COVID-19 changed that. The world crawled into bed in February 2020, but it\u2019s still waiting to sleep. Take sleep away, and it\u2019s hard to notice much else.<\/p>\n
Collectively, we\u2019ve experienced higher rates of sleeplessness during the pandemic. I recently co-authored a study, in which 22,330 adults from 13 countries reported their COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 sleep patterns<\/a>. The results, published in Sleep Medicine<\/em> in November 2021, were startling.<\/p>\n Read more about insomnia:<\/strong><\/p>\n During the early stages of the pandemic, 36.7 per cent of respondents experienced clinical insomnia symptoms and 17.4 per cent met the criteria for insomnia disorder. These rates were double those of pre-pandemic levels. While insomnia disorder increased around the world, it spiked highest in Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Poland and Norway. Another international study, published in The Lancet<\/em>, revealed that health care professionals experienced twice the sleep disturbances than the general population.<\/p>\n Stressful life events rank among the top factors associated with sleep problems, and the pandemic brought plenty: economic upheaval, childcare challenges, isolation, and \u2013 of course \u2013 COVID-19 itself.<\/p>\n The sleep crisis exacerbated the mental health crisis: people who sleep poorly on a regular basis are twice as likely to have mental health disorders. In that same study, 25.6 per cent of respondents reported anxiety and 23.1 per cent reported depression. As with sleep disturbances, both rates were significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n While this study focused on insomnia\u2019s effects on mental health, sleep disturbances compromise physical health too: they are associated with conditions as serious as heart disease and stroke. A circular association exists between the three: people with insomnia tend to experience more mental and physical illness; people with mental and physical illness tend to experience more insomnia.<\/p>\n Insufficient sleep was an issue even before the pandemic. Minimising sleep is often seen as a life hack, or worse, a virtue. Confusing a critical element of health with a lifestyle choice is nothing new. Think of tobacco, which for decades was associated more with glamour than cancer. Until 1994, hospitals even offered areas for doctors and patients to smoke. Think of exercise, too. A generation ago, most doctors wouldn\u2019t think to ask a patient about cardio habits, which seemed more relevant to building an attractive physique than a healthy body.<\/p>\n One of the unfortunate legacies of the pandemic is that it created the conditions to show what happens when we take sleep away on a global scale. This wasn\u2019t just about bleary mornings and late nights, but about increased rates of depression and anxiety. But we can find hope in this study, too. It reveals the potential that exists \u2013 on an individual and public health level<\/a> \u2013 if people and healthcare providers remember that a good night\u2019s sleep is a medicine to support better mental and physical health.<\/p>\n Read more about COVID-19:<\/strong><\/p>\n By Prof Colin Espie Published: Tuesday, 08 February 2022 at 12:00 am It can be hard to notice sleep. When we sleep well, the time passes nearly undetected. While our other health practices involve effort \u2013 exercising, eating nutritious foods, flossing \u2013 sleep involves, seemingly, the absence of action. It\u2019s practically a non-event. And thus, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":5849,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/youre-not-alone-the-pandemic-has-ruined-all-of-our-sleep.jpg",1200,803,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/youre-not-alone-the-pandemic-has-ruined-all-of-our-sleep-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/youre-not-alone-the-pandemic-has-ruined-all-of-our-sleep-300x201.jpg",300,201,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/youre-not-alone-the-pandemic-has-ruined-all-of-our-sleep-768x514.jpg",768,514,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/youre-not-alone-the-pandemic-has-ruined-all-of-our-sleep-1024x685.jpg",800,535,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/youre-not-alone-the-pandemic-has-ruined-all-of-our-sleep.jpg",1200,803,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/youre-not-alone-the-pandemic-has-ruined-all-of-our-sleep.jpg",1200,803,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Prof Colin Espie Published: Tuesday, 08 February 2022 at 12:00 am It can be hard to notice sleep. When we sleep well, the time passes nearly undetected. While our other health practices involve effort \u2013 exercising, eating nutritious foods, flossing \u2013 sleep involves, seemingly, the absence of action. It\u2019s practically a non-event. And thus,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/5848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Woman\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2022\/02\/woman-lying-in-bed-unable-to-sleep-5c97da3.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C350"\" "\\"\"Woman\\"\/")
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