Lockdown dreams: Dream content and emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic in an italian sample.

Abstract

Beginning in March 2020, the Italian population was subjected to a lockdown lasting approximately 3 months due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emergency. Drawing on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of dream data, the present study aimed at exploring the effects of social isolation and the lockdown on Italian people's dreams, focusing on content and dominating emotions. An online survey was administered to 598 participants who aged 18-70 years (M = 30.9, SD = 10.9). In the survey, participants were asked to: (a) write down two dreams they had during the lockdown and (b) provide data on demographic and socioeconomic factors; sleep quality before and after lockdown; and levels of anxiety, depression, and rumination. Questions also explored participants' perceived fear of contagion, dream recall frequency (DRF), and dream vividness. Participants' dream transcripts revealed a majority of negative emotions-particularly fear/fright/terror and anxiety/anguish/preoccupation. Moreover, several themes emerged from the content analysis, including relationships, the human and natural environment, and COVID-19. The results deepen our understanding of the dominant dream emotions of people experiencing a collective stressful event, such as the social isolation necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, the findings support the continuity hypothesis, which holds that dreams tend to reflect the emotional concerns of the dreamer and help to integrate intense or disruptive emotions experienced during waking life.

Strange themes in pandemic dreams: Insomnia was associated with more negative, anxious and death‐related dreams during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…However, most pandemic dream research has utilized cross‐sectional designs with dream changes quantified using Likert scale items. More detailed content or thematic analysis of recent dream reports has been used in some studies (Barrett, 2020 ; Giovanardi et al, 2021 ; Gorgoni et al, 2021 ); however, they have not asked participants to describe, in their own words, changes to their dream experiences. Therefore, more rich, in‐depth qualitative analysis is required to comprehensively define changes in dreaming during the pandemic.…”

Lucid dreaming increased during the COVID-19 pandemic: An online survey

“…According to other authors, however, the contents and emotions of dreams seem to be related to the difficulties imposed by the new reality of the pandemic [ 32 , 33 , 96 , 97 ]. In this context, some studies have shown that women respond more intensively to stressful events, tending also to incubate these events more into dreams [ 73 , 98 ].…”

The Rough Road: A Single Case Study of Dreamtelling in a Group during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Military Conflict

“…Specifically, although not explicitly related to the social context, these themes related to the affective experiences of inefficacy, i.e., feeling blocked and unable to continue, helpless, and under threat. The challenge relating to the mastery of a coping device (e.g., blocked roads, a weapon) may have also represented the participants’ global psychological concerns, i.e., the diminished life opportunities and life plans put on hold during lockdowns with which students were struggling during this period [ 12 , 45 ].…”

“…In medical language and the media, illness is often described using military metaphors [ 53 ]. Likewise, COVID-19 was depicted as a “deadly enemy”, with doctors and health professionals being described as “heroes” or “soldiers” “fighting on the front line” in a “battle” against the pandemic and its lethal effects [ 12 ].…”

“…Hartmann [ 11 ] referred to this connection making as “weaving in” material, connecting stressful experiences and emotions with existing memory, thus making possible the “calming of the storm”. Recent research findings of investigations of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown dreams in Italy revealed that focusing on the function of dreams during such traumatic events facilitated the affective integration and elaboration [ 12 ] of difficult emotional contents.…”