Corona-dreams flood people’s subconscious as pandemic disrupts routines

By Alex Segura Lozano

Los Angeles, USA, May 20 (efe-epa).- With the global pandemic radically transforming the lives of most people, nightmares, vivid dreams and sleeping disorders have become a recurrent phenomenon for many.

Natalia Jaimes, a Colombian who lives in the state of Virginia (southeast), tells Efe about a recurring dream she has had since the United States lockdown began in early March.

“I go out and there are no people due to social distancing rules. It feels like a ghost town. But then, I realize that I am very hungry and I try to get hold of something with a gun in my hand,” Jaimes says.

After several brawls with other citizens, the 24-year-old finds herself in the middle of a shootout over a few kilos of food from which she emerges with serious injuries.

She wakes up immediately in a cold sweat and the nightmare, on repeat, ends. Until the next encounter.

Jaimes believes that her passion for action-thriller movies combined with the current situation means her subconscious has crafted a very realistic dream she keeps returning to.

One of the US’ top experts on treating insomnia, Lisa Medalie of Chicago University Hospital, separates dreams into two categories: nightmares and vivid dreams, those we experience as if they were real.

During the pandemic, people are experiencing high levels of anxiety, emotional despair, and depression, Medalie tells Efe.

“Dreams are a reflection of our waking lives. That makes the intensity of dreams more robust,” she adds.