How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Our Sleep and Our Dreams?

Bad Sleep Scary Dream

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our sleep patterns and dream activity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted our sleep and dream activity. In a recent study published in the Journal of Sleep Research, people had a higher number of awakenings, a harder time falling asleep, higher dream recall, and more lucid dreams during lockdown than after lockdown.

People also reported more dreams related to “being in crowded places” during post-lockdown than lockdown.

For the study, 90 adults in Italy recorded their dream experiences and completed a sleep-dream diary each morning.

“Our results… confirmed that both sleep and dream measures showed critical differences between lockdown and post-lockdown periods,” the authors wrote.

Reference: “The impact of the end of COVID confinement on pandemic dreams, as assessed by a weekly sleep diary: a longitudinal investigation in Italy” by Serena Scarpelli, Maurizio Gorgoni, Valentina Alfonsi, Ludovica Annarumma, Valentina Di Natale, Emilio Pezza and Luigi De Gennaro, 20 July 2021, Journal of Sleep Research.
DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13429

1 Comment on "How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Our Sleep and Our Dreams?"

  1. They go into hypnotic medications, lucid-like dreaming and etc etc and somehow make no mention of the “Ambien Walrus” of great recession fame.

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