When nightmares reveal existential anxieties during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Due to the high speed of spread and lethality of the corona virus, as well as the prolongation of the pandemic, various aspects of human’s personal, social and professional life underwent major changes. These changes continue to impact the mental health and wellbeing of a large portion within human societies. This virus caused a large portion of people to fear infection and dying from this virus. Man has always been afraid of death, even the thought of dying creates anxiety in him, so many may be running away from the anxiety of death. In the meantime, the corona pandemic made thinking about death inevitable, which caused death anxiety to rise among a wide range of people in society. One of the ways this revealed people’s death anxiety, one of the most fundamental existential anxieties, was the nightmares and dreams related to the corona virus. Although at the first glance it seems that these dreams can make one's palate bitter, yet if we explore the meaning of these dreams and can interpret their deeper message, it seems that dreams can play the role of a painful healer (like an ampoule). Dreams can not only can help alleviate existential anxieties, especially death and loneliness, but can sometimes show that a person is psychologically avoiding issues.