Complex Numbers

Nightmare Waking

When NatGeo got sucked up by the Murdoch empire, I quit paying attention to it. I fully expected articles to crop up with headlines like, "Climate Change: Myth or Hoax?" and "Crony Capitalism: Boon or Blessing?" And I wasn't far off the mark.

Well, it went to Disney when Disney acquired a bunch of Fox properties, so it's okay again now.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-pandemic-is-givin...

The pandemic is giving people vivid, unusual dreams. Here’s why.
Researchers explain why withdrawal from our usual environments—due to social distancing—has left dreamers with a dearth of “inspiration.”

Personally, I haven't noticed any difference. I'm still biphasic, and I still occasionally get sleep paralysis. I suspect exercise helps with the latter, because my exercise options are limited right now and the condition seems worse again. But I know how to live with it. Anyway, my own experience is probably because my life hasn't really changed much; this is not true for most people, and the article I linked above isn't the first time I've seen something about disrupted sleep patterns in this period.

Science has long suggested that dream content and emotions are connected to wellbeing while we’re awake. Bizarre dreams laden with symbolism allow some dreamers to overcome intense memories or everyday psychological stressors within the safety of their subconscious. Nightmares, on the other hand, can be warning signs of anxieties that we might not otherwise perceive in our waking lives.

Some good things come from even the worst of times. In this case, maybe we'll gain a better understanding of sleep and dreams. But I don't think any of the above sentences should be stated with the certainty that they exude.

At least five research teams at institutions across multiple countries are collecting examples such as Weller’s, and one of their findings so far is that pandemic dreams are being colored by stress, isolation, and changes in sleep patterns—a swirl of negative emotions that set them apart from typical dreaming.

I wish someone would approach me about doing a sleep study. "Hey, you like to sleep, right? How'd you like to get paid for it?"

The neurobiological signals and reactions that produce dreams are similar to those triggered by psychedelic drugs, according to McNamara. Psychedelics activate nerve receptors called serotonin 5-HT2A, which then turn off a part of the brain called the dorsal prefrontal cortex. The result is known as “emotional disinhibition,” a state in which emotions flood the consciousness, especially during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep, when we typically dream.

This connects to yesterday's entry, then.

Multiple studies have shown that our waking activities create a slide reel of memories that influence the content of our dreams. Emotions carried over from the day can influence what we dream about and how we feel about it within the dream itself. Reducing or restricting sources of everyday memories—by being stuck alone in quarantine—may limit the content of dreams or cause the subconscious to reach for deeper memories.

Bold hypothesis, there. Let's see if that plays out.

In Barrett’s latest sample of coronavirus dreams, which she began collecting in March with this survey, some participants reported dreaming they caught the virus or were dying of it. In another set of dreams Barrett collected, participants replaced fear of the virus with a metaphoric element, such as bugs, zombies, natural disasters, shadowy figures, monsters, or mass shooters.

Or as I like to call it, "Thursday."

For those experiencing coronavirus nightmares, there is growing evidence that so-called “dream mastery techniques” can alleviate their suffering.

The article's worth a read if this is affecting you or someone you know. And probably the hyperlinks therein are useful, too, but I couldn't be arsed to check them all.

Last night, I had one of those dreams where you wake up, go about your business, and then realize that you're still dreaming. Sometimes when that happens, I can consciously influence the dream - say, by having Halle Berry show up in the leather catsuit. But this time was different. No matter how I tried, I couldn't make anything happen in the dream.

It was a bit like being awake.