Question

The reflection assignment must include:

a) a one paragraph comprehensive summary of the article including the primary objective (PLEASE GIVE A DETAILED EXPLANATION THAT MAKES SENSE)

b) a one paragraph reflection of your own personal response to the reading. (PLEASE GIVE A DETAILED EXPLANATION THAT MAKES SENSE)

Read the article provided and complete the assignment (the link is below)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-covid-19-pandemic-is-changing-our-dreams/

Answer 1

(A)This article emphasizes the traumatic effects faced by people because of the pandemic, social distancing, and overall from the lockdown situation implemented. The traumatic effect discussed in this article is the global updwelling of dreams related to COVID-19. At least three factors may have triggered or sustained the dream surge: disrupted sleep schedules augmenting the amount of REM sleep and therefore dreaming; threats of contagion and social distancing taxing dreaming's capacity to regulate emotions; and social and mainstream media amplifying the public's reaction to the surge. A similar type of outbreaks was also reported after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. Both of which are traumatic circumstances to be in. Humans naturally were meant to interact with people almost every day, that's what makes us humans. But because of the lockdown people have been violated to this natural human instinct, which could be the reason why people are this traumatized. Also, experts in this article mention that an increase in our sleeping hours during the morning hours must have triggered our brains to REM sleeping and dreaming. REM dream is believed to actually help in problem-solving and all these vague dreams might just a coping mechanism that a person prefers against COVID. Regardless of why a large population of people experiences these dreams, medical assistance must be provided to people going through this emotional rollercoaster..Short of therapy, we can give ourselves permission to ease up and to enjoy banking those extra hours of sleep. Dreams can be frustrating, but they are at times inspirational.

(b)Taking this whole COVID situation from my perspective, I myself am very surprised at how well I have adapted to this way of living. I think this roots from my personality. I am an introvert and I usually enjoy doing anything alone. This pandemic surely wasn't easy for me to cope with initially since I preferred going outdoors for my mental health and stress release. But tough situations always call for the drastic measure. To cope up with my stress, I started working out in the comfort of my own home and it is truly rewarding . Initially, I used to always find myself scrolling through social media and it sucked out the energy of me, but to avoid that I started exploring new hobbies. Within a span of four months, I have gained this huge interest in reading and making music which would never happen if not for COVID. After reading this article I realized how different people cope up with the same issues quite differently. To be honest I have never dreamt about COVID more than twice in this course of 6 months and I think thats pretty normal . Different people have different coping mechanisms and every person's experience must be respected and taken care of ,if it reaches a destructive phases towards depression and self harm.