Are you having weird and unpleasant dreams lately? Well, you’re not the only one. With a worldwide pandemic going on due to COVID-19, it’s brought immense amounts of anxiety and uncertainty for a lot of us. It’s unsurprising that we are experiencing anxiety dreams on top of everything else going on in our lives.
What are anxiety dreams?
So what are anxiety dreams? According to Psychoanalyst and Author of The Making of a Psychoanalyst, Claudia Luiz, “anxiety dreams are generated as a result of unprocessed negative stimuli the brain is trying to process through the regulatory process of sleep.” Anxiety dreams can be caused by internal or external stressors and are often your unconscious mind’s way of educating you on your thoughts. Unfortunately, these dreams can inhibit us from achieving better sleep at night which is important for our health and well-being.
Types of anxiety dreams
Negative thoughts and emotions can influence what kind of dreams you have. If you’ve been worrying about COVID-19 and the anxiety it brings, these types of dreams can help uncover the hidden meaning behind them.
Earthquakes: Frequent dreams about earthquakes can represent instability and the feeling of uncertainty in your life. Whether you lost your job or just don’t like the feeling of not being able to plan in advance, these unsettling feelings could be the cause of your nightmare.
Flooding: Flooding in your dream may represent the sense of feeling overwhelmed by a situation that seems to get increasingly worse. COVID-19 has made life that much more complicated, and it can be overwhelming trying to juggle things like working from home with the kids or trying to find a new job in these trying times.
Naked in public: Dreams like being naked in public could be related to you feeling embarrassed or anxious about how others perceive you. Maybe you’ve been stuck in quarantine with your partner for so long you are getting on each other’s nerves or you feel like you gained a few pounds since quarantine.
While anxiety dreams are normal, it’s especially prevalent during the quarantine. It’s important to pinpoint where your anxiety is coming from, address it accordingly, and soothe your mind before bed with happy thoughts and a comfortable mattress. For more information on anxiety dreams and how to address them, check out Casper’s infographic below!
Originally posted on September 7, 2020 @ 11:00 pm