A New Hypothesis on Anxiety, Sleep Insufficiency, and Viral Infections; Reciprocal Links to Consider in Today's “World vs. COVID-19” Endeavors

In today’s ever-growing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, many have noticed sleep insufficiency such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, sleep-related behavioral symptoms and out-of-phase circadian rhythmicity despite the lacking history for such symptoms. Meanwhile, disruption in sleep bioparameters are much expected in those who have had history of sleep disorders including individuals receiving treatment. From all types of sleep disorders, a significant fraction is considered to be predominantly psychobehavioral. As such, behavioral sleep disorders are expected to be nothing short of prevalent given the today’s amount of anxiety everyone is feeling about COVID-19. On the other hand, evidences have supported the cross-link between impaired sleep efficiency and disrupted innate immunity which makes individuals more susceptible to viral infections. That said, the present brief review is an attempt to highlight the links between psychosocial stress, sleep insufficiency and susceptibility to viral infections which may potentially include COVID-19. Stress management measures, addressing sleep-related disorders and sleep hygiene can expectedly leave a notable impact on harnessing immune response and hence decreasing the susceptibility to viral infections.