Sleep Disorders in the Time of COVID-19: How They Affect Us

These are the ways in which the pandemic can negatively affect our sleep.

With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic has come a whole new set of challenging situations. Adapting to this situation in which there is a significant risk of infection and contagion, on the one hand, and the need to adapt to a context of economic crisis and very limited freedoms, on the other, is a source of stress, anxiety and other psychological phenomena with the capacity to wear down our mental health if we do not manage to manage them well.

One of the areas of our lives in which this is most noticeable is the way we sleep, and the quality of sleep we are able to enjoy. This process of rest is sensitive to emotional disturbances, and that is why in times of COVID-19, it is normal for insomnia and other related problems to occur..

The relationship between sleep disorders and the COVID-19 crisis.

When we sleep, the physiological functions of our organism associated with the system of attention to the environment and flight from danger, on the one hand, and the psychological processes associated with the state of consciousness, on the other, take a back seat to give priority to a series of processes of repair and reconfiguration of the nerve cells of our nervous system, among other parts of our body. In other words functions that have to do with immediacy are put aside in favor of the maintenance tasks of our body and mind, the benefits of which are felt in our body and mind.The benefits of which are felt on a broader time scale.

However, when we are going through a time of stress and anxiety, our body learns to be much more sensitive to the stimuli sent to us by the environment, and to the memories of what worries us: in cases like this, the main thing is supposed to be to face an imminent risk or danger, to which every minute counts to prepare well and react in time. As a result, it becomes difficult to fall asleep and to maintain the level of depth of sleep we need to rest well: these stress mechanisms remain latent even when we have apparently "disconnected" from our sleeping environment.

This makes it so that in some crisis situations where there is a problematic element in our lives that goes on for many days or even weeks and months, it is easy for anxiety to not only cease to be useful, but it can become an added problem.. In the case of the COVID-19 crisis, these kinds of ingredients are present.

Tips for better sleep

Follow these guidelines so that the coronavirus pandemic context does not impair your ability to sleep well.

1. Avoid piling stressful tasks late in the day.

Make sure that the hours before going to bed do not involve experiences that generate stress or that demand a lot of physical effort or attention and concentration. In this way your Biological clock will adapt to make your brain especially active in the first two thirds of your day, and not after.and not later.

2. Even in confinement, don't let your life become unstructured.

Following a schedule and maintaining a series of habits that shape the usual activities you do during the week is important so that sleep problems do not appear. That way you will avoid temptations that will keep you up at times when you should be resting, and at the same time you will maintain a regularity in terms of the time of day when you fall asleep, so that there is no gap between when you sleep and when you should be sleeping according to your responsibilities and obligations..

3. Maintain a rich social life

The fact that in certain circumstances we must prevent contagion by not getting physically close to others does not mean that we do not need to be able to count on contact and contact with others; we are social beings. Fortunately, in the age of the Internet it is relatively easy to socialize even with real-time conversations without the need to be where the other person is.

These relaxed moments talking with others work well as a way to "unwind" from typically intrusive and stressful thoughts, which prevents the psychological rumination that often appears when we are in bed when we are trying to fall asleep..

4. Exercise

Moderate exercise is also a valuable resource to keep stress at bay, because it leads us to "reset" our attention and return it to the stimuli and sensations of the here and now, in addition to providing immediate incentives (running for half an hour, reaching a certain number of push-ups, etc.).

5. Eat well

If you do not eat well, it is easy for digestion problems to cause you to have trouble sleeping.. This implies both not feeding yourself especially with indigestible products or with inflammatory potential, as well as ingesting all the nutrients you need so that your body does not enter into a state of anxiety due to the shortage of energy and available resources. The pandemic is no excuse for saving time and dedication by buying what you really need, nor for relieving stress by bingeing on ultra-processed foods.

6. At home, share out chores

In situations like this, it is easy for homework assignment problems to become acute. If you feel overloaded or overburdened, rethink the distribution of responsibilities, reformulate the distribution of responsibilitiesIf you feel overburdened, rethink the division of responsibilities, including also the younger ones in what they can contribute to make the family function well.

Are you looking for psychotherapeutic support?

If you are interested in professional psychological support through therapy sessions or counseling, please contact us. At PSiCOBAi we work helping people of all ages both in person and online via video call.

Bibliographical references:

• Del Río, I.Y. (2006). Stress and sleep. Mexican Journal of Neuroscience.
• Dement, W. (2000). The promise of Sleep: A pioneer in sleep medicine explores the vital connection between health, happiness, and a good night's sleep. Nueva York: Random House.
• Dew, M. A. et al. (2003). Healthy older adults' sleep predicts all-cause mortality at 4 to 19 years of follow-up. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65: pp. 63 - 73.
• Subirana, S. R., & Adell, M. À. M. (2014). Tratamiento de la agitación nocturna y el insomnio en el mayor. FMC-Formación Médica Continuada en Atención Primaria, 21(2): pp. 104 - 112.