A study has suggested that nightmares about being stuck in crowded places are more common when people are in lockdown. People also had a harder time falling asleep when they were under strict restrictions compared to when curbs were eased. Scientists in Italy surveyed 90 people in the week ending May 4 and the week ending May 11, when it was lifted.
They asked people to record their dreams at home, and complete a sleep diary each morning. They found people's quality of sleep was worse in lockdown. They experienced more dreams and nightmares about crowds after the nationwide shutdown. Researchers at the University of Rome believe the pandemic may have changed people's sleeping habits due to “collective trauma”.
Authors, led by Serena Scarpelli, said the survey showed a significant difference between quality of sleep and dream content under pandemic restrictions and without them. They wrote, “The coronavirus 2019 outbreak critically impacted the worldwide population. In the first phase of the pandemic, Italy was one of the most affected countries, and the government quickly adopted restrictive measures between March and May 2020 to contain the infection. Confinement and social distancing provoked remarkable daily life changes that significantly influenced sleep patterns.”
The study, published in the Journal of Sleep and Research, included 72 women and 18 men aged 19 to 41. Participants were recruited on social media and 50 out of 90 were students. They were told to dictate their dream experiences into a tap recorder 15 minutes after waking every morning during the two weeks studied. Participants filled out a dream diary ranking their ease of falling asleep, number of awakenings during the night, what time they fell asleep and when they woke up.
The most common dreams recorded were about loved ones, with crowded places the second most frequent both during lockdown and after it. They dreamt more about food, travelling and the pandemic once restrictions had been lifted.
