How Coronasomnia disrupted our sleep

Illustration by Suneesh K.

The numbers haven't come in yet but I am sure if ever they are collected, sleeping hours lost would add up to among the biggest losses we have suffered during these pandemic months.

It has even acquired a dubious nomenclature: coronasomnia.

Numerous studies have shown that rates of depression have gone up exponentially over the period of the pandemic, with lower hours of sleep and increased consumption of alcohol and tobacco feeding the rates of depression.

A report titled ‘Philips Global Sleep Survey 2021’ highlighted that since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian adults experienced new sleep challenges like difficulty falling asleep (37 percent), difficulty staying asleep (27 percent), and waking up during the night (39 percent). Paradoxically, 54 percent of Indian adults reported that the amount of time spent fully asleep actually increased during the pandemic. This can only be explained by irregular and broken sleep patterns.

The study also reported that 80 percent of patients with sleep apnea experience daytime drowsiness, while only 52 percent of those who do not have sleep apnea experience the same. Sleep apnea impacts productivity and overall quality of life and can also lead to more serious health issues like cardiac conditions, strokes, neurological disorders, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Nor is this just restricted to the pandemic period. Indians have had a problem sleeping even before that. In a global study by Fitbit, India is the second most sleep-deprived country in the world after Japan. The pandemic has made things even worse.

The reasons are not far to seek. Worrying about family, friends who have contracted the virus is obviously the biggest reason for losing sleep. But even in cases where people have been lucky, there are economic issues including fear of losing jobs or other sources of income. For a small shopkeeper who is forced to keep his store open, there is the dual anxiety of lack of custom as well as fear of contracting the disease and passing it on to the rest of the family.

Increased screen time, as we spend hours on our smartphones or other devices, also has a serious impact on the ability to sleep and its eventual quality. Surveys show that increased usage of electronic devices during the last year and a half has led to shorter total sleep times, diminished sleep quality, increasing symptoms of insomnia, and irregular timings for sleeping and waking up.

With our natural  anchors for keeping track of the time, like leaving for work, or going or a run, gone, the day just seems to dissolve for most of us and there seems no reason to get up or go to sleep at a particular time.

What’s more, as we try to make up for lost sleep by sleeping whenever we can, including during the day, we end up worsening things by throwing the natural circadian rhythms out of whack. And the worry this triggers, again affects our ability to sleep.

While natural disasters and accidents do disrupt people’s sleep, what has made it particularly difficult over the last 20 months is the uncertainty surrounding the virus, as well as being shut out from contact with others in relaxed settings where we would normally laugh and joke about it. Often, that is a huge stress buster, helping to relieve the tension.

Of course, this doesn't even include those who suffered from terrible tragedies at home that made sleep seem like an indulgence. In addition, for doctors, nurses and other frontline healthcare workers the pandemic has completely destroyed even the basics of normal sleep. Many of them worked for 24-36 hours at a stretch before collapsing into sleep through sheer exhaustion.

Not surprisingly, as the global sleep deficit rose to record levels, so did the writing (and speaking) on the matter. From doctors to self-help guru, television anchors to neighbourhood uncles, everyone has weighed in on the subject. The last word on the subject, however, was written long ago in the words of American comic W.C. Fields: “The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.”