Have you struggled with your sleeping pattern during the Covid-19 lockdown? Can't sleep or sleeping too much? Whatever the problem with your sleep, you're not alone. Argus columnist Jon Powell looked at the issue.

MOST of us need around eight hours of good quality sleep.

Losing one night of good sleep might make us feel agitated, but is unlikely to do us any harm.

However, prolonged lack of quality sleep can disrupt the immune system and have a impact on our mood, not just creating issues for the sufferer, but those around them.

MORE NEWS:

Newport-based psychotherapeutic counsellor and coach Clare Legge said: "If during this period of lockdown we resist our feelings and suppress grief at the loss and separation of being taken away from our normal lives, the grief gets stuck in the body, and we can end up with chronic stress, anxiety, sleep problems and or fatigue, increased aches and pains, digestive issues and unhealthy coping mechanisms.

South Wales Argus:

Clare Legge

Clare, whose work was featured in a Channel 5 documentary added: "Sleep is a very personal thing, and lots of things can interfere with it. Our natural sleep pattern may be different from the one we have been programmed with in early life, so when something transformational or traumatic happens our programs may also get disrupted."

The Sleep Charity and Sleepstation surveyed more than 2,700 people to find out the current state of the nation’s sleep during Covid-19.

The National Sleep Survey findings revealed:

  • Almost half of respondents (43 per cent) are now finding it harder to fall asleep, with unease around the current situation affecting sleep for three quarters of people (75 per cent).
  • More than one in 10 people (12 per cent) are experiencing severe symptoms of depression, with women much more likely to report depressive symptoms in the moderate-severe range than men.
  • More than three quarters (77 per cent) said lack of sleep is interfering with their ability to function in the day (daytime fatigue, concentration, mood).
  • Women are suffering more than men with anxiety around coronavirus, and are twice as likely to report feeling stressed compared to men.
  • Women also report having more vivid dreams.

With more than 25 years experience in the field Clare concluded: "It’s understandable that some people will feel helpless during this time when there is much still out of our direct control. However, there is much that we can do, we can self-soothe, we have control over our reactions to what is happening by shifting our thinking, we have choice - that is our human free will."