The bizarre dreaming of COVID-19The bizarre dreaming of COVID-19
All In The Mind
Many of us have had more vivid dreams and nightmares during this global pandemic. A multinational study is set to find out how COVID-19 is affecting our dreams, and whether changes to our inner consciousness could affect our mental health. Along the way researchers will investigate the mysteries of why we dream, why they are often so bizarre, and whether there’s really a difference between dreams during sleep and mind wandering.
35:22•30 Aug 2020
The Strange Dream Life of COVID-19
Episode Overview
- Many people report more vivid dreams and nightmares during COVID-19, often mirroring worries about infection, lockdown and social isolation.
- Changes in sleep timing and longer REM periods may boost dream recall, while poorer sleep quality is linked with increased nightmares and mental health issues.
- Dreams can act as vivid simulations of threats and social interactions, potentially practising responses or reflecting altered social lives in lockdown.
- Mind wandering and daydreaming share features and brain processes with dreaming, suggesting our spontaneous thoughts across day and night are closely related.
- Cultural beliefs about dreams, such as viewing them as messages from ancestors, may influence how people experience, remember and describe their dreams.
“Suddenly a lot of pleasant things just have this undertone that is somewhat menacing.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? Here, the focus shifts from substances to the mind itself, as All In The Mind turns to the bizarre dreaming many people report during COVID-19 — those odd, vivid night-time stories that seem to echo a very strange waking reality.
You’ll hear how senior research fellow Dr Jennifer Vint and PhD researcher Manu Kierberg are teaming up in a multinational study to track how the pandemic is linked to vivid dreams and daydreams. Jennifer shares her own striking Berlin dream, which flips from joyful reunion to fear of infection and police pursuit, capturing that familiar mix of nostalgia and anxiety many feel right now.
As she puts it, "suddenly a lot of pleasant things just have this undertone that is somewhat menacing." The episode looks at why people are reporting more nightmares, how shifting sleep patterns might boost dream recall, and why dreams could act as a window into stress, anxiety and general well-being. You’ll get a clear explanation of how rapid eye movement (REM) sleep fuels complex dreaming and how changes in sleep quality may tie in with mental health.
Manu breaks down what makes dreams "weird" — from sudden transformations and blue bananas to flying on dragons — and compares this to daydreams, showing that the same chain of thoughts can feel far more bizarre when experienced as a full sensory dream. She also talks about cross-cultural perspectives, including Tanzanian views of dreams as messages from ancestors, and questions how cultural ideas might shape what we remember and report from our sleep.
This episode suits anyone curious about why their dreams turned up the volume during COVID-19, and how those strange stories might relate to mood, anxiety and inner life. If your nights have felt just as confusing as your days, this might help you see your dreams in a new light and ask: what is your sleeping mind trying to say?
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