In college, I remember sitting at the dining room table in a shared apartment, having a small breakfast and coffee before class. One of my roommates came downstairs looking pale, his hair still wet from the shower. He slid onto a chair next to me, and, after pouring a bowl…
We all have a dream world — a mirror of our subconscious mind. This is where those monsters under your childhood bed live and your pantsless self in public, too (modern nightmares at their finest). We also can’t forget about your ability to fly or your new boyfriend… who is…
If a supervillain in a superhero movie declared that their ultimate evil plan was “global chronodisruption”, it would sound terrifying. The folks in tights would have to do everything in their power to stop the threat. But since the invention of the electric light, we humans (and some of our…
Click here to schedule online counseling at Thriveworks. Hello, my name is Ricky Thompson. I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with Thriveworks in Jacksonville, Florida. The question that was asked is, “How can I improve my sleep habits during the COVID-19 pandemic?” This is a great question because sleep is…
Click here to schedule online counseling at Thriveworks. Hi, my name is Emily Simonian and I’m a licensed clinician at Thriveworks in Washington DC. The question that was asked was, “Why am I having strange dreams during covid?” And that’s a great question because since the Coronavirus outbreak, I’m sure a lot…
A lucid dream is one in which the individual knows he or she is dreaming. According to sleep experts at Tuck.com, as many as 82% of people report having a lucid dream at least once in their lives. And while many wake up pretty quickly after making this strange realization,…
Too much screen time can lead to sleep problems in teens. But reducing screen time and blue light exposure can resolve these problems within a week. Researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience investigated the effects of screen time on adolescents and saw that teens who were exposed to screen…
More TV means less sleep for preschoolers. This, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The research team studied the rest and activity cycles of 470 preschoolers for 16 days. Additionally, they examined questionnaires completed by the parents about their child’s health and behavior, including how much TV…
Do you have trouble falling or staying asleep? Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience say your insomnia might stem from emotional distress. The team asked participants to relive shameful moments from their past, while receiving an MRI scan of their brain activity. Researchers found that good sleepers neutralized those…
If you are in recovery from addiction, you know what I’m talking about when I say, “relapse dreams.” This is when you wake up anxious, covered in sweat, because you just had a hyperrealistic dream that you were taking, or about to take, your drug of choice that previously caused…
Persons with untreated sleep apnea are prone to forget important details about their pasts. Researchers at RMIT University compared 44 adults with untreated sleep apnea to 44 healthy individuals. They assessed each participant’s recall of memories from different stages of life. Results showed that those with sleep apnea remembered significantly…
There are only a few things that truly and wholly fascinate me outside of my normal realm (that is writing, reading, and exercising). This small list includes astronomy, psychology, and cooking… but at the top of that list is sleep! Sleep is perplexing—we essentially shut off our brains and our…
