You wake up and hope that maybe it’s all been just a bad dream, that this COVID-19 thing is really just “Groundhog Day 2”. But then reality seeps in; you start your daily routine, whatever day or month it is. Perhaps some forces working against each other here might actually help some people with a little balance in the long run- anxiety vs. sleep.
Hawai’i adults have the 3rd lowest percentage of frequent mental distress of any state, yet we get the least amount of sleep of any state in the country; and that was pre-coronavirus. Hawai’i ranked 50th out of 50 states in adults getting sufficient sleep (defined as at least seven hours nightly) in studies from 2016 and last year.
One rationalization for Hawai`i’s lack of sleep is the large number of people working multiple jobs and/or longer hours to make ends meet, which decreases the probability of getting those requisite seven hours of sleep daily. Poverty also plays a role, but our state’s poverty rate (11%) actually ranks us as the 7th lowest state in terms of poverty.
But what happens now when people spend months at home; when daily routines completely change; when four people in a household Zoom all day; when jobs are interrupted or lost amid a weak economy? Are people nowadays sleeping better because they’re home more, or are unplanned stresses causing mental distress locally to creep above the 14.7% adult national average? More people with more time to ponder what’s next or what’s to be when this virus thing finally tapers off.
Sleeplessness, restless sleep, and lack of sleep affect attentiveness (driving, general cognition, etc.) and increase one’s chances for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, and heart disease. Quality sleep is a necessity, not a luxury, but many here find sleep to be just one more chore crammed into an already busy day.
Perhaps local medical leaders are analyzing 2020 statistics related to stress, despair, anxiety, sleeplessness, suicide ideation, and other coronavirus-related developments. More action to educate and suggest preventive treatments must take place in the trying months ahead. Losing sleep debilitates and affects work output, emotional resilience, and general attitude. Sleep, and lack thereof, must be an integral part of our larger discussion today about COVID-19 and Hawai`i’s collective mental health. Everyone’s tired of the novel coronavirus; but it’s even worse when everyone’s simply tired.
Think about it…