What do anxious people dream of? Do they dream more? Are they more affected by their dreams? Here is a whole series of questions that a research team from the University of Düsseldorf wanted to answer. In study published in the journal Dreaming in July, researchers thoroughly analyzed the dream content of people diagnosed with clinical anxiety disorders and compared them to those of people without.
Two groups of dreamers were analyzed – 38 people with anxiety disorders and 38 people said to be “in good health” – and followed up using diaries, questionnaires and individual and then comparative analyzes of dreams. And the researchers found a significant difference between the dreams of anxious people and those of others, whether in terms of content or recurring themes. They contained in particular more negative and unpleasant elements.
Among the most frequent dream topics, they listed being chased or chased, being physically attacked, being frozen with fear, fear of falling, of being excluded or even the death of parents or family members. There fear of failure was also very regularly part of the dreams of anxious people.
Anxious people’s dreams also included more characters, activities, social interactions – and especially aggressive and sexual interactions – more failures and unhappiness. as well as unlucky, dangerous and threatening situations and a lower number of friendly interactions. In short, less positive emotions. Regarding activities, the researchers noted more changes in location, travel and transportation.
Dreaming of a former love or former partners
The researchers also found three prominent characteristics in people with anxiety:
- They dream more frequently of an old loveor former partners;
- Their dreams are often characterized by high speed, including people, objects, or transportation moving at high speed;
- Their dreams also show a higher overall intensity.
That is to say, “the content of dreams in anxious patients not only exists in large numbers, but is also experienced by them with a particularly high intensity and subjective emphasis”says psychologist Anton Rimsh, lead author of the study.
A way also to explain why the interpretation of dreams can be of great importance in the eyes of anxious patients. “People with anxiety disorders generally tend to be preoccupied and concerned with most of their waking life experiences and events.says the psychologist. They tend to analyze, consider and contemplate their actions and experiences in much greater depth and detail than other people in their waking life..”
Sources:
- Analysis of dream contents of patients with anxiety disorders and their comparison with dreams of healthy participants, DreamingJuly 2022
- “What does a clinically anxious person dream about?”Therapytips.org, July 16, 2022
Read also:
- Do you have strange dreams? Here’s what it says about your brain
- Sleep: the 10 most frequent dreams
- Talking while sleeping, is it worrying?
