How To Sleep Better During The Pandemic
The COVID-19 virus hasn’t just been causing people stress during the day, it has also been giving many people horrible nightmares that are ruining sleep. Recently a website was created called ‘I Dream of COVID‘ that asks people to submit dreams and especially their strangest and scariest ones.
Sleep experts say there are four main tips to help relieve the stress from the day to help you get a good night’s sleep. If you follow them, you should be able to sleep comfortably and without “nightmares”.
The 4 Tips
- Structure Your Day – Sticking to a routine will help your body stay in sync with the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythms are mental, physical and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle. These rhythms respond primarily to light and darkness in an organism’s environment. Being awake during the day and sleeping at night is a prime example of a circadian rhythm.
- Keep Your Sleep and Your Workspaces Separate – It is important to keep your work and sleep areas physically separated to help your brain make the mental distinction between the two. Keeping the two separate will help you keep work stress from carrying over into your dreams.
- Skip Late-Night “Doomscrolling” Sessions – Doomscrolling is a new term being used to describe scrolling through depressing news about the crisis and pandemic. Experts suggest not doing it right before bed pretty much for the same reason it isn’t always the best to watch a horror movie just before sleep as well.
- Turn Off Technology At Least 1 Hour Before Bed – You have heard this over and over again, melatonin helps regulate your body’s internal clock. Melatonin is a hormone made naturally by your body. It is produced by the pineal gland in the brain but also found in other areas such as the eyes, bone marrow, and the gut. It is often called the “sleep hormone” as high levels can help you fall asleep. The blue light from your phone, your iPad or TV will interfere with that and can make your brain think it is still daytime.
