Shifting sleep patterns during lockdown an issue for many

With many forced to home school their kids, it can be a struggle to maintain an appropriate sleeping pattern. Hillarys is an tech company which calculates children’s ideal hours of sleep based on their age. The company says that all children’s body clocks are “unique” and some need “12 hours or more.”

“Happy mornings rely on sleeping patterns that fall in line with sleep cycles. And that’s where our sleep calculator helps. Most children take roughly 14 minutes to nod off,” said Hillarys.

“The Sleep Calculator for kids works out the best time for your child to wake up by counting sleep cycles. Each cycle for a five-year-old lasts around 30 minutes. Waking up mid-cycle can mean your child wakes up grumpy.”

Diana Tighe O’Broin is a local counsellor at Brick and Feather 42. She is also a psychotherapist and her practice is based on Great James Street. Diana has found that the pandemic has “heightened anxiety and sleepless nights.”

“Children need more sleep than adults. They need up to nine or nine and a half hours of sleep, teenagers are the same,” she said.

“Teenagers need the same amount of sleep nearly as when they were a baby because their brain is developing at the same rate, and so fast. An adult would need between six and half hours or eight hours each night.

“We know how important sleep is. It is hugely important to how you process what happens in your day. So if you don’t sleep well, you can be carrying the emotions from today and tomorrow.”

Diana’s physical practice has been closed since the third week of December. She has noticed that depression, insomnia and anxiety has increased since the first lockdown in March 20.

“Like everyone else, I’ve no idea really when we can open up again. That is causing clients anxiety as well. So it is impact on impact, on impact,” she said.

“If you’re doing shift work, then it can be very difficult to change the pattern of your sleep. People who do shift work for decades can lose three or four years of their life expectancy towards the end of their life. Sleep is huge in how we engage with people, how we do our job, our relationships and how we learn.

“I would say about 30% of my clients are on Zoom, and the rest are by telephone. And I have some who want to wait until I open. I’ve had a lot of people asking for sessions one to one.

“The pandemic has given people issues they never had before. I would have clients recognise that they weren’t anxious before Covid 19 arrived. They’ve realised that it wasn’t something they’ve had before.”

Lisa Morrison has been working in the retail sector for six years. She was placed on furlough in December.

She said the new restrictions have had an impact.

“My sleeping pattern has suffered, like everyone else’s I’m sure,” she said.

“My usual shift began at 8.30am. I would wake up at 6.30am and go a run for 7am. I loved my wee routine. But now with the new restrictions in place, I have trouble sleeping at night. I find myself watching and reading things online, and then losing the track of time.”

Lisa likened The Eat Out to Help Out scheme in the summer to “a ticking time bomb” which has contributed to where we are today. “I understand that it was beneficial for the local economies, but we’re right back in the position we where left in at the beginning of the pandemic. The Government clearly took these risks without thinking of the consequences.”

Brendan Mahon is a local chef who has been working in the hospitality sector for four years. He believes that lockdowns can be a “blessing in disguise,” especially for anyone who has become a parent during these times.

“My sleeping pattern has definitely been affected recently. Not really because I’m not working, more so because I recently became a father,” he said. “My sleeping patterns have become dictated by when my son sleeps. In a way, being off work is a blessing in disguise for anyone with a new baby, getting to spend much more time with him than I would have pre-Covid.”

Brendan added: “I’ve found many things challenging during the pandemic. Health worries, financial worries and not seeing family members and friends are all very challenging, but the worst thing for me is not knowing when its going to end. Bad times are easier when you can see a way out.”

Learning Pool is an e-learning company which was formed in 2006. Louise McElvaney is the Director of People and Performance and takes care of HR functions. She has found that generally speaking “people have lost their freedom.”

“People’s moods perhaps, isn’t as positive as it might’ve been pre-pandemic. That manifests in lots of ways. For some people I guess it may be that they’re not sleeping well. For others it may be that they’ve a short temper or that they’re more anxious,” she said.

Learning Pool has 260 employees and around 110 of them are based in Derry. Louise says that she has realised that “not everyone will want to come back to the office five days a week.”

“We’ve had a noticeably busy year. We hired 51 people in 2020 and we have 13 open positions available at the minute,” she said.

“To make sure morale was good, we ran a lot of fun stuff on our internal communications platform. We ran competitions for employee’s kids- things like colouring competitions, video competitions, that kind of thing. We gave everyone an extra day off in the summer because it is line with our values.

“Promoting that positive awareness for each individual and making sure they have what they need to be able to do the job. I’ve surveyed the team a couple of times and we’ve realised that not everyone is going to want to come into the office five days a week. Most people are saying that they would like to do two or three days in the office. And we will facilitate that where possible.”