Dr. Emily Cook

If you're unemployed and you're worried about being unemployed, you're more likely to have dreams about jobs.

So maybe not surprising, you're going to interviews during the day, you're having dreams about interviews in the night.

But for us, what was really surprising with a much more metaphorical continuity.

So during the dreams of unemployed people, they are less engaged with the dream world.

And by that, we mean they're much more passive.

So they're less likely to be interacting with the other elements of the dream.

They're less likely to be surprised by the dream.

They just sort of drift through the dream world, not really particularly active, not very much agency.

Absolutely.

So it's really this continuity of that feeling.

But whereas in the day, you might not have the words to put into communication how you're really feeling.

So you kind of feel low or a bit disconnected or just something's off.

But you either can't explain it or, you know, you haven't got the spaces or the relationships in your life to explain that to somebody in a way that they would understand.

What we love about dreams is it makes those hidden, difficult, blurry feelings really literal.

It holds up a big mirror and it says, this is how you're feeling.

This is our current working theory for why these patterns are happening.

It's a disengagement with society.

When we think about unemployment, sometimes we really do focus on the practical.

Okay, how are you going to pay your mortgage?

How are you going to make friends?