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Prior to the recent leniency in lockdown policies in the Maldives, citizens have been obliged to stay at home for more than two months. This being the case in most of the countries worldwide, staying at home for a long period of time has undoubtedly affected our daily routines and mindset. One of the recent topics of debate among psychologists has been the correlation between being quarantined and having vivid dreams.
Researches show that our dreams are usually based on daily life interactions whether it is school, work or gym. Due to changes in everyday life schedules as a result of the lockdown, it only makes sense that the human brain reacts to this in various ways. Our dreams may reflect the mind’s coping process to these changes.
A survey conducted by an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School proves that people have been experiencing lucid dreams more often since the outbreak of coronavirus worldwide. Studies have revealed that tragic events such as 9/11 affected the way people dream, making their dreams more realistic, intense and in some cases indelible. Since Covid-19 has affected almost every country in the world, it is possible that the ongoing pandemic has had a similar impact on the way people dream.
However, this does not necessarily mean that we are having more dreams than usual and it is more likely that we are remembering them more. When schools, colleges and businesses are closed, people have more time to remain in bed after waking up, thus more time could be spent recalling the dream. Anxiety and inactivity can decrease sleep quality, resulting in parasomnia (frequent awakening) which is also associated with dream recalling. According to an interview to BBC by Psychology Professor Mark Blagrove, since people can sleep in in the morning they have a greater amount of rapid eye movement sleep throughout the morning, which can lead to longer dreams and far more dreams being recalled.
Quarantine dreams could be both pleasant dreams or nightmares. People who spend time at home in a relaxed state of mind are likely to enjoy pleasant dreams whilst people who are going through periods of stress could experience the latter. Nightmares can be an indicator of anxieties that we might not otherwise perceive when we are awake. However they are not negative in particular since dreams in general can tell a lot about our subconscious selves.
Since the beginning of civilization, dreaming has been a popular subject among religious scholars, philosophers and scientists. What is known is that our brains use sleep to conceal long term memories, and that dreams are either a part of it, or a consequence of it. To this day, the complex connection between our everyday life and our dreams continue to intrigue scientific and psychological researchers.
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