{"id":1602805,"date":"2022-08-12T09:01:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T13:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1602805"},"modified":"2022-08-12T09:02:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T13:02:41","slug":"covid-dreams-the-pandemics-effect-on-sleep-and-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/covid-dreams-the-pandemics-effect-on-sleep-and-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID Dreams: The Pandemic\u2019s Effect On Sleep and Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcovid-dreams-the-pandemics-effect-on-sleep-and-mental-health%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1602805&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Research from the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-australia\">Australia<\/a>\u2019s Monash University has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the sleep habits and dreams of people across the world.<\/p>\n<p>The findings came out of a global survey on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-mental-health\">mental health<\/a> and sleep, which was carried out during the pandemic with over 2000 participants, 45 percent of whom said they experienced changes in their dreaming. The <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/jsr.13655\">results<\/a>\u00a0also showed that participants\u2014who were monitored for 12 months\u2014had more negative dreams, with many experiencing nightmares or dreams of threatening scenarios such as disasters and wars.<\/p>\n<p>Co-author of the study, Melinda Jackson, a senior lecturer and sleep psychologist at the Turner, told Monash University\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lens.monash.edu\/@medicine-health\/2022\/07\/20\/1384848\/together-in-pandemic-dreams-death-anxiety-ppe-and-more\">Lens<\/a>\u00a0that many people described a higher volume of dreams in the pandemic\u2019s early stages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese dreams were described in high definition\u2014more vivid and colourful than normal, with increased visual clarity\u2014but often had a strange or bizarre twist to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jackson also said that the participants\u2019 dreams during the pandemic\u2019s early stages were more negative, with individuals experiencing more nightmares and dreaming of threatening scenarios such as disasters and wars.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t remember much now, but the dreams have been disturbing, colourful, and in some cases frightening\u2014large-scale death, generally by war. Sometimes they wake me up,\u201d said one participant.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4636450\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/08\/01\/shutterstock_530558248-1200x799.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4636450 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2022\/08\/01\/shutterstock_530558248-600x399.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"399\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> The participants\u2019 dreams during the pandemic\u2019s early stages were more negative, the study found.(Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley\/Shutterstock)<\/figure>\n<h2>How the Pandemic Influenced Sleep<\/h2>\n<p>Jackson believes that a possible reason for the changes is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/scholarlypublishingcollective.org\/uip\/ajp\/article-abstract\/122\/1\/17\/258629\/The-threat-simulation-theory-in-light-of-recent\">threat-simulation theory<\/a>, which argues people experience more vivid and bad dreams during times of stress to prepare them for their current threatening reality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIncreases in vivid dreams and nightmares have been observed after wars, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks like 9\/11 ,\u201d said Jackson.<\/p>\n<p>The level of stress hormones experienced by a person also has a considerable role in the disruption of normal sleep patterns.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur brains are actually very active during rapid eye movement sleep, the stage of sleep where we experience more bizarre and vivid dreams,\u201d\u00a0said the study\u2019s co-author Hailey Meaklim, a psychologist and PhD candidate at the Turner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur visuospatial regions of the brain become super-active, along with our emotion and memory centres. This can all be heightened in times of stress, and we get increased vivid dreams and nightmares.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another reason for the altered dreaming experience could be the changes in sleep patterns that arose during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw changes to sleep-wake patterns around the world, with many people able to sleep in later due to lockdowns\/work-from-home requirements,\u201d said Jackson.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe experience more REM sleep towards the end of the night, which can be curtailed if people set an alarm to get up early for work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis natural sleep extension we saw during the pandemic may have led to increased dream recall, simply because they were sleeping in longer and having more REM sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>REM sleep is the sleep state where the brain is most active, which seems to make it more vulnerable to fragmentation for people that experience chronic hyperarousal\u2014persistently on high alert.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2792000\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2019\/02\/06\/shutterstock_416975215.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-2792000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/shutterstock_416975215-600x398-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"398\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2792000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/shutterstock_416975215-600x398-1.jpg\" alt=\"Epoch Times Photo\" width=\"600\" height=\"398\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> In times of stress, people experience more negative and vivid dreams. (eggeegg\/Shutterstock)<\/figure>\n<h2>Pandemic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-dreams\">Dreams<\/a> Had a Survival Theme<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThere was a real \u2018survival theme\u2019 to pandemic dreams,\u201d said Meaklim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were lots of dreams about death and people worrying about the safety of their family and friends. It was a scary and uncertain time for people, and these anxious feelings continued on into people\u2019s dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One study participant said that they experienced nightmares about their loved ones being ill or dying. Another dreamed about masks, making them, and running out of them.<\/p>\n<p>However, not all participants experienced pandemic-specific dreams. Meaklim said that although a few dreamt about catching the virus or protective precautions such as masks and social distancing, COVID-specific content was only a \u201csmall sub-theme\u201d of participants\u2019 dreams.