Take Stock Of The Day
Cant stop thinking about work, or something else that happened in the day? Wardle recommends taking stock of the situation: what really happened and what didnt? How is the mind exaggerating? Are things really so bad?
It might help to make a quick list of whats going on in your head. What are your top three worries? Now, add brief solutions to the issues youve written down. And were talking bite-size, actionable chunks not lengthy paragraph-long conclusions.
Ways To Relieve Nighttime Anxiety
So, how do you actually relieve the anxiety at night? I have a handful of tips and pieces of advice here to help you get your sleep and relieve the anxiety at night, and encourage you to investigate for yourself what helps and what doesnt. Everyone has their own unique experience, so remain open to different practices and methods. Feel into your experience and investigate. Remember, if you are having trouble with any of these you can always work with a therapist online or in person to help you reduce night time anxiety.
Ive separated this list out into things you can do at night while youre experiencing anxiety, and overall changes you can make during your day that may help reduce anxiety once you get into bed.
Set An Intention Early
Many of us go from one activity to the next throughout our day without really considering how we are feeling, let alone how we would like to feel. For example, do you ever come home after a long day of work and think to yourself, I really want to relax and enjoy this evening?
Most likely you are far too busy or preoccupied to stop and ponder how you want your evening to be. However, by setting an intention early, you are more likely to get the results you want.
If you remind yourself each day that you are determined to have a peaceful evening, you are more likely to actually experience it that way.
Remembering to set an intention is easier when you mark a certain point in your day for it. For example, while driving home from work, you may be going over in your mind all the stress that you went through that day.
At a certain point during your drive home, such as when you drive over a certain bridge or pass a particular landmark, you can set the intention to let go of work stress from that point forward and enjoy the rest of your evening. Another option can be to set an alarm that reminds you to set your intention for a nice evening.
Regardless of what type of prompt works for you, get in the habit of setting your personal objective of how you want to feel each evening.
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Using Relaxation Techniques To Overcome Anxiety At Night
When To See A Doctor
Constant anxiety that makes it difficult to sleep at night can affect your daily quality of life. Your work or school performance may worsen, and you may find it hard to complete your normal daily tasks.
If anxiety and lack of sleep are affecting your life in this way, its important to reach out to a doctor or mental health specialist for help.
For some people, nighttime anxiety can lead to insomnia. Insomnia is defined as persistent trouble falling or staying asleep. Chronic insomnia can have negative health effects, including an increased risk of:
- health conditions, such as high blood pressure and a weakened immune system
- mental health conditions, such as depression
Whether your doctor makes a diagnosis of anxiety, insomnia, or both, reaching out is the first step in the treatment process.
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Family History Of Panic Attacks
Generally, researchers have often found a link between genetics and certain mental health conditions. If there is a history of panic attacks in your family, it may be the cause of your very own panic attacks. One study found that if a close family member has a panic disorder, the likelihood increases to around 3040%.
Reason #: Poor Sleep Cycle
According to Lawson, insomnia and anxiety share a strong relationship, meaning sleep problems or insomnia can cause anxiety and vice versa.
If youve always been anxious or struggled to fall asleep, you may have developed a pattern of poor or interrupted sleep. This makes your body most susceptible to stress and insomnia. Types of Anxiety Disorders
Research also shows that sleep disorders occur in almost all psychiatric and anxiety disorders. Some of these include:
- Generalized anxiety disorder: Worry over everyday events, making it difficult to relax.
- Social anxiety disorder: The anticipation of social situations can often prevent sleep at night.
- Compulsive-obsessive disorder: Research suggests that intrusive thoughts and fears can keep people up when theyre trying to fall asleep.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder: The constant re-experiencing of traumatic events can induce nightmares and rob people of sleep.
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Complications Of Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is treatable and you can make a full recovery. But its best to get medical help as soon as you can.
If you do not get medical help, panic disorder can escalate and become very difficult to cope with.
Youre more at risk of developing other mental health conditions, such as agoraphobia or other phobias, or an alcohol or drug problem.
Having panic disorder may affect your ability to drive. The law requires you to inform the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency about a medical condition that could impact your driving ability.
Visit GOV.UK for further information about driving with a disability or health condition.
