Stress and sleep disturbances in COVID-19 pandemic, current neurology and psychology aspects: a narrative review

Abstract

Pandemic is a phenomenon that has been occurring for decades. In the past two years, the world has again faced a pandemic situation due to coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. People also experience psychological stress conditions in the form of anxiety, worry, and anger due to the social impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as has happened in other countries. Social distancing regulations lead to an increase in psychiatric symptoms, including stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances can also have a negative impact on health, quality of work, and the risk of bad behavior or events in the workplace, as well as the risk of work-related accidents or injuries. There is a correlation between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the neuroendocrine stress axis. The ability of an organism to adapt to the stressors encountered involves the sympathoadrenal system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The interactions between these two systems play an important role in adaptation. Excessive or chronic activation of the endocrine stress axis, which also causes feedback loop disruption, triggers and contributes to a variety of stress disorders and conditions in humans, including anxiety, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and job burnout.