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

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 st