5/20/2023 0 Comments Covid dreams and nightmaresSo a few weeks ago we put out this call on the Science Friday VoxPop app, and here’s what some of our listeners told us about their dreams. KATHLEEN DAVIS: And I’ve heard from a lot of friends and family who are also experiencing similar things. And I was in this group of survivalists, and the leader of my group was this girl who I went to middle school with, who I really don’t think I’ve thought about in over a decade. KATHLEEN DAVIS: Well, I had one a few weeks ago where I was kind of in this Mad Max scenario. And I’m dreaming about things that seem both really weird, and at the same time, I’m thinking they’re probably tied a little bit to the pandemic. I feel like my dreams are a lot more vivid than they used to be. IRA FLATOW: So you’ve been having weird dreams? And she’s here to tell us what she’s found. She’s been seeing what you listeners have to say and has been talking with dream experts. Sci Fri producer Kathleen Davis is one of those people. Have your dreams gotten stranger since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic? Some people’s dreams have become nightmares or downright weird. Check out more of Barrett’s art based on her dreams.Read more about Barrett’s dream research, via The Harvard Gazette.Read an excerpt of Barrett’s book, Pandemic Dreams.She’s received more than a thousand responses to date. Have you had a memorable or disturbing dream during the pandemic? Recount your experience in Barrett’s online survey for her research. “I Can’t Wake Up.” Credit: Deirdre Barrett “Red Lamb.” Credit: Deirdre Barrett “Just as bad as you’d see in war zones.”īarrett joins SciFri producer Kathleen Davis to talk about her research into crisis dreams, and what people can do if they want to experience stressful dreams less often. “The typical dream from the healthcare workers is really a full-on nightmare,” Barrett says. Healthcare workers have regularly reported the highest level of stressful COVID-19 dreams, according to her data. She says common dream themes range from actually getting the virus, natural disasters and bug attacks. The parts that handle visuals, however, are ramped up.īarrett has been collecting dreams from people all over the world since the start of the pandemic. But when we’re asleep, the parts of our brain that handle logic and speech are damped down. When we’re in a dream state, the brain is processing the same things we think about during the day. “Enter REM Sleep.” Credit: Deirdre BarrettĪ change in dreams due to a crisis is very common, says Deirdre Barrett, a dream researcher and assistant professor of psychology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So, it is very panic stricken and kind of funny at the same time. And I forgot I signed up for it, and I showed up for the day of the exam. And it’s just as terrifying as the nightmares in college where I thought I had signed up for a college course. And then a few minutes into the dream where I’m in this crowded room, I notice that every single person is not wearing a mask and I begin to panic. And at first, I’m totally unbeknownst that I’m in a pandemic, and that everything’s fine. And I am usually at a school gathering or some kind of convention where there’s lots of vendors, and there’s hundreds of people. I have recently started having nightmares, where I’m in a crowded room. And I wake up feeling very anxious and unsettled after that. I have had a number of dreams where I am in a social setting or someone’s home or something like that, and suddenly realize that no one is wearing masks, and they’re not maintaining social distance. And as the pandemics going on, my dreams have started getting back to what they used to be. ![]() Like, I’m not talking to people in them or anything, but I do have people talking to me and hear other sounds in the dreams now. And previous to this, I never had any sound in any of my dreams. But the biggest change is starting in April, my dreams started having sound in them. Since the pandemic began, I have been dreaming a lot more, and been dreaming about people and places I haven’t thought about in years. ![]() Transcript: This is Tyler in Atlanta, Georgia. What You Said: Have Your Dreams Changed Since The Pandemic Started? We heard from many listeners who said yes, their dreams have become more vivid, with elements of the pandemic included. ![]() Having a pleasant get-together with someone you haven’t thought of in years, then suddenly realizing everyone is a little too close, and a little too sick.ĭo any of these instances sound familiar? A few weeks ago, we asked Science Friday listeners if their dreams have changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. A family dog that has passed away protectively guarding grandkids. Standing in a crowded room and realizing nobody is wearing a mask.
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