The return to normal life: sleep, anxiety upon awakening, and nightmares following the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Frontiers in Sleep June 24, 2026 Iñigo Saez-Uribarri
After the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey of 501 adults in Spain found that 46.5% recalled at least one dream scene, and nightmares occurred in 4.6% of cases—rates similar to before and during lockdown. Compared with earlier periods, people reported more anxious dreams and greater dream recall, and sleep duration returned to 6–7 hours. However, anxiety upon awakening remained elevated, indicating that full normalization had not yet occurred. Nightmare frequency was less sensitive than morning anxiety to post-pandemic emotional activation, consistent with the idea that emotional dream content did not necessarily cause awakenings.