Coronavirus and sleep

OK Houstonians, this just got real. Houston Rodeo was cancelled for the first time in its 89 year history, the NBA suspended its season, we likely have community spread in the broader Houston area, and we are all obsessively Googling terms like “social distancing,” “self-quarantine,” and “isolation.” These are scary times, and even the most level-headed among us is starting to feel the rising angst.

So, if you’re prone to insomnia and/or anxiety, odds are high your sleep is taking a hit with the collective panic. Is there anything you can do to mitigate the impact of all this on your sleep? Yes, dear reader, yes!

Stick to your routine: you know the advice for kids going through transition and stress is to, as best you can, keep them to a consistent routine. Well, my friends, adult humans are not much different in this need. Follow your typical routine as best you can and this will help support your sleep drive and circadian rhythm. If you’re working from home for a period of time at your own or your company’s behest, try to follow a routine there, getting dressed for the day, having a defined beginning and end time when you work, having a transition ritual between “work” and reentering your “home” life. These lines can get blurry at times like these, so it’s all the more important to hold the boundaries between work and home. Also, routines are soothing. So if you have a typical bedtime ritual, this can help calm your nervous system by telling it, “see, everything’s OK, we’re following the typical routine. All is good.”

Create a device buffer zone before bed: I know what you’re doing (because let’s be honest, I’m doing it, too). You’re hitting refresh on your news feed obsessively, devouring the latest news on COVID19, pulling up the Johns Hopkins map of cases, reading about Tom and Rita contracting the virus. This is normal human behavior. But, it can wreak havoc on your sleep. So, create a 30m buffer zone before bed where you DO NOT look at any devices, and particularly in bed. Use this time to wind down, follow your bedtime ritual, close down the day. This will help ensure you don’t contaminate your bedroom space with all those coronavirus (ahem: zombie apocalypse) worries.

Cut yourself some slack: Maybe you’re turning to a few less-than-healthy coping mechanisms at this time. Maybe you’re spending too much time doing online shopping, obsessively refreshing your news feed (see above bullet), or–my personal favorite–stress eating. While you want to broadly monitor this behavior and ensure it isn’t impulsive or doesn’t get too far out of control, I think it’s also OK to give yourself a bit of a break during this intense time. You can always recommit to your broader health goals when the dust has settled from this thing. For now, do what you need to survive this. And if you’re really worried about your anxiety, noticing its disrupting your functioning or causing a significant amount of distress, talk to your doctor about what options are available to you. Bottom line, you don’t have to suffer through this on your own. 

The VA National Center for PTSD also has a guide to help with an acute stress response to COVID19. I’d recommend you check it out! https://www.ptsd.va.gov/covid/COVID_managing_stress.asp

In the meantime, I’ll be over here engaging in some of these stress coping habits myself. After all, even psychologists and mental health providers feel the angst during times like this. It is what makes us uniquely human. Wishing you health and copious hand sanitizer, Elaine