Worldwide, lockdown due to Covid-19 has altered an individual’s life in various aspects both physically and psychologically. But the major impact has been on our sleep patterns. A night of good sleep is crucial for the human body to function appropriately and when taking this pandemic into consideration, sleep becomes even more essential. If you have not been paying attention to your sleep cycle; then maybe reading about these unceasing effects might change this about you.
Sleep Before and After Pandemic
According to the survey conducted in India by AIIMS
(Rishikesh) due to Covid-19, more than half of the population has struggled
with sleep during the lockdown.
This pandemic has widened the problem of sleep deprivation
across different age groups, genders, and people associated with different jobs.
The lockdown caused due to the covid-19 pandemic has affected
the lives of almost every person in the country. After studying the responses, a significant difference in sleep patterns was observed before and during the lockdown. Increased sleep latency and delay in waking up was observed. Along
with other problems, worsening of sleep quality and an increase in insomnia
symptoms were also noted.
It was found that 48.4% of people used to go to sleep around eleven before lockdown, which increased to 65.2% after lockdown. Daytime napping also increased during lockdown leading to sleepless nights making you feel lethargic most of your day.
Know-How pandemic influenced your sleep cycle!
Some of the reasons are -
- Stress and Anxiety
Stress and anxiety seem ordinary in this generation because of the uncertainties everyone lives with. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, over 50% of adults say their anxiety levels affect their ability to sleep at night.
Also, the quality of sleep affects our ability to tackle stress and anxiety. In other words, these things go hand in hand with each other.
- Job Insecurity
Undeniably, this pandemic has changed the way of life.
Globally, countries are facing an economic crisis. This has led to complications in
people’s employment status.
Many employees have been made redundant when they were laid off from their long term jobs. Those who are lucky enough to still have a job are burdened with work and deadlines. Furthermore, as stated by the Times of India, 67% of Indians suffer from sleep deprivation due to an overload of work.
- Isolation and Changes in Surroundings
Isolation from your loved ones and that too at this stressful time of pandemic can really affect your mood in a bad way. Trying to acclimate yourself to the new normal is another factor that can pose real problems. For instance, someone who loves to travel and doesn’t like to stay put would definitely have his or her sleep affected due to this sudden change in lifestyle.
- Increased Screen Time
Everything has changed from offline to online completely. Whether it’s about attending the online classes, buying groceries or connecting with your family on video calls, everything has turned from real to virtual in some way. The screen time we devote has since escalated, which has deteriorated our sleep patterns.
- Lack of Sunlight
Exposing your body under sunlight for at least 30-40 minutes has significant effects. It will not only help stimulate the brain and set you in motion, but it also helps you sleep better. Not getting enough daylight, lowers your melatonin levels causing sleep troubles and affects both the quality and quantity of sleep.
- Disrupted Routine
During the lockdown, when you have to do pretty much everything from home, your routine just couldn’t stay the same. Your body seems to struggle to remains in sync with your biological clock. A disrupted routine can peak your insomnia because of irregularity in eating and sleeping habits.
How a lack of sleep affects your health and daily tasks?
As mentioned before, the pandemic has given us so many reasons
that in some way or the other affect our sleep. Unsteady sleeping habits can
make you more vulnerable to health-related problems than anything else. Sleep
has been long recognized as an essential determinant of human health and
performance. Sufficient hours of sleep is much needed to make your day
refreshing and energetic, this for
adults ranges from 7 to 9 hours.
During the pandemic, the problems have aggravated even more.
With speculations, it was revealed that individuals are either troubled with
oversleeping or struggles with insomnia. Shaping a perfect sleep schedule is
still a challenge faced by many.
Some of the consequences of degraded sleep quality are
presented below -
- Mood Changes
Sleep deprivation can make you moody, emotional, and short tempered and sometimes cranky too. Chronic sleep deprivation can affect your mood and lead to anxiety and depression, trigger your negative thoughts that makes you more frustrated which can worsen with time.
- The trouble with Thinking and Concentration
Your concentration, creativity, and decision-making ability aren’t up to your best level when you don’t get enough rest. Due to lack of focus and feeling exhausted, your quality of work dwindles and you are unable to catch new data efficiently.
- Weaken Immunity
Immunity plays a vital part in making your body function properly. Too little sleep weakens your immune system defenses against viruses like those that cause common cold and flu. You’re more likely to get sick when you’re exposed to these germs especially if you don’t get sleep of sufficient quality.
- Memory Issues
During sleep, your brain forms connections that help your process and remember new information. Lack of sleep can negatively affect both short and long-term memory. Long-term insomnia can disrupt how the body usually sends and processes information.
- Prone to Diseases
Your body gets more prone to chronic ailments like obesity, hormonal imbalance, depression, high blood pressure, and higher levels of chemicals which can lead to inflammation and also expands the risk of diabetes and heart diseases.
Conclusion
To sum up, during lockdown the quality of sleep has degenerated because of the new lifestyle that people are adopting. If you are suffering from any sleep disorder then you must take effective measures to fix your sleep cycle before it gets too late and begins to affect you. Sleep is vital but often neglected component of every person’s overall health and wellbeing. Some of the following might help you a bit.
- Exercise regularly because the more you sweat the more you will feel tired and it will fasten your sleep.
- Try to minimize the usage of any electronic devices 30 minutes prior to your sleep and keep them away from you.
- Limit the consumption of caffeine and alcohol at night.
- Avoid any disturbances in your bedroom and turn off every source of light.
If the problems faced by you are severe and such
practices are not helping you, consult a doctor and then practice what the doctor
prescribes.
Written by - Yashvi Jatoliya
Edited by - Chhavi Gupta
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