COVIDsomnia: How to Sleep Better During the Pandemic

The days blur into one. The nights are restless. The uncertainty and burnout and isolation build up during the day, and we toss and turn, trying to let it go at night so we can get some sleep.

Ten percent of American adults already dealt with insomnia before the COVID-19 pandemic, and perhaps many more have been showing up in clinics (or on WebMD) with newly developed difficulties with sleep. Some in the sleep healthcare world have called this COVIDsomnia (aka, sleep troubles in the era of COVID).  Why is this happening? Is there any hope? What can we do to help ourselves sleep better?

I talked with Dr. Chuck Crew, a clinical health psychologist at the Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC). He provides comprehensive Behavioral Sleep Medicine services and conducts research on correlates and consequences of insomnia in chronic medical populations. He provided insights on sleep changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted his favorite tips for improving sleep. Below is an abbreviated transcript of our conversation:

Jade Wu:
Dr. Crew is an extra special guest today because we actually know each other. We are colleagues at the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine, where we try to get the good word out there about non-medication methods for improving sleep. Dr. Crew, welcome to the Savvy Psychologist.

Dr. Crew:
Thanks Jade. Thanks for having me.

Jade Wu:
You're the perfect person to talk to about pandemic sleep because you are actually the lead author on our society's position paper about this. The paper was titled, “The Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine COVID 19 Task Force: Objectives and Summary Recommendations for Managing Sleep During a Pandemic”… which is a long mouthful. Basically it says—here's what we think would be helpful for pandemic sleep. And you were the lead author on that. So let me just start out by asking you, how has the pandemic affected people's sleep? What have recent studies shown? What have you noticed in the clinic?

The pandemic is just a perpetual Saber Tooth tiger on the horizon, putting us on edge.

Dr. Crew:
It’s a great question. How hasn't sleep been changed by the pandemic? Recent studies have really demonstrated that stress is increased. Sleep kind of goes in the backseat. So it happens less because we're focused on other things. We're supposed to be focused on the thing in front of us, the stressor. We're managing a lot more in terms of responsibilities, filling several roles--we've got parents, we've got jobs, we're trying to work from home. And a lot of people are required to work extra hours....

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