https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-why-you-re-having-more-vivid-dreams-during-the-pandemic
(Farhan Monir Hussain/EyeEm/Getty Images)
Many are turning to blogs and social media to describe their experiences.
While such dreams can be confusing or distressing, dreaming is normal and considered helpful in processing our waking situation, which for many people is far from normal at the moment.
While we are sleeping
Adults are recommended to sleep for seven to nine hours to maintain optimal health and well-being.
When we sleep we go through different stages which cycle throughout the night. This includes light and deep sleep and a period known as rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which features more prominently in the second half of the night. As the name implies, during REM sleep the eyes move rapidly.
Dreams can occur within all sleep stages but REM sleep is considered responsible for highly emotive and visual dreams.
We typically have several REM dream periods a night, yet we do not necessarily remember the experiences and content. Researchers have identified that REM sleep has unique properties that help us regulate our mood, performance and cognitive functioning.
Some say dreams act like a defence mechanism for our mental health, by giving us a simulated opportunity to work through our fears and to rehearse for stressful real-life events.
This global pandemic and associated restrictions may have impacts on how and when we sleep. This has positive effects for some and negative effects for others. Both situations can lead to heightened recollection of dreams.
Disrupted sleep and dreams
During this pandemic, studies from China and the UK show many people are reporting a heightened state of anxiety and are having shorter or more disturbed sleep.
Ruminating about the pandemic, either directly or via the media, just before going to bed can work against our need to relax and get a good night's sleep. It may also provide fodder for dreams.
When we are sleep deprived, the pressure for REM sleep increases and so at the next sleep opportunity a so-called rebound in REM sleep occurs. During this time dreams are reportedly more vivid and emotional than usual.
More time in bed
Other studies indicate that people may be sleeping more and moving less during the pandemic.
If you're working and learning from home on flexible schedules without the usual commute it means you avoid the morning rush and don't need to get up so early. Heightened dream recall has been associated with having a longer sleep as well as waking more naturally from a state of REM sleep.
If you're at home with other people you have a captive audience and time to exchange dream stories in the morning. The act of sharing dreams reinforces our memory of them. It might also prepare us to remember more on subsequent nights.
This has likely created a spike in dream recall and interest during this time.
The pandemic concerns
Dreaming can help us to cope mentally with our waking situation as well as simply reflect realities and concerns.
In this time of heightened alert and changing social norms, our brains have much more to process during sleep and dreaming. More stressful dream content is to be expected if we feel anxious or stressed in relation to the pandemic, or our working or family situations.
Hence more reports of dreams containing fear, embarrassment, social taboos, occupational stress, grief and loss, unreachable family, as well as more literal dreams around contamination or disease are being recorded.
Recommend this post and follow The birth of modern Man
No comments:
Post a Comment