Covid-19 Pandemic`s Influence On Our Sleep

After almost 2 years since the pandemic started, more researchers have found the effect Covid-19 and the pandemic have had on the population. This include the effect on Covid survivors as well as people who have suffered due to the restrictions, such as lock-down, home office and attending school online. Even though our modern society has been able to collaborate as whole on many degrees than before and continue developing new vaccines, the pandemic has been shown to take it`s toll on our mental health and well-being; which In this case has been our sleep.

According to recent articles and research report, insomnia has been shown to become more common to develop due to the pandemic different circumstances. Hence and the pandemic as a direct cause, some have started to refer this sleeping problem as “Coronasomnia” or “Covidsomnia”. This is a term to described as sleep problem a person develop in relation to the stressed caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The combination stress-factors, such as the lock-down periods across countries, rebuild new daily routine, and higher anxiety level, has cause a massive increase in sleep disturbance across the globe. This can be seen in UK where from 1 out of 6 to 1 out of 4 has experience insomnia since the pandemic started, or in China where insomnia rates increased from 14.6 to 20% at the peak of the lock-down period. Due to lock-down also decrease exposure to sunlight and many could not see their friends or family, not only has our the circadian rhythm have been more prone to a disrupted sleeping cycle, but also our decrease on social contact due to the distancing has also people more prone to feeling isolated. In addition, isolation can further lead to developing depression.

On the other hand, when it comes to pro-longed effect Covid-19 survivors have developed temporally or permanent, sleep disorder such as insomnia without a doubt a common thing to experience. According to research around covid-19`s impact on survivor`s sleeping health, results have been shockingly significant. In a cross-sectional observational study with 500 post-coronavirus patient, the results revealed high scores in the insomnia severity index, along with concluding post-covid-19 sleep disturbance were common after recovery. Similar evidence where shown in a case report of a 49-years old female patient who presented insomnia and restless leg syndrome after being infected with coronavirus-2 and acute respiratory syndrome. The conclusion highlighted the frighten association between not only Covid-19 and sleeping disorder, but in general Covid-19 and neuropsychiatric illnesses.

As illustrated, having sleeping problem during the Covid-19 pandemic are becoming more demonstrated as common due to the significant physiological and psychological factor of our adjustment this new reality of ours. Nonetheless, being conscious about this is also the first step to figure out how we can adjust our pandemic-lifestyle to promote and maintain a good sleeping routine. After all, if our sleep is disrupted, then our health`s ground base is more at risk for contain the Covid-19 virus and other illnesses.

Reference:
Tony, A. A., Tony, E. A., Ali, S. B., Ezzeldin, A. M., & Mahmoud, A. A. (2020). COVID-19-associated sleep disorders: A case report. Neurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, 9, 100057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbscr.2020.100057

el Sayed, S., Gomaa, S., Shokry, D., Kabil, A., & Eissa, A. (2021). Sleep in post-COVID-19 recovery period and its impact on different domains of quality of life. The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery, 57(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41983-021-00429-7

G. (2021, September 7). How the COVID-19 Pandemic Can Impact Your Sleep. Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/covid-19-insomnia-tips/