This Is Why You're Having Crazy Dreams At The Moment

Ever since lockdown began, we've been having some of the most vivid dreams of our lives. While most of the time we can barely piece together our dreams once we've woken up, these feel so much more real.

Aside from being alarmingly vivid, they're weird. Very weird. And they're intense, too. But why are we having such emotional and frankly, unnerving dreams?

Well, we're not alone. In fact, Google Trends reports that 'why am I dreaming more' has been steadily increasing over the last 90 days.

We're all going through the same experience, after all. Locked down in our homes with increased levels of anxiety and in many cases, a disturbed sleep pattern.

But what is it about the pandemic that means we're so affected at night? To find out more, we chatted to expert, James Wilson (aka The Sleep Geek).

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He explained it all comes down the what happens during REM sleep - the stage in which we're working through our emotions. The dreams we remember usually happen during this period.

Let's face it, the emotions most of us are having right now are anxiety, uncertainty and fear. So it would make sense that our dreams would also be along the same lines. Which explains the waking up in tears just three nights ago...

"More and more people are reporting more vivid dreams at the moment," explained James.

"Due to the increased stress and anxiety levels created by the coronavirus crisis, many of us are going to bed in a more agitated state and for some of us this means we are feeling that we are having more vivid dreams.

"We dream throughout the night but the dreams we remember usually happen during REM Sleep, the stage of sleep where we are working through our emotions.

"The situation we find ourselves in appears to be giving us more stressful dreams and when we wake we are more likely to remember them."

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If your dreams are less on the stressful side, and more on the bonkers, there could be a reason for that too.

For example, if you've been dreaming about friends, family, adventures or journeys, this is likely because we're all cooped up in our homes. In your waking hours, you might be longing to go out and return to normal life.

When we sleep, we process these emotions and others, so it would certainly make sense that our dreams are a little all over the place.

James also explains that the more vivid the dream, the more likely we are to wake up from it.

"We remember dreams when they occur close to us waking and if they are particularly vivid or scary they are more likely to wake us and we are more likely to remember them," he added.

It certainly seems sleep has been affected by the ongoing situation. Last week, we explained why you might be feeling extra tired at the moment.

If you are worried about your dreams, try chatting to a friend, family member or partner - after all, it's likely they're going through a very similar thing RN.

Topics: Life News, Coronavirus, Sleep, Sleeping

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine