pages of Freud’s ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’. Image: DreamsID.com
Another theory says that dreams also prepare us for adversity.
“The threat-simulation theory predicts that when we are facing threats and feel fear and anxiety, our dream production mechanism starts simulating those fears and worries in our dreams,” says Katja Valli, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Turku, Finland.
Talk about your dreams
Whether one of both theories are true, evidence suggests talking about your dreams can help alleviate any distress they cause, as well as lead to increased empathy and social bonding with others.
“Don’t worry about your dreams,” says Foster. “Take comfort in the fact that your brain is doing what it should be doing.”
Image: DreamsID.com