Ah, the losing of sleep I'm describing is not due to the bells, but it is a good point that not sleeping is practically institutional at a monastery.

I think whether losing sleep is negative depends on the framing.

In Buddhism, it is taken as a sign of progress, but in secular contexts lacking sleep like that can be a problem, esp. when meditation is mistakenly suggested to help with insomnia.

Mostly I struggled to have equanimity towards the lack of sleep - losing sleep also impacted my meditation, making it harder to concentrate or have good sessions. I would say mostly it felt like I just needed less sleep, but even so it was hard to lie awake every night for several hours, unable to lose consciousness.