3 Reasons the Pandemic Is Ruining Your Sleep — and What to Do About It

Stress-related insomnia is often short-lived, but if it gets in the way of your daily activities, including sleep, for several days in a row, it's important to contact your health care provider or reach out to a mental health professional.

If your sleep issues persist for more than a month, seek treatment for the sleep problem, regardless of what may have triggered it, Perlis says. “And know that an ounce of early intervention can save you a pound of cure (and a lot of unnecessary suffering).”

According to most experts, including the American College of Physicians, the first line of treatment for chronic sleep issues is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), a tailored approach that helps people identify the underlying causes of their insomnia and adopt behaviors to change it. (You can locate a provider on the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine's website, and many are offering services virtually because of the coronavirus.)

2. Changes in routines upend sleep schedules

The pandemic has ushered in a number of changes that have impacted daily routines, including sleep. People plagued with long commutes to the office are finding that a work-from-home life means they can stay up later at night and sleep in longer, come morning. Less structured days also allow more time for naps.

For some, the extra sleep flexibility is working out just fine. Individuals whose busy lives were preventing them from getting the minimum seven hours of recommended sleep are finally feeling well-rested. For others, the extra sleep time is causing problems.

Perlis likens sleep flexibility to pizza dough: If you stretch your sleep time out at night and/or nap during the day because you can — and not necessarily because you need to, you will end up with a dough that gets “thinner and thinner and thinner, until it starts breaking into pieces,” he says. And similar to thin and broken pizza dough, a thin and shallow sleep cycle doesn't do a person much good — it can disrupt the body's internal clock and lead to insomnia.

The key, Perlis says, is to find a balance. “It has forever been assumed more sleep is better ... but it's a dose thing. Dose too little, bad. Dose too much, bad. Dose just right? Perfecto."

Changes in sleep routines extend beyond the ability to hit snooze or take a mid-afternoon nap. Many are finding themselves in new living situations that also present challenges when it comes to sleep, says Vivek Jain, director of the Sleep Disorders Center and associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University Hospital.

For the first time since the Great Depression, a majority of young adults (52 percent) are living with their parents due to pandemic-related circumstances, according to a new report from the Pew Research Center. Grandparents also have moved in with their children to lend a hand with childcare while schools and day care centers remain closed.

Pointing to possible space constraints and conflicting schedules, Jain says these major changes mean “everybody's sleeping life has been affected.”

Solution: Get back on a schedule

If your sleep issues are due to a newly inconsistent or intermittent sleep schedule, go back to what was working — even if that means you accumulate fewer total hours of sleep. (And yes, this may mean you need to cut out the naps.)

"If you can anchor your wake time and wake up at the same time every day, that's a great start for a consistent sleep schedule,” Medalie adds.

When you do sleep, make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark and at a comfortable temperature, the CDC recommends. It also helps to avoid large meals, caffeine and alcohol before bedtime.

3. More screen time, less exercise

An increase in screen time is further contributing to the uptick in sleep troubles, experts say. Bedrooms once reserved for downtime have been transformed into makeshift offices, and in-person meetings have been replaced by online conferences. Even time spent with friends has moved to the virtual world.

How is this affecting sleep? Medalie explains that the blue spectrum light generated from screens “tells the brain to stop producing melatonin,” a hormone that regulates the body's sleep-wake cycle. And when this biological clock gets disrupted, insomnia can set in.

Hand in hand with more screen time is a more sedentary lifestyle. Shutdowns and stay-at-home orders have closed gyms, postponed sports seasons and canceled exercise classes. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) reported a significant drop in step counts among smartphone users worldwide once coronavirus-related restrictions went into place. And an AARP survey found one third (32 percent) of older adults who exercised regularly before the pandemic have since decreased their level of activity.

"People who exercise regularly tend to sleep better, so with less exercise, we're also at risk for sleep problems,” Medalie says.

Solution: Ditch the screens at bedtime, make exercise a priority

Ban the blue light from your bedroom: Turn off your devices an hour before bedtime, and if you think you will be tempted to check them, consider leaving phones, tablets and computers in another room to charge overnight.

"The hour before bed really should be ‘me time.’ It should be a time where you're taking care of yourself ... a time where you can lower the somatic arousal system and get your mind and body in the right place for sleep,” Medalie says.

Being physically active during the day also makes it easier to fall asleep at night. Federal guidelines recommend adults get at least 150 minutes of exercise each week (or 30 minutes a day, five days a week). If exercising outside the home is not an option, AARP has a number of workouts you can do from your living room.

Finally, avoid sleeping pills as much as possible, which can increase risk for falls and aggravate memory issues — especially among older adults.