go to bed It is an important factor in maintaining our physical and mental health. Without a good sleep, we are like living in the shadows the next day.
Huge weight Coronavirus pandemic This makes it difficult for many of us to fall asleep, whether due to anxiety or due to changes in our usual patterns.
We lost our daily lives during the pandemic, were forced to isolate ourselves from our loved ones, and became more worried about the world. Sleep was greatly affected.
Psychologists and social scientists have been studying the impact of COVID-19 on us Sleep mode, Which answers the question of why we feel more tired than usual during the pandemic.
Dr. Nilu Ahmed from the University of Bristol in the UK told Weekly newspaper: “Sleep is very important to physical and mental health, any sleep interruption will affect our mood and health.
“Over time, poor sleep quality (including oversleeping, insufficient sleep, and restless sleep) can have a major impact on health.”
How quarantine changes our sleep
Scientists say that quarantine, lockdown, and regulations related to the coronavirus have had an impact on our sleep patterns.
A study published in 2021 Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine Saw scientists analyzing pandemic sleep research and data from 13 countries.
Their systematic review found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 40% of the general public and people in the healthcare industry suffer from sleep problems.
They also found that people infected with the virus have a higher incidence of sleep problems, and that during the pandemic, people in the healthcare industry suffer more sleep problems than the general public.
According to Dr. Melissa Shepard, a psychiatrist in Maryland, the coronavirus has also increased the prevalence of other problems that affect our sleep.
She said: “It seems that the pandemic has seriously affected the sleep of many people.
“We know that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with an increase in the incidence of depression, anxiety, trauma-related diseases, stress and drug abuse, and we all know that all of these can cause sleep problems.
“The pandemic has also caused major changes in people’s daily lives and sleep schedules, which will also affect sleep.”
According to Dr. Kate Robinson, co-founder and clinical director of My Therapy Assistant, prolonged stress may also be the result of changes in our nervous system.
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Robinson explained how the long-term stress of the pandemic can cause our bodies to evolve from “fight or flight” to “prepared to survive a dangerous off state,” a phenomenon in the animal kingdom when prey chooses to pretend to be dead to escape from predators. .
She said: “In this case, the threat does not come from dangerous animals, but from a series of chronic conditions related to the virus, whether it is a threat to health, a threat to livelihood or a threat to emotional health. Depression, loneliness , Trapped, powerless, and lost loved ones.
“For people who feel drowsy or sleep more than usual during the pandemic, this may reflect that their nervous system has entered this closed state until life can be restored again.”
Ahmed said that the great changes in our daily lives are also harmful to our sleep.
She explained how social cues such as socializing, going home after get off work or going to the gym serve as a signpost for our brains to enter the “night routine.”
Without these and exposed to natural light, it would be difficult to switch off from working mode and “destroy our circadian rhythm” [body clock] Rhythm. “
Ahmed also pointed out that the more we stay at home, the easier it is for us to oversleep, which ultimately makes us feel more tired.
A study recently published in the journal go to bed The suggested social withdrawal is also a reason why our sleep can be affected.
The study found that after analyzing people’s sleep patterns through wrist monitors and through their own self-reports, it was found that those who expressed loneliness reported worse sleep, and their wrist monitor data also confirmed this.
Therefore, it is obvious that increased levels of anxiety, changes in daily life, and isolation will exacerbate our difficulty in falling asleep.
Work and sleep at home
Ahmed’s view also shows how difficult it is for many of us to achieve work-life balance during the coronavirus period, because more people work from home than before.
She said: “There is a lot of evidence that working from home causes people to work longer hours and it is difficult to turn off the power, especially when people use the bedroom as a work space.
“This will affect people’s sleep quality, and may mean the benefit of reducing the extra sleep time gained by not having to commute.”
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She said that establishing new contextual cues is critical to restoring balance, whether it’s walking to break the work day or minimizing screen time.
Robinson added how important it is to maintain our biological clock rhythm. Since working from home, this has been a challenge due to lack of routine, inactivity and increased screen time.
She added: “Furthermore, for those who have been working from home and nursery/school, the increased burden often leads to late sleep, because once the childcare duties are completed, people will log in again at night.”
Will socializing help me fall asleep?
As the vaccine continues to be launched, countries are becoming more open, and people question whether returning to social life will help us return to normal sleep patterns.
Although a study published in a journal has no empirical data to support this idea natural It was found that lack of sleep can lead to behavioral withdrawal and loneliness, which suggests that there is a link between social life and sleep.
However, for others, socializing again may pose a new threat to those who are more anxious about COVID-19.
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Sheppard said: “We may find that the increase in insomnia in the past year will ease with the reduction of restrictions, because people can return to pre-pandemic schedules and daily routines.
“This may allow more activities during the day and more exposure to the sun, both of which can improve sleep.
“However, relaxing restrictions may also lead to increased concerns about exposure to COVID-19 or reintegration into work, school and social situations.
“The increased anxiety and stress caused by these changes may worsen sleep.”
Robinson pointed out that in addition to socializing, going out may mean increased activity levels, which can also improve sleep, and some people may find that increased anxiety is not conducive to their rest.
She said: “When people leave home and travel to meet other people, restarting social activities may increase physical activity.
“This, along with the increase in mental stimulation brought about by social interaction, and the increase in the range of activities people can do together, can help build’sleep stress’ (also known as our sleep needs) and improve sleep.”
In addition, socializing will give us more opportunities to seek social support, thereby improving sleep.
However, she also expressed how “return anxiety” affects the sleep of those who are worried about resuming socializing.
She added: “As with all things, our individual differences and perceptions of what we experience affect our response to the changes we have to change.”
Ahmed added that how social allows us to use different parts of the brain that have not been used when we are isolated.
Therefore, we may feel more tired when socializing at first, but in the end the new model will help us increase our energy.
She said: “Returning to social interaction will consume more energy, which will cause our brains to have a feeling of over-excitement in the first place, because our brains will be excited for dialogue and adapt to these face-to-face rather than on-screen 2D. dialogue.
“We will use the part of the brain that has been dormant for a while.
“Some people may feel unusually tired after social interaction, because we haven’t experienced this for a long time, and as we return to interaction more, our energy to deal with this situation will increase.”
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