Effects of social isolation on sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency that has seriously affected mental health in the general population. Both, studies on previous epidemics and those conducted during the current pandemic have reported a wide range of psychosocial consequences and multiple psychological symptoms as a result of said outbreaks, and among these problems, sleep/wake cycle alterations stand out. Publications addressing this phenomenon have consistently reported that nearly a third of people who experience social isolation develop insomnia, which, in turn, is an important predictor for mental disorders that affect people's functionality, including anxiety disorders, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. This reflection paper aims to describe the effects that social isolation may have on sleep in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic.