COVID-19's Disruption of Sleep Patterns

"Dreaming is open season for the mind. There are no restrictions in dreams. You can kill people, or be killed. Fantastic things can happen. You can fly."
"There's tension, not necessarily conscious, that eats up a lot of your brain's time. You might not notice it, but you're trying to deal with it. Everything you do now, even going to the grocery store, is quite stressful."
"Your brain is like a computer. It's like you have a computer virus that's taking up space."
Joseph De Koninck, professor emeritus, psychology, University of Ottawa

"And for most of them [study respondents], this actually disrupts their sleep [intensity and frequency of bad dreams]."
"Those who sleep less report poorer sleep quality, and also seem to be more stressed."
Rebecca Robillard, clinical sleep researcher, Royal Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research

"The challenges, social and economic, will still be there [post COVID-19]."
"Front-line workers were already on atypical schedules. Now they're doing it under a great deal of stress. And they don't have time to recuperate."
"The message is that we have to make sleep a priority for health, here and now. It is a predictor of your cognitive and emotional life in the future."
"It's an investment in your future health."
Julie Carrier, psychology professor, University of Montreal

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted sleep patterns, a state of affairs that doesn't bode well for our health. But it is also making people dream more vividly. And that's a good thing. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION from Shutterstock Kladyk / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Under the widely-experienced weight of concern over the contagious lethality of COVID-19, for many people sleep has changed from being a long, restful, brain-and-physical nurturing necessity to a fragmented, wearying experience. And people are dreaming more frequently. Dreams that have an extremely disturbing quality to them that can be classified as nightmares. The morning hours see the final cycle of REM sleep as people tend under lockdown conditions to sleep in later in the morning. When they awaken immediately after the dream they can also recall its details in amazing clarity.

The amygdala is that part of the brain where memory and emotions are processed and it is that part of the brain that remains active during dreaming. On the other hand, the centre of the brain controlling rational thought remains in repose. As an example, Dr.Robillard cited reading, writing and counting as never taking place during dreams. In normal circumstances only 50% of people who dream can recall those dreams. Now, with sleep becoming more fragmented even people who don't ordinarily recall dreams now do.

In early April Canadian sleep scientists launched a survey of sleep habits, finding that between 20 and 30 percent of 2,300 respondents reported an increase in the intensity and frequency of bad drams and nightmares. Female respondents reported to the study greater frequency and intensity of bad dreams in larger numbers, resulting in higher stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. The survey's purpose was to gauge the pulse of how people are managing to cope and to assess the psychological, social and economic impacts of the pandemic.

According to Dr,DeKonninck, subliminalized issues of the day shadow you through the night. The brain constantly attempts to process anxiety and uncertainty, and all the more so during the environment of the pandemic; one of stress and unpredictability, making life seem precarious. Elderly people tend to dram of episodes hearking back to their adolescent years where the intense emotions experienced then tend to resurface in dreams moving forward through the years.

According to Dr.Robillard, analyzing the sleep survey, overall increases in stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms and sleep difficulties have all arisen in response to the global pandemic. People report it is taking them longer to fall asleep and sleep becomes more intermittent. Sleep deprivation affects mood and motivation, resulting in poor decision-making. Additionally sleep disorders have been linked to conditions such as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, depression and dementia.

According to Dr.Carrier, scientific director of the Canadian Sleep and Circadian Network, roughly 25% of Canadians suffered from sleep disorders. It is her contention that this proportion will grow, and affect greater numbers of people, not only during the period of the pandemic but for months after it has been resolved as a direct threat.