What Is Anxiety Doing To Your Body
Simply defined, anxiety is the anticipation of a future threat. Itâs different from fear, which is defined as an emotional response to an imminent threat. In other words, fear is a response to a known or understood threat, while anxiety is usually about an unknown or poorly defined threat, something that may or may not happen in the future.
Both fear and anxiety can trigger your bodyâs stress response. Also known as the fight, flight, or freeze response, itâs a physiological reaction to something your body has perceived as a threat.
In response to a threat, your adrenal glands pump extra adrenaline and cortisol â hormones that trigger the release of blood sugar and fat into your blood â giving you a boost of energy. These hormones also increase your heart rate and blood pressure to help more blood reach your muscles, heart, and other organs so that youâll be ready to fight or run away from whatever is threatening you. In your brain, the extra oxygen sharpens your senses and increases alertness.
From an evolutionary perspective, itâs easy to see how the bodyâs stress response would be critical to our survival as a species. Whether it was a saber-toothed tiger or an attack from a rival tribe, our prehistoric ancestors had plenty to fear as they fought to survive another day.
But you dont have to have a clinically diagnosed anxiety disorder to feel the effects of chronic stress, especially when it disrupts your sleep.
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Settle Into Your Routines
When it comes to sleep, routine is your best friend.
- Eating at the same time every day helps regulate your circadian rhythms.
- Eating breakfast signals that its time for your body to wake up.
- Regular daytime exercise releases endorphins and decreases levels of cortisol, the hormone behind stress.
- Going to bed at the same time every night teaches your body to get sleepy around the same time.
But if you want to lessen nighttime anxiety, its still important to implement a specific nighttime routine.
You cant expect to go from 100 mph and then suddenly stop, Dr. Albers says. Instead, institute a 30-minute transition between bedtime and the rest of your day.
Try quiet, tech-free activities that reduce your cortisol levels and help ease you into sleep, such as:
- Doing yoga stretches.
What Causes Panic Attacks At Night
If you wake up with a panic attack, it’s not often clear why these nighttime panic attacks have occurred – often there is no explanation. Similar to daytime panic attacks, symptoms can include feeling faint or dizzy, a pounding heart, shortness of breath, nausea, and sweating. However, we do know that the brain doesnt switch off during sleep, so its possible for any pent-up worries or anxieties to manifest in our unconscious brains, causing a nocturnal panic attack. Also, struggling with daytime panic attacks makes it more likely that you will experience panic attacks at night.
While nocturnal panic attacks can be sudden and frightening, theyre actually a common mental health condition. So what causes them?
Research suggests there are a number of other factors that could increase the risk of someone suffering from both day and night time panic attacks. These include:
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Impacts Of Panic Attacks At Night
Nighttime panic attacks result in issues both directly and indirectly. Directly, the person will feel immensely uncomfortable, fearful, and scared. Indirectly, these panic attacks and the fear of additional panic attacks can result in higher levels of stress and anxiety that spread throughout the individuals waking life.
As the person begins to anticipate the next panic attack, they could:1,2
Overall, panic attacks are extremely problematic and detrimental to the individual who experiences them.
Panic attacks are linked to:1,3
- Higher rates of depression, generalized anxiety, and panic disorder
- Greater physical health concerns
- Higher rates of suicide
Sensory Grounding With Ice Or Cold Water
If you have a washcloth and a water bottle, you have a good start to a panic attack survival kit. Sometimes panic attacks make people feel uncomfortably hot. A damp washcloth around the neck or face can ease this feeling and give you a sensation to think about.
3 ways water can calm a panic attack:
- Hold an ice cube in your hand and focus on the sensation
- Place a cold, wet washcloth on the back of your neck
- Dunk your head into a bowl of ice water
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Prepare For The Next Day
Many people find it anxiety-provoking to think about all that they need to do the next day. Being prepared is one of the best things to do to avoid this type of anxiety. Get as much ready as you can, like having your clothes picked out, lunches and bags packed, and your alarm clock set. Putting a small amount of effort into preparation can help keep evening anxiety under control.
Make Sure Theyre Nocturnal Panic Attacks
Nocturnal panic attacks are, quite simply, panic attacks that occur while we are asleep. They may also occur just as we are drifting off to sleep. Any panic attack that occurs while awake and lucid, such as when we are lying in bed about to go to sleep, is a regular panic attack and should be treated as such. More information on how to stop a regular panic attack can be found here.
