Lucid dreaming increased during the COVID-19 pandemic: An online survey

PLoS One. 2022 Sep 14;17(9):e0273281. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273281. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic changed people's lives all over the world. While anxiety and stress decreased sleep quality for most people, an increase in total sleep time was also observed in certain cohorts. Dream recall frequency also increased, especially for nightmares. However, to date, there are no consistent reports focusing on pandemic-related changes in lucid dreaming, a state during which dreamers become conscious of being in a dream as it unfolds. Here we investigated lucid dreaming recall frequency and other sleep variables in 1,857 Brazilian subjects, using an online questionnaire. Firstly, we found that most participants (64.78%) maintained their lucid dream recall frequency during the pandemic, but a considerable fraction (22.62%) informed that lucid dreams became more frequent, whereas a smaller subset (12.60%) reported a decrease in these events during the pandemic. Secondly, the number of participants reporting lucid dreams at least once per week increased during the pandemic. Using a mixed logistic regression model, we confirmed that the pandemic significantly enhanced the recall frequency of lucid dreams (p = 0.002). Such increase in lucid dreaming during the pandemic was significantly associated with an enhancement in both dream and nightmare recall frequencies, as well as with sleep quality and symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder. Pandemic-related increases in stress, anxiety, sleep fragmentation, and sleep extension, which enhance REM sleep awakening, may be associated with the increase in the occurrence of lucid dreams, dreams in general, and nightmares.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Dreams*
  • Humans
  • Pandemics
  • Sleep, REM
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

We thank to the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte (FAPERN) for financial support. SR was specifically supported by CNPq - grants #308775/2015-5 and #408145/2016-1, and the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) - grants 2013/07699-0 (Centro de Neuromatemática). The funders had no role in study design, data collection, and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.