Sleep Disorders In Times Of COVID-19: This Is How They Affect Us
With the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, a whole series of new situations have also arrived that represent a challenge to overcome. Adapting to this situation in which there is a significant risk of becoming infected and infecting ourselves, 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 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 can enjoy. This rest process is sensitive to emotional alterations, and that is why In times of COVID-19, it is normal for insomnia and other related problems.
The relationship between sleep disorders and the COVID-19 crisis
When we sleep, the physiological functions of our body associated with the system of attention to the environment and escape 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 repair and reconfiguration processes of the nerve cells of our nervous system, among other parts of our body. That is functions that have to do with immediacy are put aside in favor of maintenance tasks for our body and mind whose benefits are noticeable 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 that the environment sends us, and to the memories of what worries us: in cases like this, it is assumed that the main thing It is facing an imminent risk or danger, in the face of which every minute counts to prepare well and react in time. Therefore, difficulties appear in falling asleep and maintaining it at the level of depth we need to rest well: these stress mechanisms continue to be latent even when we have apparently “disconnected” from our environment while sleeping.
This means that in some crisis situations in which there is a problematic element in our lives that persists for many days or even weeks and months, It is easy for anxiety to not only stop being useful, but it can become an added problem. In the case of the COVID-19 crisis, these kinds of ingredients exist.
Tips to sleep better
Follow these guidelines so that the context of the coronavirus pandemic does not harm your ability to sleep well.
1. Avoid accumulating stressful tasks in the last hours of the day
Make sure that the hours before going to bed do not involve experiences that generate stress or that require a lot of physical effort or your ability to pay attention and concentrate. In this way, your biological clock will adapt to make the brain especially active in the first two thirds of your day. and not after.
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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. In this 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 regularity regarding the time of day in which 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 infections by not getting physically close to others does not mean that we need to be able to count on contact and interaction with others; We are social beings. Luckily, in the age of the Internet it is relatively easy to socialize even with real-time conversations without having to be where the other person is.
These relaxed moments talking with others work well as a way to “disconnect” from typically intrusive and stressful ideas, which prevents the psychological rumination that It often appears when we are in bed when we are trying to fall asleep.
4. Exercise
Moderate exercise is also a valuable resource for keeping stress at bay, because it leads us to “reset” our attention and turn it towards the stimuli and sensations of the here and now, in addition to providing us with immediate incentives (running for half an hour, reaching certain number of push-ups, etc.).
If you don’t eat well, it’s easy for digestion problems to cause sleeping problems. This implies both not feeding yourself especially with indigestible products or those with inflammatory potential, and also ingesting all the nutrients you need so that your body does not enter a state of anxiety due to the shortage of energy and available resources. The pandemic is no excuse to save time and dedication to buy what you really need, or to relieve stress by bingeing on ultra-processed foods.
6. At home, distribute tasks
In situations like this, it is easy for problems assigning tasks at home to become more acute. If you feel overloaded, reformulate the distribution of responsibilities also including the little ones in what they can contribute so that the family functions well.
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