Sunday, August 16th 2026
After the solar eclipse on August 12, social media was filled with pictures of the sky, as well as some unusual posts.
Some users claimed that in the days surrounding the eclipse they slept worse, woke up at night, had strange dreams or felt inexplicably exhausted.
On Instagram, under a post dedicated to the eclipse, one user briefly wrote: “I couldn’t either to sleep last night.”
Similar claims appeared in Threads prior to the event. One user wrote that she had been “up until 5:30 all week,” while another said, “My sleep has been interrupted and I’ve been having weird dreams all week.”
This detail is important: some people reported sleep problems even before the eclipse. This means that their statements may be true, but they do not in themselves prove that the eclipse was the cause.
Similar stories emerge after almost every eclipse
The phenomenon is not new. After the 2024 total solar eclipse, a Reddit user wrote that he couldn’t sleep after the event and was extremely thoughtful and emotional. Other users describe increased fatigue or the need to sleep for long periods of time.
In other discussions, people have mentioned very vivid dreams, restlessness and a feeling of emotional overload. Such experiences may be entirely real on an individual level, but the question is whether there is a biological mechanism by which an eclipse can directly cause such symptoms.
Could a few minutes of darkness disrupt our internal clock?
Our circadian rhythm, or our internal biological clock that regulates wakefulness and sleep, is strongly dependent on the alternation of light and darkness. The light our eyes receive is one of the main signals the brain uses to determine when we should be awake and when to prepare for sleep. Research confirms that exposure to light, especially in the evening and at night, can affect the secretion of melatonin and change our circadian rhythm.
However, this does not mean that a few minutes or a shorter period of darkness during an eclipse can disrupt a night’s sleep.
Scientific literature is well documented on the reactions of animals to the sudden reduction of light during a total eclipse. For example, studies have shown that birds can briefly switch to dusk or dawn behavior during a total eclipse. In humans, such an effect on sleep has not been conclusively demonstrated.
There is no strong evidence that the eclipse causes insomnia
Studies that have attempted to link solar or lunar events to human behavior have not found a strong, consistent link. A study of psychiatric patients, for example, found no significant relationship between eclipses and changes in behavior.
There are studies that suggest that sleep may change somewhat during different phases of the moon. A large Swedish study of 852 people found changes in sleep duration and efficiency during the waxing and waning phases of the moon, but the authors themselves point out that due to the study design, it is not possible to conclude that the moon itself is the cause of these changes. This is a different phenomenon than a solar eclipse.
So why do some people really sleep worse?
An eclipse is an unusual and highly anticipated event. People read about it for days, follow the weather forecast, plan their trip, stay out longer than usual or spend hours looking at photos and videos after the event.
Arousal or anxiety alone can make it difficult to fall asleep. If a person anticipates that the eclipse may disrupt their sleep, they may also pay more attention to normal nighttime awakenings than usual.
Insomnia research shows that expectations can affect how people experience their sleep. A meta-analysis of 13 studies showed a measurable placebo effect on the subjective assessment of falling asleep, total sleep duration, and sleep quality.
In other words, what we expect can affect how we evaluate our night.
Social media further amplifies the effect
This week, numerous posts have circulated on social media reporting “strange dreams,” fatigue, restlessness and trouble sleeping before the eclipse. Some even asked users directly if they were already experiencing such symptoms.
This may create a kind of waiting effect. It is known in psychology that negative expectations can intensify the subjective experience of symptoms, which is often described as the nocebo effect. Research shows that expectations and anxiety are important factors in such reactions.
This does not mean that people are “making up” symptoms. If one has not been able to sleep, his experience is real. But the cause is not necessarily an astronomical event per se.
An eclipse can have a powerful effect on emotions
However, there is one effect of the eclipse that is much easier to explain – psychologically.
A total eclipse is a rare and visually extremely powerful event. People who have seen one often describe it as one of the most intense experiences of their lives. In a recent Reddit discussion, one observer described it as one of the most “intensely powerful experiences” he’s ever had.
Such excitement, travel, anticipation, and emotional response are enough to disrupt some people’s sleep routines for at least one night.
Bottom line: The experiences are real, but the cause isn’t proven
So if you’ve had trouble sleeping after the eclipse, don’t you are alone People are reporting insomnia, restless sleep, unusual dreams, and fatigue on social media.
But there is currently no good scientific evidence that a solar eclipse itself directly causes insomnia or other changes in the human body.
Far more likely explanations are excitement, a change in daily routine, going to bed later, more screen time, anxiety, or just the fact that after so much talking about “eclipse energy”, we are starting to pay much more attention to how we feel.
Source: prizrenpost
