The horrors of COVID-19, and the surreal and frightening ways it has upended daily life, are infecting dreams and exposing feelings of fear, loss, isolation and grief that transcend culture, language and national boundaries.
Psychoanalyst Dr. Claudia Luiz joined ABC7 for a discussion of why so many people have reported vivid and sometimes bizarre dreams while experiencing periods of isolation amid coronavirus restrictions.
LA County reports 4 cases of mysterious syndrome in kids linked to COVID-19
LA County reports 4 cases of mysterious syndrome in kids linked to COVID-19, 21 suspected cases
Such dreams "come from day residue," Luiz said. "So when you have something in your day that your conscious brain can't process, then you're going to dream about it at night, which is how your mind kind of organizes itself."
Noting that most people's day residue is different from normal, Luiz said "we've got a lot of helpless feelings, we've got a lot of grief and we have a tremendous amount of frustration."
Thus our day residue is collecting matters that we don't typically deal with.
For more on this topic, visit Luiz's website, claudialuiz.com.