According to new research from University College London, trapped inside a house, stuck inside a vehicle that wouldn't move, unable to complete seemingly simple tasks, was the stuff that dreams were made on during a lock down.
The Lockdown Dreams Project analyzed more than 850 dreams and nightmares submitted online between March 2020 and March 2021.
Early on in the Pandemic, there were a lot of Claustrophobic situations, such as being unable to leave your house due to a broken door handle, a lock or some kind of physical obstacle. Many people dreamed about having to stay indoors to escape a scenario just outside their home.
A dreamer reported seeing bears in their back garden, which forced them to stay inside.
The study found that people had more vivid dreams during the first UK lockdown than before.
Jake Roberts, one of the researchers on the project, said that it was related to claustrophobia and feeling trapped. As the Pandemic wore on, dreams became filled with more bureaucracy and transport problems. Dreamers would be trying to get from A to B by doing something they would do every day, and then something would happen. They would have to abandon the vehicle and go on foot if something wouldn't work. The collection had all of these occurrences.
The lack of freedom of movement was a good metaphor for the lack of control of where these people were going.
Roberts said that Covid appeared everywhere in the dreams. He described a dream in which a person needed to catch a fish in order to get off the ship they were on.
Family was a big part of people's dreams, with many reporting a sense of the loss of loved ones, either real or imagined.
How do we recover from the Pandemic?
Sometimes people dream of being unable to get to their friends and family because they are too far away.
Roberts thinks that people who were experiencing the pain of not being able to see their loved ones were trying to process their feelings and seek solace in a childhood paradise.
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