Dreaming during Covid-19 pandemic: Computational assessment of dreams reveals mental suffering and fear of contagion
Natália Bezerra Mota, Janaína Weissheimer, Marina Ribeiro, Mizziara Marlen Matias de Paiva, Juliana D'Avila, Gabriela Simabucuru, Monica F Chaves, Lucas Cecchi, Jaime Cirne, Guillermo Cecchi, Cilene Rodrigues, Mauro Copelli, Sidarta Ribeiro
medRxiv May 21, 2020 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.19.20107078 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 67 |
| Population | Individuals in Brazil |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Anger Sadness Pandemic Isolation microbiology Dream Social isolation Emotional contagion Mental health Loneliness Social distance Developmental psychology Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 7 |
| Key findings | Pandemic dreams showed a higher proportion of anger and sadness words and higher semantic similarity to contamination and cleanness, which were associated with mental suffering related to social isolation. |
Abstract
Neuroscience and psychology agree that dreaming helps to cope with negative emotions and learn from experience. The current global threat related to the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread social isolation. Does dreaming change and/or reflect mental suffering? To address these questions, we applied natural language processing tools to study 239 dream reports from 67 individuals either before the Covid-19 outbreak or during March-April, 2020, when quarantine was imposed in Brazil following the pandemic announcement by the WHO. Pandemic dreams showed a higher proportion of anger and sadness words and higher average semantic similarities to the terms contamination and cleanness. These features were associated with mental suffering related to social isolation, as they explained 39% of the variance in PANSS negative subscale (p=0.0092). These results corroborate the hypothesis that pandemic dreams reflect mental suffering, fear of contagion, and important changes in daily habits.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Student volunteers trained to become lucid and signal lucidity with horizontal eye... | 2009 | Observational study | n = 6 |
| Nightmare Prevalence, Nightmare Distress, and Self-Reported Psychological Disturbance Young adults with a mean age of 20 years | 2002 | Prospective observational study | n = 116 |
| Long-term effects of extreme situational stress on sleep and dreaming Survivors of traumatic events who complained of sleep disturbances, compared with... | 1987 | Case-control study | n = 11 |
| The relationship of nightmare frequency and nightmare distress to well‐being Adults who reported dreams | 2004 | Observational cohort | n = 147 |
| Dreaming in NREM Sleep: A High-Density EEG Study of Slow Waves and Spindles Healthy human subjects | 2018 | Observational cohort | n = 14 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- The Language of Dreams: Application of Linguistics-Based Approaches for the Automated Analysis of Dream Experiences Clocks & Sleep September 19, 2021
- Dreams and Nightmares during the First and Second Wave of the COVID-19 Infection: A Longitudinal Study. Brain Sciences October 20, 2021
- Low-dose LSD and the stream of thought: Increased Discontinuity of Mind, Deep Thoughts and abstract flow. Psychopharmacology June 1, 2022
- The Oneiric Activity during and after the COVID-19 Total Lockdown in Italy: A Longitudinal Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health March 24, 2022
Cites 5
- Graph analysis of dream reports is especially informative about psychosis Scientific Reports January 15, 2014
- Natural speech algorithm applied to baseline interview data can predict which patients will respond to psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression. Journal of Affective Disorders April 1, 2018
- Testing the Empathy Theory of Dreaming: The Relationships Between Dream Sharing and Trait and State Empathy. Frontiers in Psychology June 20, 2019
- Procedural and declarative memory task performance, and the memory consolidation function of sleep, in recent and abstinent ecstasy/MDMA users. Journal of Psychopharmacology July 8, 2010
- Dreaming and episodic memory: a functional dissociation? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 2003