Michael Schredl, an expert at the German Society for the Study and Therapy of Sleep, argues that the quality of sleep in Germany has visibly deteriorated recently: more and more people complain not only of the inability to fall asleep and fatigue, but also of disturbed dreams that torment. Up to 15 percent of patients he interviewed reported increasing nightmares, Schroedl said in an interview with the German publication Psychologie Heute (“Psychology Today”). The war in Ukraine, the dangers associated with it, notes the expert, also negatively affect the quality of sleep in Germany.

According to Michael Schroedl, 60% of “dreams about covid” were associated with fear of social contacts and infection. A common example of such a nightmare: a person finds himself in a crowd in which no one wears a mask.

According to the German expert, four to five percent of all people suffer from nightmares: if something terrible is dreamed of more than once a week, there is a sleep disorder. Even once affected by a nightmare, people are often afraid of falling asleep and therefore generally sleep worse, even if they no longer dream of anything bad. At particular risk, notes Schroedl, are people who already suffer from anxiety or depression disorders. Women are one and a half times more likely to suffer from insomnia than men, says the expert.

How to get rid of sleep problems?

In the case of recurring nightmares, it’s helpful to consciously play out the relevant situation while you’re awake and look for a reasonable way out, the expert recommends. In addition, according to an expert from the German Society for the Study and Therapy of Sleep, it is important to always remember that everything that happens in dreams is often exaggerated: in reality, this could hardly happen.

Michael Schroedl, in any case, does not recommend treating insomnia on your own, filling yourself with pills bought without a prescription at a pharmacy. He advises turning to specialists who will select the right drugs or even offer a different treatment – without medication.

According to the German online portal Statista, 25% of participants in a representative survey published in 2021 said they sleep “very poorly” or “poorly”, while 40% rated their sleep quality as “satisfactory”. And only 10% are completely satisfied with their vacation and sleep “very well”. In several studies, this figure is also given: up to eight million people in Germany suffer from sleep problems to one degree or another.