Psychotherapist Matthew Bowes told GQ Magazine that it is “pretty much accepted” in the scientific community these days that dreams are a fundamental aspect of the way that we process emotional events. “The emotional centres of the brain that deal with working through emotions are 30 per cent more active while we sleep, which seems to support this idea.”

Bowe adds that it’s no surprise people are experiencing more vivid dreams at the moment. “Our world has been turned upside down in an incredibly short space of time and there is no doubt that for many of us, whatever our circumstances, this is a traumatic shock to our body-mind systems.”

Professional dream analyst Lauri Loewenberg explains the more intense, bizarre and stressful the dream, the more likely you are to remember it and stressful times breed stressful dreams. We tend to dream about the most pressing issues from our day, she explains, or whatever refuses to leave our minds. “This virus and the quarantine is top of the mind for most of us, as it affects us psychologically and has changed our behaviour and routines. That stream of consciousness we have during the day is now filled with thoughts of fear, frustration and stress that continue on into the night and into our dreams."

Beyond our anxieties, Loewenberg also adds that the change of pace many of us are experiencing – as we work from home and no longer face long commutes every day – could be having an impact on the way we dream. “Dream recall is easier when you can linger in bed and let the dream you just had replay in your mind,” she says, “as opposed to jumping out of bed and starting your day when the alarm goes off.”

“The sorts of dreams that people are bringing to therapy at the moment often are reflecting their own individual concerns about what’s occurring because of the pandemic,” Bowes explains. “Some seem to be more related to fears around authoritarian control, others about becoming infected or infecting others. Guilt and anxiety are very common themes.”

In order to try to eliminate these dreams, Bowes suggests taking the following four steps:

1. Avoid anxiety-provoking media, such as TV and online news.

2. Write down all the things that are concerning you, particularly the questions and conflicts you may have about what’s going on and what you should be doing at the moment.

3. Make use of your daily exercise window, ideally with a walk (even if it is just in the garden or parking lot). Make that a sensory experience, in which you pay attention to the feeling of ground under your feet, the wind on your skin, the sounds in the air and everything you see. Try to increase calming sensory inputs.

4.  Avoid overstimulating yourself. We already are more wired up than usual – if not consciously than subconsciously – so try not to overdo caffeine, alcohol intake and any other stimulants.

If it is a particular dream you are trying to stop having, Loewenberg says finding out what is causing it is key. “If you made the connection that your dream is caused by strife between you and your spouse, start working on honest and respectful communication,” she suggests. “If it is caused by something that you can’t control, such as the pandemic, then work on your emotional reaction to it. Focus on your personal world and how you can be at peace in that, as opposed to focusing on the entire world. Once you start actively working on a difficult issue, it can change the intensity and feel of your dreams dramatically.”

A dream journal is also recommended as a way to start drawing the links between your dreams and relating them to parallels in your everyday life.nen

Read more on the meaning of dreams here.

Source: GQ Magazine