New research shows that stress from the pandemic is showing up in the form of sleep deprivation and nightmares. From anxiety and other negative emotions to dreams about the virus itself, four different studies show that people are reliving their daytime COVID stresses in their sleep.
"Themes such as failures in social distancing, coronavirus contagion, personal protective equipment, dystopia, and apocalypse were rated as pandemic-specific," the study authors wrote.
Women seem to be affected more than men, possibly because “women are bearing more of the burden of caregiving, job loss and other hardships,” said Deirdre Barrett, PhD, editor of the journal Dreaming and an assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
SOURCES:
NBC News October 1, 2020
Newswise September 25, 2020