Vivid lockdown dreams 'help us navigate this new world'
The Agenda
Europe;
01:59

Most people have dreams when they sleep, but what impact is the lockdown having on our sleeping thoughts?

Dylan Selterman, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Maryland in the U.S., told CGTN's The Agenda, that when people dream about emotionally difficult situations, like the impact COVID-19 is having on the world, it can lead to better mental health in the long run.

"People going through divorce and depression: when they dreamt about their ex-partners, having those dreams predicted better mental health," Selterman said. 

The lecturer says our dreams are trying to help us cope with the changing times.

"It's a new world now. So our dreams are trying to help us navigate this new world. A lot of people are having dreams about the challenges of social distancing and avoiding germs. I have personally had those dreams myself. So it's not surprising at all to hear that so many other people are having them, too."

A lot of people have admitted to having vivid dreams or even nightmares during the lockdown period. 

But Selterman thinks that some of these so called nightmares could be classified wrongly.

"The average dream contains more negative emotion than positive emotion anyway, so lots of dreams that would normally not be classified as nightmares could be considered nightmares by that perspective," he added.