![]() NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. Pleasant dreams to all.Ĭopyright © 2021 NPR. ![]() Jennifer Martin, who teaches medicine at UCLA and is a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. SIMON: No, I - we don't take it personally. ![]() Might be a good way to wind down (laughter). Sorry to say, maybe, you know, turning off the NPR app at some point before you go to bed. MARTIN: But one of the things that I think has happened during the pandemic as folks have blurred the lines between their work lives and their personal lives, is that oftentimes were doing work we're reading the news media. And if that involves a cup of hot milk, sounds like a great option to me. So one of the best ways to get a good night's sleep is to put your day to rest. Forgive me for getting this mundane, but what about the old, you know, cup of hot milk? I know, for example, that an extra glass of alcohol is not a good idea. ![]() If they can't get their mind off not sleeping and then go back to bed a little later when they're feeling tired again. Sometimes we actually recommend that people just give up and get out of bed for a while. And if they're able to just, you know, quietly lie in bed and start thinking about their favorite sports teams or a theater performance that they saw a couple of years ago or a family vacation and get their mind off it, sleep comes back a lot more quickly. MARTIN: One of the things that we often recommend is that people do something else. Probably the worse thing to do is to lie in bed and think about how horrible it is to be awake. SIMON: When I struggle, (laughter) I run plays in my mind by the old Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton. So if people go through a course of that and they're still struggling, sometimes we might add a sleeping pill to help with that. We usually think about sleeping pills as the second tool in our in our toolbox, not the first one. MARTIN: The first-line treatment for chronic sleep problems is a treatment called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. SIMON: I have to ask, are over-the-counter sleep prescriptions safe? Poor sleep quality and insomnia is one of the consequences for people recovering from COVID as well. And then there's the impact of COVID itself on sleep. Purchasing over the counter and supplements to try to help folks sleep has gone up pretty dramatically. One is the number of people taking prescription sleeping pills has gone up during the COVID pandemic. MARTIN: We've seen a few trends that are quite concerning in this area. SIMON: And have you found any kind of link between COVID and sleep disorders? They tend to have a harder time even just getting along with their families and functioning in their daily lives. They're at higher risk for accidents and injuries. MARTIN: Good point - we know that people who don't sleep well or don't sleep enough have higher risk for cardiovascular diseases, metabolic issues, like Type 2 diabetes. And we should remind ourselves that lack of sleep isn't just aggravating. And those factors related to stress also can be very disruptive to our sleep. A lot of people were directly impacted by COVID, either because they themselves got sick or because their loved ones did. We also know that there's been, as you alluded to in your opening, a lot of stress in a lot of people's lives - you know, financial considerations. And adjusting to these new habits and routines, it takes some time. MARTIN: For a number of folks who, you know, maybe used to get up and go into an office every day, teleworking might be a permanent situation now. One is that for a lot of folks, their normal habits and routines around sleep are quite different these days. We think there's two big reasons for this. A lot of folks who slept perfectly well in their pre-pandemic lives are struggling now. And it's not just a bunch of anecdotes, is it? SIMON: So what's the secret? I mean this - there is a link between the pandemic and insomnia. Good morning - hope you had a good night's sleep. Jennifer Martin is a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and joins us now from Los Angeles. Call it coronasomia (ph), or insomnia caused by the relentlessness of the pandemic. worried about a pandemic, hurricanes, wildfires and the future of democracy. How have you been sleeping? My wife and I have been fine, except when we wake up at 3 a.m.
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