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How To Sleep Faster With Anxiety

When Should A Person See Their Doctor

Sleep Hygiene How to Stop Stress and Anxiety Insomnia, Top 3 Tips For Getting Great Sleep

Its really when you begin to realize things arent right, or if you notice clusters of signs. This is where knowing your responses can be of use. To do this, Dr Tang suggests a body scan. When you have a few moments to yourself, relax in a seated or lying down position. Working your way up or down the body, tense then relax your muscles . This way you can recognize the difference between your body in a tensed or relaxed state.

Sometimes you might be doing things like clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth without realizing. Knowing the difference between how your body feels in alignment, and when its uncomfortable, can be another way to recognize your personal warning signs of stress.

For those of you who think that stress and exhaustion are things to ignore until they go away, Dr Tang has news for you: Even if youre not at the point of diagnosis, view any negative emotions you are experiencing as a warning that something needs to be done.

Even if you do not wish to seek professional intervention yet, try to identify the root of your worries and address it if you can. Dr Tang also recommends trying a simple emotion meditation. To do this, think about a time when you were:

  • Happy
  • Angry
  • Confident or successful

Remember that change is hard, especially when its a change in habits of a lifetime. It might well be that a level of anxiety seems comfortable for you and it can take a lot of courage to recognize that it doesnt have to be that way,” says Dr Tang.

How Common Are Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety disorders are the most common type of mental illness, affecting the lives of around 20% of American adults and 25% of teenagers each year.

Adults Affected in U.S. Percentage of U.S. Adult Population
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
7.7 million 3.5%

Not all people with anxiety disorders have the same degree of symptoms or impact from anxiety on their everyday life. In one large survey, around 43% of adults described having mild impairment of their life from anxiety. Around 33% said it was moderate, and nearly 23% said it was severe.

Aromatherapy And Essential Oils

Essential oils, the extract from plants, have been used for thousands of years to treat a number of conditions, including anxiety. Essential oils activate certain areas of your brain and release feel-good chemicals such as serotonin. They have been found to ease symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression, improve mood, and improve sleep.

Recommended use includes diffusing, inhalation, or topical treatment which can aid with anxiety symptoms. When diffusing an essential oil or essential oil blend you will need an essential oil diffuser to fill your space with the desired scent. Inhalation is used by deeply smelling the essential oil straight from the bottle or by applying a drop or two of the oil on something such as a diffuser pad or lava bead that is connected to a bracelet, necklace, or even keychain. You can also place a drop or two of essential oil into your hands, rub them together, then cup your hands and take a few deep inhalations to get the desired effect.

You should be sure that the essential oils you use are pure oils and not mixed with chemicals. Some good brands to use include: Mountain Rose Herbs, Plant Therapy, Young Living, Doterra. You can do your own research to find a brand that will best work for you and your budget. Remember that a bottle of essential oil will last a long time since you typically use only a few drops at a time.

Essential oils that are great for treating anxiety include:

  • Lavender
  • Vetiver

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Dont Lie In Bed Awake

Lying awake will only give your brain time to start another firestorm of worries and anxieties.

If you cant fall asleep after 20 minutes or so, try restarting that bedtime routine.

Dont turn on bright lights, of course, but go do a low-stress activity like pet your cat or drink a cup of tea for a few minutes to help give your body another chance at winding down for the night.

Does Anxiety Go Away

Sleep Disorder Tips  How to Fall Asleep Faster and Stay ...

For those people that are diagnosed with a legitimate anxiety disorder, the condition is unlikely to go away. Some people may be able to better control their anxiety disorder with the help and guidance of a therapist or psychologist, and medications may help further control the condition. There may also be specific coping mechanisms to help manage anxiety disorders, however, a permanent cure for anxiety does not currently exist.

For those that do not suffer from an anxiety disorder, but only have occasional or intermittent anxiety from time-to-time, this is normal and healthy behavior for many people. Temporary anxiety is likely to diminish over time, and if it is related to a specific place or person, removing yourself from those situations may help the anxiety go away after some time.

