Exploring the emotional and thematic matrix of dreams during war: the role of anxiety and depression

Abstract

AbstractDreams serve as a psychological space where the human mind grapples with burdensome issues, and war undoubtedly falls into that category. Inspired by Charlotte Beradt’s work on analyzing dreams during the Third Reich, we collected dreams from a sample of Polish individuals (N = 90) during the outbreak of war in March 2022. Our objective was to identify the most intense emotions conveyed through these dreams and investigate differences in both emotional intensity and dream content between individuals with high levels of anxiety and closely related depression, and those with lower levels of anxiety. We employed a mixed-method study design. The prevailing emotions observed in the dreams were surprise, fear, and sadness. Interestingly, the dreams of participants with higher levels of anxiety exhibited less surprise compared to the comparison group. Additionally, we found that dreams reported by individuals with higher levels of depression conveyed a greater sense of sadness than those in the comparison group. Content analysis revealed that anxious individuals’ dreams prominently featured horror, which evoked feelings of powerlessness rather than surprise. In contrast, the dreams of non-anxious individuals exhibited a dynamic narrative with numerous twists and turns, creating a simultaneous presence and absence of threats. Consequently, the resulting vagueness and uncertainty likely contributed to the element of surprise.