Psycho: living with insomnia

About one in two people have seen their sleep deteriorate due to the pandemic, but being part of this statistic places a heavy burden on their daily lives and a major impact on the rest of their life.

In her early forties, Lyne is an active woman, eager for challenges. Account manager in a communication agency, she is as effective in the office as at home. But, for the past two years, his sleep problems have taken over.

“Before the pandemic, I was already working two days a week at home, being teleworked full time was not a big change, she explained in an interview. However, I started having trouble falling asleep, I could easily stay an hour or an hour and a half in my bed before falling asleep.

Thereafter, she woke up frequently in the middle of the night, unable to go back to sleep until morning. At the beginning of the summer of 2020, insomnia began to impact his daily life. “I had trouble concentrating. I was much more irritable with my son, with my boyfriend, and even with my colleagues. I started to have dark circles under my eyes, my skin was not the same either.

Lyne talks about it with friends who send her all kinds of stuff: melatonin, meditation and/or yoga sessions, bath before bed, etc. “I really tried everything, but nothing worked in the long term. I also tried to have a separate room with my boyfriend, sleep with my cat, the situation did not improve, and I always refused to take sleeping pills.

Descent into hell

Insomnia has been an ordeal for Édouard Genest, a 72-year-old retiree. “I have had insomnia for at least 40 years. The little time I sleep, often during the day, is never restorative. Sometimes I feel like I’m dead, I’m always tired, like in a bit of a comatose state. The man lives alone in his apartment in the Rosemont district, and his daily life is very heavy. “I wait for sleep to take hold of me while watching TV in my bed. I look back on my life, I wonder what I could have done to get here. I feel like I’ve wasted my life.”

Plagued by chronic insomnia since his thirties, Édouard had found a solution. “I worked for more than 20 years at night in a factory, it was already easier for me. I was still tired, but I had an excuse. I couldn’t really sleep coming back from the shop, but as it was daytime, I was not brooding. I could go two days without sleep and continue to work.”

Retirement and some health problems have forced him to return to a daytime life, common to most of society. “I tried all sorts of things to try to sleep. Over the years I’ve taken sleeping pills, anti-anxiety drugs, pot, nothing has worked. On the other hand, I became addicted and I had to follow a detoxification, like a drug addict.

What if I can’t sleep anymore?

Sleep specialists advise several actions if you face periods of occasional insomnia. Above all, you must avoid taking naps during the day, stop consuming stimulating foods (coffee, tea, chocolate, etc.), do more physical activity (but not in the evening before bedtime) and banish screens ( TV, tablet, telephone) in the bedroom. For severe problems, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia was developed several years ago. It is possible to follow it in a public hospital or in private establishments, such as Haleo clinics.