Chennai residents sleep deprived in this COVID due to more screen time, WFH etc
Posted on: 08/Apr/2021 9:36:04 AM
The residents of Chennai are unable to sleep well in this Covid-19 pandemic. It has been brought to light that the lockdown has affected both the quality as well as the quantity of sleep.
There were many recent studies in India and these studies published on the sleeping patterns in India over the Covid-19 pandemic. Point is that one study has shown that 54% of Indians have slept more in this lockdown whereas another study revealed that the pandemic had affected the sleeping pattern of Indians to a huge extent.
Now, various reasons for the poor sleep pattern of the Chennai residents have been brought out and these are stress due to shutdown, disruption of work-life balance due to work from home, more screen usage etc. These have led to several health issues in the public.
Dr D.S. Jayaraman, senior consultant pulmonologist at MGM Healthcare, Chennai expressed his thoughts. He spoke about the reports regarding erratic sleeping patterns ranging from too little to too much sleep. He explained that the erratic sleep pattern has led to metabolic issues such as BP, diabetes, cholesterol issues etc in those who did not have these issues before in their lives. Lastly, he mentioned that the non-communicable diseases have increased while Covid-19 began spreading in the Chennai city.
The disruption of sleep timings has led to many to sleep for a longer duration of time in the pandemic. This had in turn affected the sleep quality leading to issues like sleep apnea etc. This was mentioned by Dr. Spoorthi Arun, physician, internal medicine, Promed Hospitals. She added that obstructive sleep apnea has been one of the biggest problems for many. This issue is related to co-morbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cardiac and mental health issues etc.
Dr. Bhuvaneswari Rajendran, consultant neurology and neurophysiology, Kauvery Hospitals was of the view that insomnia has been one of the main issues in youngsters. She hinted that several mild to moderate cases were diagnosed throughout the shutdown. She concluded that factors like increased screen time, stress and anxiety etc have been responsible for insomnia in the younger population in Chennai.
