Many of us are now insomniacs from the pandemic. The new year comes with resolutions. One of the most popular goals is, unsurprisingly, getting more sleep. But there's a problem: The current coronavirus crisis has made getting a good night's rest that much more difficult. Some experts even have a term for it: "Coronasomnia" or "Covid-somnia"
"We tend to have much less clear boundaries between home and work."
This is the phenomenon that affects people all over the world when they experience insomnia related to the stress of life during covid-19. In the UK, an August 2020 study from the University of Southampton showed that the number of people experiencing insomnia increased from one in six to one in four, with more sleep problems among mothers, essential workers and ethnic minority groups. In China, insomnia rates rose from 14.6% to 20% during the strictest lockdown. In Italy an "alarming prevalence" of clinical insomnia was observed, and in Greece, nearly 40% of those surveyed in a May study were found to have insomnia. The word "insomnia" was Googled more in 2020 than ever before.
In short, many of us are now insomniacs. With the pandemic in its second year, months of social distancing have shaken our daily routines, erased the boundaries of work life, and brought constant uncertainty into our lives, with disastrous consequences for sleep. Because of this, our health and productivity could face serious problems.
Due to lack of sleep our health and productivity could face serious problems. However, the magnitude of the problem could cause changes. It could introduce new elements into the way we treat sleep disorders to get our lives back on track.
It is difficult to live with insomnia, whether in a pandemic or not. Having constant trouble falling asleep or having poor quality sleep can lead to long-term health impacts, such as obesity, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Insufficient sleep - which many health authorities classify as less than seven hours a night - also affects your work. Many studies have shown that it increases your chances of making mistakes, ruins your concentration, increases reaction times, and affects your mood.
There are multiple factors at play. First, our daily routines and environments have been disrupted, making it difficult to keep our circadian rhythm intact. 6 myths about how to sleep better that can actually harm your health
Normally, our days are carried out on a schedule of wake-ups, commutes, breaks, and sleeping hours, but the coronavirus has changed all that.
"We lost a lot of the external cues that are present in office meetings or scheduled lunch breaks, What you're doing [with remote work] is interrupting your body clock "
The brain is conditioned whenever you are at your workplace you are working, and then when you are at home, you are relaxing. There is a differentiation there. Now, we are all at home all the time. When we work from home, we can get less exercise and potentially less exposure to natural light, both of which contribute to better sleep. There is also the issue of job performance. Many countries have the highest unemployment in years, so it is not surprising that those who are employed want to work hard to keep their jobs. The problem is that working from home can blur the lines that used to be marked, and many people report working longer or irregular hours.