It’s been over six months since Julianne, 20, had a good night’s sleep. “When I’m lucky I fall asleep around 1 am… Most of the time, it’s around 3 or 4 am”, says the law student, who feels “Constantly tired”. The process began when classes returned to online in October: the somewhat chaotic organization of teaching and exams created “Panic attacks”, which permanently delayed his sleep. Being locked up all day doesn’t help: it ends it “Emotionally exhausted but not physically”.
While the impact of the crisis on sleep observed in spring 2020 has tended to be absorbed for the general population, young people continue to be strongly affected, indicates a study conducted during the second confinement among 1,000 French by the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance. Almost 40% of 18-24 year olds reported trouble sleeping, compared to a quarter of the general population. “This age group is already in normal times vulnerable, underlines Stéphanie Mazza, neuropsychologist and teacher-researcher specializing in sleep at Lyon-I. There, these are the ones that continue to be held the most at home, with distance learning courses. ”
“Digital activity also induces little walking, natural light … All the levers for maintaining physical and mental health are affected”, underlines Stéphanie Mazza, neuropsychologist
With online education, the aggravating factors of sleep disorders come together. “For the students, all life is grouped together in the same small space, the bed sometimes serves as a desk”, notes the researcher, who also points to the harmful effect of screens, in front of which students are riveted for their lessons, but also for entertainment. “Blue light from screens has a very deleterious impact on the internal clock, she observes. Digital activity also induces little walking, natural light… All the levers for maintaining physical and mental health have been reached. “
Vicious circle
Pablo Samuel, who studies earth sciences at university, links the onset of his sleep problems to his first migraine headaches from screens. Then, it was the anxiety that prevailed. The 18-year-old from Strasbourg had not imagined having to live almost all of his first year as a distance student. “I can no longer follow my visio. It worries me to drop out, and adds guilt ”, says the young man, who only sleeps a few hours a night and sees consequences on his health: more tendency to fall ill, loss of appetite, but also a form of depression that sets in.
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