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How To Stop Waking Up With Anxiety

Get A Bed That Fits You

Waking up with anxiety? 5 Simple tips to stop morning anxiety.

When you sleep on an uncomfortable mattress, pressure points build up on your body, causing you to toss and turn. A supportive mattress and pillow provide support to the contours of your body and neck, and keep you cool and comfortable for sleep.

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What Should I Do If My Anxiety Leads To Morning Panic Attacks

Sometimes, extreme anxiety can lead to panic attacks. These are sudden, unexpected bursts of anxiety, including physical symptoms affecting the cardiorespiratory, neurological, and gastrointestinal systems.

Some notable symptoms include hyperventilation, heart palpitations, or even chest pain. Nausea, sweating, disorientation and dizziness can also occur. While these symptoms are not necessarily dangerous, they can be terrifying. Most panic attacks last for five to 30 minutes.

If you experience repeated episodes of panic attacks, you may have panic disorder. This is an anxiety-related syndrome that affects up to five percent of the population at various stages of life. An unfortunate side-effect of panic attacks is that they can create their own sense of anxiety around fearing that a certain situation will bring on another attack.

Experts have some recommendations on what to do if you experience a morning panic attack. First, it is important to confront the event rather than try to distract yourself. This will give you a chance to discover that nothing bad happens as a result of the panic attack the symptoms will pass.

It can be helpful if you have someone with you to let them know straight away, so they can be with you for reassurance and support. There are also breathing techniques you can employ, such as slow, deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Closing your eyes can also be beneficial.

Practice Mindfulness Meditate Or Pray

Meditation, mindfulness and prayer all have similar goals get your mind off future worries and focus on the present. Try to put yourself in a mindful state when you first wake up. Objectively observe your feelings, thoughts and bodily state while trying not to react to them. Take some deep breaths, turning your focus away from what you cant control and turning it toward what you can.

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Why Do Some People Wake Up With Anxiety

Waking up with anxiety doesn’t necessarily mean you have an anxiety disorder. Many people experience anxiety as a result of external stressors in their life that come and go. Stress is a natural response to challenges at home, school, or work.

When you’re feeling anxious, your body produces the stress hormonecortisol. This essentially puts your body into fight or flight mode. The stressful situation is perceived as dangerous to your wellbeing, and pumping up the cortisol is how your nervous system tries to protect you.

Unfortunately, many people in a stressful life situation will experience what is known as a cortisol awakening response . This happens when the body starts to release more cortisol in the morning, which can cause you to wake up feeling anxious. Many people also have racing thoughts that make it nearly impossible to fall back to sleep.

Common situations that could cause you to wake up with anxiety include:

For many people, waking up with anxiety because of these situations will be a temporary issue or at least something that just comes and goes. However, others find they wake up feeling anxious almost every day. When this occurs, it likely means your symptoms have developed into a generalized anxiety disorder .

Sleep Schedule And Hygiene

Easy Ways to Stop Waking Up With Anxiety

Improving sleep hygiene habits, which includes going to bed and waking up at a consistent time daily, can help improve your ability to stay asleep. Its important to set up a bedroom that facilitates sleep . This will help limit stimuli that could wake you up at night and make it easier to fall asleep.

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How To Reduce Morning Anxiety

HomeBlogAdviceHow to Reduce Morning Anxiety

Your alarm goes off. Instead of waking up refreshed and energized, a very different feeling kicks in anxiety.

Anxiety is like an unwelcome visitor popping in when you least expect it. When you experience anxious thoughts or feelings in the morning, it robs your peace of mind and sets the tone for your whole day. Why do you wake up with butterflies in your stomach? How can you get rid of these feelings? Here are some ways you can address morning anxiety and improve your overall outlook for the day.

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, research 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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Tips To Stop Waking Up With Anxiety

The following is a collection of the most effective ways I know to break the habit of morning anxiety.

Dont feel like you need to start doing all of them right away. The first tipstop sleeping inis actually the one Id recommend most people try first. In many cases doing that one thing alone is enough to break the habit of waking up with anxiety.

For others, you might need to try a few different ones and see which apply most to your particular situation. For example, if your morning anxiety seems to be highly related to worries about work and what you need to do during the day, numbers 7, 8, and 9 might be most applicable.

Do A Bedroom Makeover

How do I stop waking with anxiety?

Another helpful trick is to make your bedroom a place for nothing but sleep. For some people living in small loft apartments, this might be tricky, but by putting up a divider or curtain, you may be able to simulate a similar separate room effect.

Regardless, redecorating your bedroom for a more comfortable and quiet environment can do wonders for your sleep health. Consider decluttering the room and regularly changing the bedding or adding a rug to make the space more appealing and comfortable.

If you come into your bedroom and still cant sleep, dont just lay there and wait for slumber to hit. Instead, get up after 15 minutes and work on some small projects until your body naturally feels sleepy.

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Waking Up Stressed: How To Deal With Morning Anxiety

Waking up in the morning should be a time of feeling relaxed, rested, and ready to take on the day. Sadly, there are those who wake up feeling anything but energised.

