Zyma Islam noticed her sleep began to change soon after the lockdown began.
Islam is in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which has been under a strict lockdown for over three weeks. All forms of public transport are suspended. That means scores of daily wage earners—domestic helpers, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, and garment workers—have lost wages, and are now battling hunger.
Islam is typically an early riser, but she had to adapt to a new routine of working during the night. “All day long there are queues of hungry people outside my house begging and crying for food,” Islam said. The streets get quieter after 11pm, which is when Islam now gets most of her office work done. She gets to bed around 7am—and most days, she’s barely able to sleep for four hours.
“I don’t have control over whether these people actually end up getting food or relief,” says Islam, which has left her in a constant state of anxiety. “As a result of this, I’m aways sleep-deprived in spite of constantly actually being home.”
Islam isn’t alone. “Everything about this situation is dreadful. It’s full of dread all the time,” says Orfeu M. Buxton, who directs the Sleep, Health, and Society Collaboratory at Pennsylvania State University. All around the world, people’s lives are being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic—along with their typical sleep patterns.
Whether it’s insomnia, strange dreams, or even sleeping too much, sleep disturbances are part of our body’s response to trauma and anxiety. Everyone will react to these situations differently—but experts have helpful information to share about ways to improve your rest.
Insomnia
“We are in the midst of collective trauma,” says Christy Beck, a therapist based in State College, Pennsylvania. “Something none of us have experienced in our lifetime. And sleep disturbance is a common trauma response, along with anxiety and depression.” Beck says that stress can cause a variety of sleep disorders, including insomnia—not being able to fall asleep—and its opposite, hypersomnia.
Anecdotal evidence seems to agree. Google searches for the term “insomnia” hit an all-time high recently. Hailey Meaklim, a psychologist and research scientist who is investigating the impact of the pandemic on insomnia symptoms, says that it is the most common sleep problem.
The pandemic is an invisible threat, Meaklim explains, “one that we can’t fight or run away from like we would from a sabre-tooth tiger.” But it still puts our bodies on high alert. “When you can’t actively do anything about these concerns, that still elicits a stress response. You want to sleep, but the rest of your physiology is actually telling you to mobilize, and that can put you at odds,” says Tony Cunningham, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Medical School.
“This may be due to the physiological arousal of the “fight or flight” system that accompanies anxiety that is in opposition with the “rest and digest” system needed to sleep,” says Courtney Bolstad, a doctoral student at the Mississippi State University. “This arousal may also cause difficulty returning to sleep in the middle of the night.”
There’s one more reason for trouble sleeping: People may also be staying up later to be on their phones, as they don’t have to get up early for work. “The light emitted from phones signals to our “clocks” that it is still daytime,” says Meaklim, which can lead to disruptions to our circadian rhythms and ultimately our sleep.
by Amanat Khullar, Quartz | Read more:
Image: Nuca Lomadze/EyeEm via Getty Images
[ed. I know my sleep patterns have seriously gone to hell. See also: Insomnia and Vivid Dreams on the Rise With COVID-19 Anxiety (Smithsonian). Also indications of dangerously escalating mental health issues: A high-risk perfect storm': loneliness and financial despair take toll on US mental health (The Guardian).]
Islam is in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which has been under a strict lockdown for over three weeks. All forms of public transport are suspended. That means scores of daily wage earners—domestic helpers, rickshaw pullers, construction workers, and garment workers—have lost wages, and are now battling hunger.
Islam is typically an early riser, but she had to adapt to a new routine of working during the night. “All day long there are queues of hungry people outside my house begging and crying for food,” Islam said. The streets get quieter after 11pm, which is when Islam now gets most of her office work done. She gets to bed around 7am—and most days, she’s barely able to sleep for four hours.“I don’t have control over whether these people actually end up getting food or relief,” says Islam, which has left her in a constant state of anxiety. “As a result of this, I’m aways sleep-deprived in spite of constantly actually being home.”
Islam isn’t alone. “Everything about this situation is dreadful. It’s full of dread all the time,” says Orfeu M. Buxton, who directs the Sleep, Health, and Society Collaboratory at Pennsylvania State University. All around the world, people’s lives are being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic—along with their typical sleep patterns.
Whether it’s insomnia, strange dreams, or even sleeping too much, sleep disturbances are part of our body’s response to trauma and anxiety. Everyone will react to these situations differently—but experts have helpful information to share about ways to improve your rest.
Insomnia
“We are in the midst of collective trauma,” says Christy Beck, a therapist based in State College, Pennsylvania. “Something none of us have experienced in our lifetime. And sleep disturbance is a common trauma response, along with anxiety and depression.” Beck says that stress can cause a variety of sleep disorders, including insomnia—not being able to fall asleep—and its opposite, hypersomnia.
Anecdotal evidence seems to agree. Google searches for the term “insomnia” hit an all-time high recently. Hailey Meaklim, a psychologist and research scientist who is investigating the impact of the pandemic on insomnia symptoms, says that it is the most common sleep problem.
The pandemic is an invisible threat, Meaklim explains, “one that we can’t fight or run away from like we would from a sabre-tooth tiger.” But it still puts our bodies on high alert. “When you can’t actively do anything about these concerns, that still elicits a stress response. You want to sleep, but the rest of your physiology is actually telling you to mobilize, and that can put you at odds,” says Tony Cunningham, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard Medical School.
“This may be due to the physiological arousal of the “fight or flight” system that accompanies anxiety that is in opposition with the “rest and digest” system needed to sleep,” says Courtney Bolstad, a doctoral student at the Mississippi State University. “This arousal may also cause difficulty returning to sleep in the middle of the night.”
There’s one more reason for trouble sleeping: People may also be staying up later to be on their phones, as they don’t have to get up early for work. “The light emitted from phones signals to our “clocks” that it is still daytime,” says Meaklim, which can lead to disruptions to our circadian rhythms and ultimately our sleep.
by Amanat Khullar, Quartz | Read more:
Image: Nuca Lomadze/EyeEm via Getty Images
[ed. I know my sleep patterns have seriously gone to hell. See also: Insomnia and Vivid Dreams on the Rise With COVID-19 Anxiety (Smithsonian). Also indications of dangerously escalating mental health issues: A high-risk perfect storm': loneliness and financial despair take toll on US mental health (The Guardian).]
