Strange dreams during quarantine: why nightmares occur during a pandemic
But Elesha is not the only one with strange dreams. The world is changing due to the coronavirus pandemic, and so are the dreams. Many people say that after the virus spread to 175 countries and a universal quarantine began, they began to have more vivid and intense dreams. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. Episodes End of story: Podcast Advertising.
Deirdre Barrett has been collecting descriptions of such dreams since March to understand how they may have changed since the pandemic began. She is a senior lecturer in psychology at Harvard University. Barrett is the author of “The Committee of Sleep. “Any significant factor that causes stress leads to the appearance of vivid, anxious dreams. There are many such examples in my research,” she said. Some respondents reported literal, tangible dreams related to psychological experiences. “After watching the movie ‘Contagion’, I had a dream that I was infected with Covid-19. I physically felt like I was suffocating and in pain, everything went dark before my eyes. I knew I was going to die. Then they gave me an injection to relieve the symptoms and possibly get rid of the disease, but I’m not sure if it helped or not,” said one of the respondents.
Deirdre has previously studied the psychological impact of shocking events on people: Americans after the 9/11 attacks, Kuwaitis immediately after the Iraqi occupation of their country, and British soldiers captured by the Nazis. She found that wars are associated with vivid visual images that manifest in dreams, but the current pandemic is different in that sense. “This is an invisible enemy, and people often have associations with it,” she said. “Many have told us of dreams involving huge swarms of insects, tsunamis, storms, tornadoes, and earthquakes.”
Charlie seems to think that in his dream he is confronted with his worst fears. Since the quarantine began, a 24-year-old man from Wiltshire, England, has been dreaming about big spiders. “Once I had a dream that a huge spider climbed onto my bed. It was the size of a cat, pale in color, with thick legs like branches. I ran out of the room and called for help. My mother managed to catch it in a garbage bag and put it outside, where it wriggled in the bag, and then I woke up,” he said. Spiders come in different sizes and types, but Charlie sees them all the time in his house.
A resident of England said that he began to see his greatest fears in his dreams. “This happens in a place where I feel safe, like my bed, which makes dreams seem even more real!” According to Deirdre, the situation of being forced to stay at home results in people remembering their dreams vividly. Perhaps one reason is that people sleep longer and often do not set an alarm clock. “Many people who didn’t get enough sleep because of a long work day or an active social life are now catching up on rest.” Another person who shared the content of his dreams with her said that once a dream about a sunny day turned into a nightmare. “I was sitting on a bench talking with my friends. Suddenly we heard a noise and saw a huge revolver in the sky, flying quickly over us. It changed direction quickly and shot at people, causing explosions that killed them. Then it pointed the barrel at us and I ran to find shelter,” he said.
The product of a mysterious brain, dreams remain a strange and poorly explained phenomenon. But billions of people experience them every night. The Italian scientist Luigi de Gennaro, who studied the dreams of his fellow countrymen during the quarantine, found that the number of dreams people remembered after waking up increased significantly. This may be related to the fact that people have trouble sleeping because of anxiety. As a result, people often wake up in the middle of the night or spend more time in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep. This condition is characterized by rapid eye movement, changes in breathing and heart rate. During this time, large muscle groups are in a relaxed state. Periods of rapid eye movement last about 90 minutes, and it is during this time that a person experiences dreams. If a person wakes up during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep, it is easier for them to remember details of their dream. “Dreams are also our emotional response to the pandemic,” he said.
“Dreams are also our emotional response to the pandemic,” he said.
“Dreams are also our emotional response to the pandemic,” he said. “We have noticed that the number of people complaining of nightmares has increased during this time.” Dublin resident Niev Dever said she once had a dream that she was visiting someone and saw a naked ghost in the garden of the house. “A terrible ghostly apparition was flying around us, and there were sheep running everywhere,” said the 28-year-old girl. “I was afraid. No one paid any attention to them, but I was afraid, especially of the ghost. It was an old man.”
Experts agree that our everyday waking life has a direct impact on our dreams. The more emotionally charged it is, the more likely it is to appear in our dreams. Because of this, combatants are more susceptible to nightmares at night.
A resident of Italy saw a GPS button on her forehead in a dream. In Italy, the use of a contact tracing application has recently been approved. It is called Immuni, which means immune, and its main purpose is to stop the spread of the coronavirus. A local resident named Carlotta heard about the development of an application on the TV news, and then it became part of her dream. “I dreamt that I woke up and felt something strange on my forehead. I went into the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. I pushed my hair back and saw three buttons on my forehead. Two were red and one was green. Someone told me that the green button controls the GPS navigation system that monitors people’s activities. I don’t know what the red buttons meant, but I pressed the green button and woke up,” she said.
She uploaded the description of her house to the website idreamofcovid (“I dream of Covid”), created by Erin Gravely of California. She is not a scientist or researcher. The idea for the website came to her after she had a regular dream in which people were practicing social distancing. “People were standing two meters apart, not shaking hands, etc. I was interested in whether the crisis changed other people’s dreams,” she told the BBC in an email. Her sister illustrates each story before it is published. Erin hopes her project will allow her to find common patterns in dreams as the course of the pandemic changes: “It will help us understand how dreams evolve as the world changes.”
For some people, the crisis is associated with a tsunami in a dream. Residents of the state of New York, which according to the latest data has registered more cases of coronavirus infection than any other country except the United States, could share their examples for the website. One of the state’s residents described a dream: “I was paddling in a canoe on a lake, and a huge wave, similar to a tsunami, was coming toward me. I managed to compose myself and climb onto the wave. But then another bigger wave appeared. It caught me and carried me to the shore. I saw that there were many rocks. Then I woke up. And the images captured seemed to match reality. “I was under the impression that the first wave was Covid-19 and the second wave was climate change, and I didn’t know how it would affect me personally.”
It may seem like everyone is having bad dreams right now, but that’s not true. “It may seem surprising, but there is a large group of people who have good dreams,” said Deirdre Barrett. “Some people see a future where there is no current pollution, or someone will find a cure for the virus.”
Some see happy dreams One such lucky person is Nira Malhotra, who lives in India’s capital, Delhi. “When the quarantine started, I started dreaming about luxurious hotel rooms. I had only seen such luxury on television,” she says. “The rooms have huge windows overlooking the sea and sometimes vast green fields. At the same time, I feel immense happiness. Usually there are hardly any people there. If you want to know how to have peaceful, good dreams, experts have advice. “There is a practice called ‘sleep incubation. Before you go to sleep, you can give yourself a suggestion of the dreams you want to see,” Deirdre Barrett explained. Imagine a loved one, a place, or simply imagine yourself flying. Or replay your favorite dream in your mind, focusing on every detail. As you fall asleep, keep telling yourself what dream you want to have. “This self-hypnosis technique for falling asleep is pleasant and greatly increases the chances that your sleeping mind will fulfill your request,” she said.
Illustrations by Nikita Deshpande.