IT'S JUST A BAD DREAM

The pandemic is wreaking havoc on our peace of mind – and that’s having a massive impact on our sleep

- MAXINE PETERS 

BEEN having really weird dreams lately? If the answer is yes, you’ve got something in common with millions of people around the world – and it’s all the pandemic’s fault.

At least five research teams around the world have discovered that ramped-up stress levels and enforced isolation are having a negative impact on our dreams and sleep patterns.

Withdrawal from our usual daily stimuli is leaving our minds with a “dearth of information” to draw on for our nightly meanderings, sleep experts believe, forcing our minds to delve into our unresolved past.

“We normally use REM [rapid eye movement] sleep and dreams to handle intense emotions, particularly negative emotions,” says dream expert Patrick McNamara, an associate professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine. “Obviously, this pandemic is producing a lot of stress and anxiety.”

And our unusual circumstances also mean we’re probably remembering more dreams than we usually would. Anxiety and lack of activity make for inferior sleep quality, and frequent awakenings, known as parasomnias, are associated with increased dream recall.

A study in Italy which analysed the dreams of people under lockdown reported many subjects experienced nightmares and parasomnias in line with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, National Geographic says.

Experts believe dreams help in dealing with emotional life experiences and can act as practice responses to threatening situations.

“Dreams are your subconscious thoughts. They’re a continuation of your thoughts of your day,” explains certified dream analyst and author Lauri Loewenberg.