People across the country staying home to help slow the spread of coronavirus are experiencing a variety of sleep problems, reports CBS News.
Stress from being on lockdown and anxiety about money or job concerns are both likely culprits for the sleep problems people have been reporting on social media under the hashtag #cantsleep. But Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a specialist at USC in sleep medicine, says all his patients at the moment have one thing in common.
“What I see across the board is that everyone is now becoming a night owl, meaning that they’re delaying their circadian rhythm,” Dr. Dasgupta said. “These are people that go to bed very late at night and get up closer to the afternoon.”
Ironically, he says these people are doing pretty well because they’re getting so much sleep, but they worry about what they’ll do when the stay-at-home orders end.
Dr. Dasgupta said that keeping a set routine, exercising and keeping the weight off can also help with sleep problems. One of his patients compared the lockdown to his freshman year in college, except now he’s gaining the COVID 19.
