Having Trouble Sleeping?
According to Angela Drake, a University of California-Davis clinical professor, the ongoing pandemic has caused “a second pandemic of insomnia… across all age groups.” A recent UC-Davis Health newsletter cited a National Institutes of Health study that… “revealed very high rates of clinically significant insomnia, along with more acute stress, anxiety and depression.”
If you are experiencing pandemic-related sleep loss, or suffer from insomnia for other reasons, consider reading some helpful information from The Sleep Foundation about establishing healthy sleep habits. You can access this information at https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-guidelines-covid-19-isolation. Maintaining appropriate sleep habits during the physical and emotional demands of a pandemic takes work and frequent reminders to make these habits a priority. If you’re wondering if a lack of sleep is becoming a problem in need of additional support, take advantage of the brief (and free) Epworth Sleepiness Scale at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/emres/longhourstraining/scale.html.