Since all this social distancing and pandemic stuff began, you may notice you’ve begun dreaming more (or, finding your dreams are more vivid, or just plain weird). Sometimes dreams can be more disturbing, or they can just be unusual or more frequent. While complex and likely due to several causes, here are a few possible reasons for the shift in dreams:
—Sleeping more: if WFH life has resulted in you having more time to sleep because you’re not faced with your dreaded commute or you just have more time in general, you may actually be sleeping more. And the stage of sleep that’s so vital to dreams–REM sleep–often enhances when our total sleep time receives a boost. It’s not uncommon to hear that people with previous difficulties with sleep fragmentation or sleep duration find they begin remembering their dreams as their sleep regulates.
—Processing information: A lot has happened. A lot has changed. We are living through a time where the updates are rapid-fire, and we are facing dramatic shifts to our way of life. One theory of why we dream is that we are processing through the content of what occurs for us during the day. It’s possible that our brains are on overdrive trying to process information and consolidate the new memories we are forming as we keep pace with the news of the pandemic. In other words, your head is spinning, and your dreams are spinning, too!
—Coping with anxiety: Another theory of why we dream is to process emotional information. Dream content frequently centers on something emotional we have been working through. We know from studying brain waves during REM sleep that areas of the brain associated with emotional processing, such as the amygdala and hippocampus, are activated. Most of us are feeling increased angst as of late, and it’s possible our dreams are helping us to synthesize and make emotional meaning of this material.
If your dreams seem more like nightmares or you find yourself awakening from a dream with a sense of terror, this may be a sign of a more concerning sleep disorder. In that case you’d want to get checked out by either a sleep medicine or mental health professional. Otherwise, just chalk up your dreams to your brain doing some heavy processing work for you while you slumber. And did you know that with some imagery rehearsal you can program your dreams? Check out this post from the NYTimes to learn more about how to set yourself up for a night of pleasant, enjoyable dreaming.
