Blog #4 for HONO1397

Bloggers,

COVID-19 this, COVID-19 that, COVID-19 blah blah blah. Haven’t we already heard enough of  COVID to the point where we just want to pack it all up, drive to the nearest cliff with a sea at the bottom of it, and throw it as far and long as we can??? Yeah well too bad because we can’t, so here’s more COVID related stuff that’ll make you angry for sure because you probably got COVID because you suck at sleeping. So here we go:

Throughout the pandemic there wasn’t only a decrease in sleep but an increase as well. How? Let me explain: a researched that was performed by an online survey studied the sleep behaviors of various individuals of many ethnicities, genders, and ages, and it was determined that despite the pandemic causing many to stay home for work, there was several results and outcomes from it and it resulted in three primary patterns. 1. Longer time in bed resulted in later wake up times. 2. Less time in bed resulted in later bed times and earlier wake up times. 3. Phase delay, characterized by later bedtimes and wake up times, with a small lengthening of time in bed. This determined that those with less time in bed had an increase in a bunch of psychological affects, and being a female who had home responsibilities and work duties also suffered a lot during the pandemic. 

Another study concluded that less sleep, more disruption while sleeping, and burning out at work resulted in a higher chance of you getting COVID and being more exposed to the virus. Micheal Irwin, a researcher from UCLA School of Medicine stated that "Sleep is essential for optimal immune function… during sleep, the immune system is restored and primed in ways that allow immune cells to recognize and respond robustly to infectious challenges during the day. In contrast, short sleep duration or poor sleep quality impairs the ability to resist an infectious challenge -- for example, an experimental inoculation with a standard dose of virus -- and also blunts the immunogenicity of vaccinations.” So do us a favor, put phone down for once, get some sleep in, and reduce the risk of getting COVID-19! 

Finally, did you know that during the ongoing pandemic, there was a in increase in what could be termed as covid dreams or pandemic dream? No seriously, there was a research performed by Deirdre Barrett, a PHD of Harvard Medical School, that concluded that there was an increase in dreams relating to something about the pandemic and COVID-19. Dreams varied from an individual’s family member getting the virus, to being at a movie theatre with nobody covering their mouths with mask, to just horrific and detrimental nightmares that had a negative effect in sleep.

In conclusion: Yes, we’re still in the intrapandemic stage and COVID, as well as more variants of the virus  which have emerged since then as well. So we need to do a better job at not only protecting ourselves by taking healthcare measures but also making sure we get enough sleep on a daily basis.