Nocturnal panic attacks share the same symptoms as regular daytime panic attacks. Waking up from sleep feeling short of breath or with a racing heart are the most common symptoms of nocturnal panic attacks. Before assuming that what youre experiencing are nocturnal panic attacks, lets try and rule out some other, similar-feeling possibilities.
- Sleep Apnea A potentially serious issue where your breathing starts and stops in your sleep. This can be due to a number of factors like obesity or a narrowed airway.
- Sleep Terrors Also called night terrors, this involves people screaming, flailing, and panicking while still asleep. This can be tied to sleepwalking.
- Sleep Paralysis This state occurs when, while falling asleep or waking up, a person is mentally awake but physically unable to move. It can be a terrifying experience often described as having a weight sitting on ones chest.
- Hypnic Jerks in involuntary twitch that can occur as we are falling asleep. This often manifests itself as the feeling of falling or tripping in a dream.
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How To Deal With Panic Attacks At Night
We discussed the symptoms and the causes. How would you deal with it when you think you are experiencing the attack?
There are many ways to deal with the situation that can be done as first aid when you think of it as your first attack. But, first, you might want to calm down your mind before you calm your body.
What Happens When Anxiety Interrupts Sleep
When anxiety causes inadequate sleep, it can go beyond the tiredness of a regular all-nighter. Poinsett says that anxiety can be a trigger for sleep deprivation, creating a vicious cycle that can further affect your sleep pattern.
While the impact of sleep anxiety is largely individual, some common effects of sleep anxiety include:
- Negatively impacts your mood
- Increases chance of depression
- Reduces cognitive reaction times
A small study even found that those who have insomnia are four times more likely to develop depression.
In addition to mental health issues, those with sleep disorders can be at risk for other health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, and obesity.
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How To Reduce Your Panic Attacks At Night
A panic attack is a brief episode of intense anxiety, which causes the physical sensations of fear. The symptoms may include a pounding or racing heart, sweating, chills, trembling, breathing problems, and many others.
Though in many cases the attack has a cause, nighttime panic attacks can occur with no obvious trigger and awaken you from sleep. And getting a good nights sleep is essential for your health and overall wellbeing.
Fortunately, there are a few ways to make coping with nighttime panic attacks easier, and the good news is that most of them arent that complicated. They include methods as straightforward as taking deep breaths, getting up and doing something, or even investing in a weighted blanket.
Of course, theres no one-size-fits-all solution, so the process of reducing the severity of your panic attacks at night might be a process of trial and error, but to learn what will work for you, you first have to try it. Here are five tips on coping with panic attacks that you might test for yourself.
What Is A Nocturnal Panic Attack
Panic attacks are unexpected, sudden episodes of intense anxiety or fear. Those who experience panic attacks while awake can often identify triggers , however nocturnal panic attacks can happen without a trigger, often waking a person from sleep. Nocturnal panic attacks trigger the same symptoms as they would during the day, just at night. These include:
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Feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or faint
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Feeling disconnected from your surroundings and out of control
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Increased heart rate
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Shortness of breath and chest pains
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Excessive sweating and fluctuating body temperature
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Shaking or trembling
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Palpitations and muscle spasms
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Tingling and numbness
Although nocturnal panic attacks typically last for only a few minutes, its much harder to calm yourself down and fall asleep again. Worrying about whether you may have another panic attack can also lead to insomnia and sleeping difficulties.
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Always Seek Professional Advice
Always seek medical advice if you are not sure whether your symptoms, or another persons symptoms, indicate a panic attack. In an emergency, dial triple zero for an ambulance. Its important to see your doctor for a check-up to make sure that any recurring physical panic-like symptoms are not due to illnesses, including:
How To Subdue A Panic Episode In 9 Steps
Here is something you can try to treat the pre-described symptoms,
It is a series of simple breathing techniques aimed at helping your body override its natural fight-or-flight response .
The following may be performed sitting down, standing up, or lying down. You can do this whilst on a crowded commute into work, when youre in bed, during a stressful work meeting, or basically in any situation where it is safe to switch your attention to yourself for a few minutes.
To feel less panicky, do the following:
This simple breathing exercise is effective because when you are feeling stressed, your breathing pattern changes. When we feel anxious, out natural physiological response is to breathe too much in short shallow bursts.
The above abdominal breathing exercise makes you conscious of how you are breathing.
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