What is ‘COVID-somnia’? Why some can’t sleep during the pandemic The frequency of nightmares was similar for the two groups before the outbreak of the pandemic.
However, the frequency of nightmares increased by 50 per cent in the group that had COVID-19 and by 35 per cent in the control group.
The researchers also found that participants who had a moderate or serious form of the disease were more susceptible to nightmares than those whose infection was less serious.The reason for the increase is not entirely clear.
While the study did not rule out the possibility that it was due to effects of the virus on the brain, psychological factors associated with uncertainty and isolation, such as the loss of contact with family and friends, may also be involved.“It should be considered that our data were collected during the ‘first wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic when knowledge about the virus was very poor,” the authors write in the medical journal Nature and Science of Sleep.