This is why you keep having weird dreams during quarantine

7 April 2020, 15:37

Shane Dawson says he’s “spiralling” over Coronavirus

By Katie Louise Smith

Turns out we've ALL been having weirder than usual dreams whilst we're in lockdown. Here's why, and how to manage them.

If you've been experiencing a lot of weird dreams recently, you're not the only one.

Thousands of people have been tweeting about their vivid dreams whilst in quarantine, whether they're full on nightmares, sweaty anxiety dreams, dreams about things you haven't thought about in years or, in my case apparently, straight up random situations that often involve celebrities.

READ MORE: How to protect your mental health during the coronavirus pandemic

Last week, I dreamt that Madonna accidentally threw up on me in the middle of a crowd. The rest of the PopBuzz team report vivid dreams about G-Eazy throwing hotel parties, ex-boyfriends, piercings falling out and then crumbling when trying to put them back in...

There's actually a reason why we're all experiencing the same weird dream issue and it all boils down to stress and the sudden change in the way we are now going about our days due to quarantine and lockdown.

Speaking to Grazia, dream expert Lauri Loewenberg explains: "Dreaming is a thinking process and our dreams are a continuation of our thought stream from the day."

While some of our dreams may feature the exact people or situations we thought or read about in the day, some may also take on a more symbolic form, with similar themes. Social media will likely be playing a huge part as well as lack of physical interaction with friends and family.

"The amygdala, the emotional centre of the brain, is highly active so any emotion felt during the day will be significantly amplified in our dreams," Loewenberg continued. "When we are going through a stressful time in our life, our dreams will be a metaphor for the stress and magnify it but at the same time, our dreams will often offer advice on how to deal with it or just give us a better understanding of our situation so we can make better decisions in regard to it."

Loewenberg also said that she's been hearing of people dreaming about their elderly parents or grandparents more than normal too, which makes sense given the constant concern about our older relatives.

So, how do you stop these kind of dreams from happening? There's several ways in which you can manage it: Make sure you practice mindfulness and self-care throughout the day. Go to sleep and wake up at set times so you get back into a routine. Write down any anxieties in a journal to get them out of your head. Limit your social media intake and log off (!!) social media an hour or so before you go to bed.

Otherwise, you end up watching a video of Madonna in the bath at 11pm and suddenly she's throwing up on you in your dreams.