<\/p>\n<p>The study also noted after breaking the participants into three groups (those who developed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-insomnia\">insomnia<\/a> during the pandemic, those who had experienced sleeping difficulty before the pandemic, and those who slept well) that those who had the most difficulty sleeping were more likely to experience a change in dreaming during the pandemic and that their dreams had a negative tone.<\/p>\n<p>The group that developed insomnia during the pandemic reported the largest percentages of dream changes, with 55 percent of the participants experiencing strange dreams. The remainder reported a smaller percentage. However, they exceeded the group of participants that did not have difficulty sleeping, of whom only 36 percent reported changes in dreaming.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, when the researchers employed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.liwc.app\/\">Liguistic Inquiry Word Count<\/a>\u00a0to compare the answers of the different groups they found that those who had developed insomnia during the pandemic had more anxious and death-related dreams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOverall, people with insomnia, when finally asleep, had more negative and scary dreams than people who slept well,\u201d said Meaklim.<\/p>\n<h2>Insomnia and Memory<\/h2>\n<p>Meaklim said that the team have several theories as to why people with insomnia experienced more changes in dreaming than those who slept well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne is that if people wake up directly after a dream, they\u2019re more likely to recall it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, insomniacs find dreams easier to recall as they wake up frequently throughout their sleep.\u00a0\u00a0Additionally, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/22290199\/#:~:text=We%20propose%20that%20%22instability%22%20of,REM%20sleep%20in%20insomnia%20patients.\">REM instability hypothesis of insomnia<\/a>, people with insomnia have more unstable REM sleep, waking up during the period of sleep where dreaming is at its peak.<\/p>\n<p>However, insomnia does not assist your memory outside of dreams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSleep is an important process for memory formation and consolidation, and sleep loss is known to impair next-day memory function,\u201d said Jackson in an email to The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>She said that insomnia had been linked to impaired declarative memory\u2014memory of events and items.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTherefore, it is possible that memory complaints reported during the pandemic could be related to the increase in insomnia experienced by many people around the world since 2020.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4121080\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/11\/23\/insomnia-1200x800.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-4121080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/insomnia-600x400-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Alarm,Clock,Ringing.woman,Waking,Up,In,Early,Morning,For,Work.obstructive\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4121080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/insomnia-600x400-1.jpeg\" alt=\"Alarm,Clock,Ringing.woman,Waking,Up,In,Early,Morning,For,Work.obstructive\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Understanding the root cause of your insomnia is the first step to getting a good night\u2019s sleep. (eldar nurkovic\/Shutterstock)<\/figure>\n<h2>Effect of Insomnia and Nightmares on Mental Health<\/h2>\n<p>Jackson said that chronic insomnia\u2014a long-term pattern of sleeping difficulty\u2014 can lead to various health issues, both mental and physical.<\/p>\n<p>She said that a person suffering from chronic insomnia is at a greater risk of developing conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. They are also more prone to accidents and errors both at work and on roads.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of mental health, Jackson said that difficulty sleeping is a risk factor for the \u201conset and maintenance\u201d of mental conditions such as depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLongitudinal studies have shown that insomnia confers a 4 times increased risk of developing depression years later, even if you have not had a depressive episode in the past,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cTherefore, it is really important to address sleep issues early on to prevent potential mental health issues from emerging.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did see that dream changes were associated with worse mental health symptoms over time, and this effect was more pronounced in individuals with insomnia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the participants reported a decrease in such vivid dreams and nightmares around three months after the study began, and another decrease was observed between the six and 12-month follow-ups, with most people finding improvements in their dreaming and difficulty falling asleep dissipating after the initial anxiety and stress created by the pandemic passed.<\/p>\n<h2>Treating Insomnia and Nightmares<\/h2>\n<p>Jackson noted that for those who did experience difficulties with insomnia and bad dreams during the pandemic, there are now promising treatments for both issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo we urge people to seek help if they\u2019re still struggling with their sleep,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe strongest evidence-based treatment for insomnia is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sleepfoundation.org\/insomnia\/treatment\/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-insomnia\">Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for insomnia<\/a> (CBT-I), which is effective at reducing symptoms to the same extent as medication, and has longer lasting effects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said that usually, a psychologist that is specifically trained in sleep disorders administers the CBT-I treatment.<\/p>\n<p>CBT-I explores the relationship between the way a person thinks, their behaviour, and how they sleep with a\u00a0psychologist trained in CBT-I therapy helping to identify thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that are causing insomnia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot many people are aware of this therapy and remain untreated as they don\u2019t want to take a pill for their sleep,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cWe suggest speaking to your GP about these behavioural treatment options.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers hope that the results of this study can assist in delivering better mental health recovery following the pandemic and enliven the development of new treatments for insomnia and mental health issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research from the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health at Australia\u2019s Monash University has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the sleep habits and dreams of people across the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1602805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1602805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1602805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1602805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1602805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1602805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}