Are we dreaming or are we awake? A quali–quantitative analysis of dream narratives and dreaming process during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Margherita, Giorgia; Gargiulo, Anna; Lemmo, Daniela; Fante, Chiara; Filosa, Maria; Manari, Tommaso; Lenzo, Vittorio; Quattropani, Maria C.; Vegni, Elena; Borghi, Lidia; Castelnuovo, Gianluca; Cattivelli, Roberto; Saita, Emanuela; Franceschini, Christian; Musetti, Alessandro

doi:10.1037/drm0000180

Cited by 12 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Positive dream emotions were predicted by the presence in dreams of open places or places of escape, relationality that unites, and positive processes, while working in health care predicted a higher frequency of unborn person in dreams. The same research group ( Margherita et al, 2021 ) analysed the narratives of the most recent dream during the lockdown period using T-Lab ( Lancia, 2004 , 2008), a quali-quantitative software for text analysis that identifies meaning dimensions and themes on the basis of the comparison of different lexical profiles. The authors found 4 thematic clusters: escape from the threat, the work of mourning, unrecalled dreams, COVID-19 as manifest content.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review

Gorgoni¹,

Scarpelli²,

Alfonsi³

et al. 2022

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review

Gorgoni¹,

Scarpelli²,

Alfonsi³

et al. 2022

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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“…In some studies, it is emphasized that the loss and grief experienced directly due to COVID-19 are directly related to pandemic dreams (Barrett, 2020; Schredl & Bulkeley, 2020). Moreover, it was stated that individuals experiencing losses brings their ego together with the real or imaginary sense of loss of the individuals they lose, providing psychic balance through representations of the past placed in the unconscious memory (Margherita et al, 2021). In addition to the dreams of death and mourning, the content of the dreams of the participants was characterized by chaotic situations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pandemic dreams: A thematic analysis of university students’ dreams during the COVID-19 outbreak.

AVCI¹

2022

Dreaming

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The aim of this study is to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the dream content of university students. This research, which is based on a qualitative design, is based on a phenomenological approach. The group of the study was determined by purposive sampling, and 221 dreams that 115 university students had recently and that were not repetitive (it was emphasized that dreams were not seen before the pandemic and at the same time were not recurring) were recorded in written form by online survey method. Thematic analysis method was used in the analysis of the data. The six main themes that emerged as a result of the thematic analysis of dreams obtained from the participants are “Corona,” “Chaos,” “Death and Loss,” “Illness,” “Fear, Threat, and Anxiety,” and finally “Crowd and Loneliness.” It was found that the contents reflected in the dreams of the participants during the pandemic process affected the life negatively and traumatized the individual. It was also found that the participants and their relatives were infected with COVID-19, extraordinary events (traumatic experiences, e.g., the apocalypse, the outbreak of wars, natural disasters) were experienced during this disease, as well as deaths and losses due to the disease, and these were fearful in the dreamer, and increased the perception of threat and anxiety. On the other hand, it can also be argued that the widespread exposure of people to social distance and social isolation during the pandemic was reflected in the contents of dreams in the form of being alone and seeing crowded environments. As a result, since concerns and fears about the pandemic are common and many individuals are affected both while awake and asleep, talking about and analyzing the dreams of individuals who apply for counseling or therapy can be considered a useful approach in terms of relieving stress and anxiety related to COVID-19. Similarly, the dreamer’s psychic sufferings can be effectively uncovered and processed through dream contents.

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“…In fact, the theme linked with the lack of dream recall might be interpreted as a way to shrink the contact with psychic and emotional reality, representing both a functional and dysfunctional defense mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the lack of dream recall permits keeping some traumatic elements out of consciousness, to preserve sleeping as well as potentially being a way to avoid the fatigue of elaborate intense emotions (Margherita et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hopefully, the present study contributes to considering dreaming processes as indexes of health of individuals, confirmed by the literature which highlights the importance to explore the effects of the pandemic, through the dreamingwaking continuum, on clinical and nonclinical population, aimed at identifying possible longterm distress risks (Caffieri & Margherita, 2021;Margherita et al, 2021;Prati & Mancini, 2021). Consequently, our findings suggest that clinicians may assess the role of dreaming in MDers to better direct clinical interventions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, poor sleep quality, depression, and anxiety symptoms were associated with the increase in some dreaming processes, such as dream recall, the emotional negative tone of dreams, and the frequency of nightmares during the COVID-19 outbreak (Gorgoni et al, 2021; Mota et al, 2020; Scarpelli, Alfonsi, Gorgoni, et al, 2021; Scarpelli, Alfonsi, Mangiaruga, et al, 2021). Specifically, from our recent studies (Margherita et al, 2021; Mariani, Gennaro, et al, 2021; Scarpelli, Alfonsi, Mangiaruga, et al, 2021; Scarpelli, Alfonsi, Gorgoni, et al, 2021), dreaming emerges as an index of the psychological health of individuals during the pandemic. Previous results on contents of dreams and functions of dreaming in the general population were published elsewhere (Margherita et al, 2021).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Dreaming or daydreaming during COVID-19 lockdown: A comparison between maladaptive and nonmaladaptive daydreamers.

Margherita¹,

Caffieri²,

Mariani³

et al. 2023

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

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Starting from the idea that dreaming could be considered an index of the psychological health of individuals regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, a major risk of psychological maladjustment has been registered for maladaptive daydreamers (MDers; i.e., people with a compulsive fantasy activity associated with distress and psychological impairment). Nevertheless, there is a gap in literature about dreaming in MDers in general and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in dreaming and dream content between probable MDers and non-MDers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A total of 3,857 Italian adults (664 probable MDers), completed the Maladaptive Daydreaming Scale (MDS-16) and the Mannheim Dream Questionnaire (MADRE). Among them, 1,095 participants (222 probable MDers) decided to recount their dreams, subsequently analysed through a cluster analysis performed by T-LAB software. Significantly higher levels of dream recall, emotional intensity of dreams, nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, recurring nightmares about daytime, lucid dreams, interest toward dreams, problem solving and creative dreams, and dreams affecting daytime mood emerged in probable MDers compared to non-MDers. No differences were observed in the emotional tone of dreams. From the quali-quantitative analysis of dream narratives, similar themes emerged in probable MDers and non-MDers, except for a cluster named Dreaming the loss of others, where the non-MDers variable is highly represented. Our results highlight some significant differences between probable MDers and non-MDers with respect to dreaming activity. The massive use of dream activity as an affective regulator emerges for both probable MDers and non-MDers during lockdown.This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

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Are we dreaming or are we awake? A quali–quantitative analysis of dream narratives and dreaming process during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cited by 12 publications

References 73 publications

Dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review

Dreaming during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative review

Pandemic dreams: A thematic analysis of university students’ dreams during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Dreaming or daydreaming during COVID-19 lockdown: A comparison between maladaptive and nonmaladaptive daydreamers.

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