Read Also: Can I Get Disability For Depression And Anxiety

What Is Sleep Anxiety Your Sleep Anxiety Definition

For some people, its easy to fall asleep as soon as their head hits the pillow.

For others, it can take hours to doze off no matter how physically and mentally exhausted you feel.

If you struggle with relaxing and falling asleep each night, then you may begin to feel stressed about the concept of going to sleep. Thats when the symptoms of sleep anxiety start to creep in.

Sleep anxiety is also known as somniphobia, hypnophobia or sleep dread. Feeling nervous about the thought of going to bed may mean youre anxious about going to sleep or just not being able to sleep as much as you would like to.

Although fear of sleep might sound ridiculous at first, the term sleep anxiety usually refers more commonly to the feelings we get when were concerned that we wont be able to get the right amount of rest.

If youve ever felt that pit in your stomach when worrying that youre going to be too exhausted for work in the morning, youll know what we mean.

The more you lie in your bed, telling yourself that you need to get to sleep in the next ten or fifteen minutes, the more anxious you become. After all, youre putting some severe pressure on your brain to shut down. At the same time also flooding it with cortisol that forces it to stay awake.

The more you panic, the more of a nightmare getting to sleep becomes . Whats more, when you do struggle with the side-effects of not getting enough sleep, your feelings of stress and anxiety get worse the next night.

How To Sleep With Anxiety: Beating Sleep Anxiety

So, how do you teach your body how to sleep better with anxiety?

Its easier than youd think.

Researchers believe that feelings of anxiety get worse at night because there arent as many distractions available. In other words, through the day, youve got countless things to do and focus on that keep your mind occupied.

When the time comes to relax at the end of your day, the frontal cortex starts taking over. It brings your mind back to the worries that youve been ignoring up until now.

Anxious thoughts suddenly spiral, and once you open that box, its tough to close it again. Fortunately, we have some tips on how to stop sleep anxiety.

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Tips For Beating Anxiety To Get A Better Nights Sleep

Many people with anxiety disorders have trouble sleeping. That’s a problem. Too little sleep affects mood, contributing to irritability and sometimes depression. Vital functions occur during different stages of sleep that leave you feeling rested and energized or help you learn and forge memories. Sleep usually improves when an anxiety disorder is treated. Practicing good “sleep hygiene” helps, too. Here are some steps to take:

For additional tips and strategies for living with anxiety, buy Coping with Anxiety and Stress Disorders, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.

Get A Mattress Of The Right Firmness

Sleep, Anxiety, and Insomnia: How to Sleep Better When You’re Anxious

There is no one size fits all for mattress firmness. Different people, depending on sleep position, activity level, body mechanics, age, and other factors will sleep better on different levels of firmness or softness of a mattress. If you want to get the best nights rest, the best mattress is the one that matches your body type and sleep style.

Thats why Amerisleep offers five different types of mattresses. The AS1 is the firmest mattress ideal for stomach and back sleepers who want the firmest feel. The AS5 is the softest mattress thats ideal for side and combo sleepers who put more pressure on their hips and shoulders.

Looking for something in between? The AS3 is the perfect balance of firm and soft that supports your body, no matter which position you sleep in. The AS3 is also a good choice for couples with slightly different firmness preferences.

Finally, we wanted to make sure our customers could try our mattresses risk-free. Thats why we offer a 100-night sleep trial where you can try any of our mattresses in your own home for 100 nights.

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Learn How To Manage Your Anxious Thoughts

Anxiety doesn’t come out of the blue. When you have anxiety attacks, it’s often because your mind tends to spiral into negative thoughts – often without your control. Sometimes you can control this anxiety by keeping these thoughts at bay and learning to dismiss triggers that cause you anxiety.

