Dreams and nightmares during the pandemic.
Severin Ableidinger, Franziska Nierwetberg, Brigitte Holzinger
Somnologie : Schlafforschung und Schlafmedizin = Somnology : sleep research and sleep medicine January 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1007/s11818-022-00351-x (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, people began remembering more dreams, and dream content shifted toward themes such as sickness, confinement, and bugs, especially in the English-speaking world. Nightmare frequency also increased. Factors contributing to this change include more time spent in REM sleep due to increased sleep duration, which can produce bizarre and vivid dreams, and stress or poor mental health that reduced sleep quality, which can also boost dream recall. Dreams help regulate mood, so the rise in dreams and altered content may reflect a reaction to rising stress and declining mental health. As the pandemic progressed, further changes in mental health, dream recall, and dream content emerged, though data remain scarce.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | PTSD |
| Keywords | Covid-19 Mental health Nightmare frequency Trauma |
| Key finding | The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased dream recall, changed dream content toward sickness and confinement themes, and a rise in nightmare frequency. |
Abstract
The pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had a huge impact on public mental health. This was also reflected in dreams. Not only did people start to remember more dreams, but dream content changed as themes like sickness, confinement, and-in the English-speaking world-even bugs began to dominate. This also led to an increase in nightmare frequency. There are various factors that contributed to this change in the dream landscape. Some people have started to sleep more and hereby spend more time in REM sleep, which is known to increase dream recall and further lead to bizarre and vivid dreams. On the other hand, stress and poor mental health had an impact on sleep, and sleep quality thus dropped in many individuals. Poor sleep quality can also lead to an increase in dream recall. Dreams are known to regulate mood, so the rise in dreams and the change in dream content could also reflect a reaction to the overall rise in stress and decline in mental health. Recent studies have shown that as the pandemic progresses, further changes in mental health, dream recall, and dream content arise, but data are still scarce. Further research could help understand the impact the pandemic still has on mental health and dreams, and how this impact is changing over the course of the pandemic.