Exactly six months ago, I wrote a post about how I was having trouble sleeping for the first time in years. That was a few weeks into lockdown, when death rates were soaring and the air was heavy with fear. I remember I was visited by bouts of sleeplessness that would last a few days every two-three weeks. As the pandemic eased and death rates fell my sleep improved, and I haven't had trouble sleeping for months now.
Last night, however, I could feel that my anxiety levels had perceptibly risen, along with the soaring infection rates as we gird for a second wave and possibly a second lockdown. To add to my stress, the next month or so is crucial for me as I am preparing a job application and trying to turbocharge my thesis writing. If Covid wants to strike at the worst possible moment, it would be now. So, I was prepared for the first of possibly many sleepless nights. During such phases, it often happens that I feel drowsy during bedtime, nod off for a few minutes and wake up with a jolt that sweeps my drowsiness away. While that happened last night too, it wasn't a precursor to a sleepless night. I managed to sleep but was assailed by multiple nightmares, which I could remember clearly when I woke up in the morning. But, as it often happens with nightmares, I couldn't remember even one a few hours later. A friend told me a few weeks ago that she had been getting the most bizzare nightmares too. She is going through an extremely stressful situation so I wasn't surprised. But, maybe nightmares are a coping mechanism, as the brain processes the various negative emotions experienced during the day. I am sure neuroscientists and scientists have studied nightmares extensively, but the point of this blog is to hold forth on subjects with a rookie's confidence. Whatever the physiological purpose of nightmares, I would take them over sleeplessness any day.
No comments:
Post a Comment