For many, this is easier said than done. But there are many different strategies you can try that may be effective. These include:

A Question Checklist

When you feel anxious, have a checklist on hand of questions to ask yourself about that anxiety experience. The longer the checklist, the more you’ll find that your thoughts become more realistic. Questions that you can use include:

  • Is there a reason to believe something is wrong?
  • What evidence is there that something is wrong?
  • Is there a chance I’m blowing this out of proportion?

Affirmations

Affirmations not for everyone, but those that do use them find them to be very beneficial. Affirmations are things that you say to yourself to make yourself feel better. These include:

  • I’m okay. This is just anxiety and I will get passed this .
  • I have a great life and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
  • My anxiety won’t control me.

Getting Used to Physical Symptoms

The latter is known as “exposure therapy” and there are countless ways to create exercises that will habituate you to your panic attack triggers.

Write Down Your Worries On Paper

According to Juanita Wells, director of clinical development at New Method Wellness, putting your thoughts down on paper can help us remain accountable to ourselves, our feelings, our purpose, and plan.

Instead of letting thoughts and to-dos swirl around in your brain, write them down so that your brain has a game plan for the following day. Wells says that writing down your anxious feelings, especially through stream-of-consciousness journaling , can help ease anxiety before bed.

In addition to calming pre-bedtime anxiety, shows that journaling can also help you fall asleep more quickly. To get started journaling, just snuggle up with your notebook and some cozy pillows and let your thoughts take it away.

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Keep A Worry Journal Beside Your Bed

Anxiety is always about what ifs and trying to be prepared by situations that may or may not occur a kind of fruitless rehearsal for potential problems. Its not an effective tactic and can compromise our wellbeing over the long term. Keep a notebook by your bed to jot down any worries. The act of recording them can zap their power. Review them in a few days when you can ask yourself, Did the situations I was so worried about actually happen? Over time, you may learn that the majority dont become reality, helping to ease anxiety.

Avoid Stressful Activities Before Bed

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Amber Weiss, licensed psychotherapist and founder of Transformative Mindset, says, Creating some form of a transition from daytime to sleeping is highly recommended. According to Weiss, you cant expect the mind to go to sleep on demand. Instead, you need to allow time for the brain to transition, just like we transition to go outside or when we get home.

The goal is to reduce the nervous thoughts in your head so your mind is clear, calm, and positive before you head off to sleep. This can entail leaving the office, work, news, and social media exchanges for earlier in the day to create buffer time between work and sleep, setting yourself up for better rest.

Read Also: How To Get A Job When You Have Social Anxiety

Try Some Aerobic Activity

During periods of anxiety, your body is filled with adrenaline. Putting that adrenaline toward aerobic activity can be a great way to improve your anxiety. Exercise has numerous advantages for controlling your anxiety symptoms:

  • Exercise burns away stress hormones that create anxiety symptoms.
  • Exercise tires your muscles, reducing excess energy and tension.
  • Exercise releases endorphins in your brain which can improve overall mood.
  • Exercise is linked to healthier breathing.
  • Exercise is a healthy distraction.

Aerobic activity, like light jogging or even fast walking, can be extremely effective at reducing the severity of your anxiety symptoms, as well as the anxiety itself.

Tell Yourself To Stay Awake

Also called paradoxical intention, telling yourself to stay awake may be a good way to fall asleep faster.

For people especially those with insomnia trying to sleep can increase performance anxiety.

Research has found that people who practiced paradoxical intention fell asleep faster than those who didnt. If you often find yourself stressed out about trying to sleep, this method may be more effective than traditional, intentional breathing practices.

Also Check: What Can I Do To Help With Anxiety

How To Fall Asleep With Anxiety

As adults it seems easy enough to fall asleep, but anxiety changes that. The harder we fight to sleep, the worse the anxiety, and we just cant get to sleep. This post can help you know how to fall asleep with anxiety faster than you thought possible.

I have no idea why negative thoughts pop up in the middle of the night. Its common, apparently. Millions of people suffer from middle of the night anxiety.

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