Has COVID-19 been making you experience some recurrent episodes of outlandish and bizarre dreams? If you are succumbing to certain unusual or horrifying dreams, then you are not alone!
According to dream specialist and assistant professor of psychology at Harvard University Deirdre Leigh Barrett, people tend to experience such strange dreams during times of crisis. She has also been actively studying COVID-19-inspired dreams by conducting a survey.
One of the dreams I had was actually getting stuck on a plane with a bunch of people with coronavirus-like symptoms and I was literally trapped without any means to escape. On top of that, the plane encountered some mechanical defects and we were all at risk of losing our lives in the process. That dream was really scary due to it being one where I felt extremely vulnerable without any hope of how to save my life. Tragically, this could still be today's reality even if it was just a dream.
Likewise, I even reached out to some of my close friends regarding this situation. Many of them have also been dreaming chaotic and irrational situations and events making them confused about the whole rationale behind why the majority of the human population are finding themselves going through the same exact thing.
For instance, a friend of mine told me that he dreamt of roaming through a deserted area where he stumbled upon a freakishly-looking mansion, and when he entered, he found himself surrounded by an insane amount of corpses and skeletons laying through the dark eerie corridors of the whole mansion. Now that sounds like one spine-chilling dream, doesn't it?
On the broad spectrum, most of these dreams have had negative connotations and usually involved situations dealing with fear, anxiety, stress, or grief. Research has demonstrated that increased stress and anxiety levels are correlated with having these weird dreams. In fact, people are more prone to experiencing picturesque and very detailed dreams during times of distress because it has been scientifically reported that they are in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep mode for the longest time. The REM stage is when we tend to encounter such vivid dreams which are usually the most accurately depicted as well.
To illustrate, TIME writer Sophie Weiner narrates, "Research has shown that increased anxiety during the day can lead to more negative content in dreams, something several people I spoke to about their COVID-19-related dreams reported. They described dreams about dead bodies, watching friends or themselves attacked or killed, and other terrifying, surreal events that felt disturbingly real."
Since this whole dream phenomenon during the Coronavirus pandemic is emerging quite rapidly, I have invested my time towards educating myself more about it. As I have been actively researching, I come across a psychological theory known as the "Social Simulation Theory." What that refers to is that social events trigger many of the dreams we have as a society.
It has also been brought to light that perhaps not being able to engage in lively social interactions with your friends and family like normal can play a role in having uncanny dreams during this quarantine life we all have been leading for quite some time now. This is where the "Social Simulation Theory" kicks in as it provides a framework for the validity of some of our dreams in a more scientific context.
On the whole, millions of Americans and even global citizens have been victims of such earth-scattering dreams since this pandemic started. Remember that you are NOT alone if you are also having such paranormal dreams! If you are having a tough time coping with the aftermath of your strange recurrent dreams, then focus on analyzing your dream if you can remember most of it and speak to your family and friends about it. When you share your happiness with others, your happiness doubles. And when you share your sorrow with others, then your sorrow will certainly diminish by a half!