Most people have busy, sometimes stressful, events and life situations at one time or another. Its totally normal to wake up a bit stressed before an exam or job interview. But when those feelings start to pop up at the beginning of most days, there might be a more serious underlying issue.

Morning anxiety is not a very nice way to start the day. But it can have more far reaching health consequences that overshadow the negative effects on just one morning.

Some people may feel like they experience anxiety in the morning for no reason at all. In this article well explore, however, some of the common underlying causes of the condition, and why morning anxiety can become a major hindrance to the rest of your day.

First, lets narrow down the symptoms you may experience when you wake up, that can be attributed to anxiety specifically.

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Hit Play On A Relaxing Song

This tip is oddly specific, but research suggests that this song which researchers dubbed the most relaxing song ever can help you enter a state of relaxation. In a study of the songs effect, some people even reported feeling sleepy after listening. But if that doesnt work, put on a tune that personally soothes you.

What Happens When Anxiety Interrupts Sleep

Wake Up, Stress Less: How to Stop Anxiety Before It Starts ...

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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Dont Let Anxiety Impact Your Recovery

Stress and anxiety are normal parts of life. However, chronic worry can have a detrimental effect on your physical, emotional and mental well-being, especially if you struggle with addiction. If you need help, 7 Summit Pathways is here for you.

We understand that issues like anxiety or depression often serve as catalysts for addiction. Our team of interdisciplinary specialists addresses not only the addiction but also any underlying conditions that may have triggered your substance use.

Dont let anxiety or addiction leave you feeling hopeless. Contact 7 Summit Pathways or schedule an appointment with a caring member of our team to learn more.

Why Is My Anxiety Worse In The Morning

While anxiety upon waking is not an individually diagnosed condition, it is a common phenomenon among individuals dealing with stress or anxiety. One area of the literature focusing on this involves the cortisol awakening response.

The research around the cortisol awakening response has focused on people who have personality traits linked to possible future health risks, such as neuroticism. Because increased cortisol levels are linked to the physiological response to stress, it is thought that there is a relationship between morning cortisol levels and morning stress and anxiety.

Stress levels in the morning may depend on events coming up that day. This is less feasible if morning anxiety occurs on a regular basis, however. Negative habits and thought patterns can also result in a routine of worrying about the day ahead upon waking, meaning the body may simply get used to waking up in an agitated state, because thats what normally happens.

Waking up to immediate feelings of anxiety, fear, or agitation is something nobody wants to have to deal with on a regular basis. To that end, lets next explore some of the research-based treatments that have been proven as effective ways to suppress morning anxiety.

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Star The Morning With Gratitude

The way you begin your morning sets the tone for the day, which is why Robin encourages starting the day with gratitude and positivity. Keep a notebook by your bed and write down five things you are grateful for right as you wake up, she says. This can train your brain to focus on positive reframes in the morning versus immediately jumping to worries.

How Can I Stop Waking Up With Anxiety

Waking Up With Anxiety – Part 2

If you would like to stop waking up with anxiety, try getting more sleep brushing up on your sleep hygiene, establish an enjoyable morning routine and try not to set up more then 1 alarm where you have the opportunity to use the snooze button.

In addition, you could try mindfulness, use positive affirmations, keep a journal to write all of your thoughts, exercise regularly, or even practice yoga.

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Reflect On The Positive Aspects Of Your Day

Especially if youre a worrier, training your brain to think about positive events instead of dwelling on negative ones can help you feel less anxious. The action distracts your brain from spiraling down a dark hole, and can make you feel more optimistic. If negative thoughts creep in while youre trying this, dont panic: Let them pass through and return to sunnier thinking.

The idea is to get out of your mind and into your present moment experience with soothing activities and to keep bringing your mind back to the activities when it wanders to worry thoughts or thoughts about the future, Driscoll said, adding that journaling about your worries before bed isnt a great idea. A lot of people mistakenly believe that it helps and it usually has the effect of reinforcing and strengthening worries.

How To Minimize Morning Anxiety

Many people with an anxiety disorder wake up feeling so worried and full of dread that they just want to curl up under the covers and not face the day ahead. Try not to get discouraged, as there are a host of ways to minimize morning anxiety and wake up excited to start the new day.

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How To Stop Waking Up With Anxiety

Stopping morning anxiety can be a complex task, because ideally you need to address the cause of your anxiety and learn how it affects you. A big part of that is trying your best to figure out why you have anxiety. If you’re waking up anxious because you fear anxiety, for example, then you need to be aware of this and find ways of coping adaptively. If you fear anxiety because you dislike your job, then you need to find ways to make your job less stressful or find effective ways of minimizing the effects of stress. Here are several strategies you can implement:

A very important part of dealing with this anxiety is simply recognizing it and understanding why it occurs. By reminding yourself that your anxiety doesn’t need to control your life – and by practicing some of the coping strategies we have discussed today – you may find that your ability to cope with it improves.

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