Leave Some Extra Transition Time
Transition time is the time that is needed between tasks. Many of us underestimate how much transition time is needed. For instance, your evening may consist of numerous different tasks that you need to do before you go to bed.
Whatever amount of time you have allotted for each task, consider adding a bit more time as a buffer in case the task takes longer than you think. That way you will avoid feeling overwhelmed, trying to cram too much in before bedtime.
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.
If You Can’t Sleep Get Up
Insomnia is frustrating, but lying in bed and trying to get to sleep is only going to make you feel worse. If you can’t get back to sleep within 20 minutes, get up.
“Some people get a sleep phobia where they get fixated on not being able to get to sleep, which can become a big anxiety worry,” Lidbetter says. “If you can’t go to sleep, get up and do something else. Reading can be therapeutic or you could practise mindfulness.
“Anxiety UK has a strong partnership with the Headspace people, which is a great app and something you can just practise which is relatively easy to do. It just sets the scene for a restful night’s sleep because it calms down your sympathetic nervous system and puts you into relaxation mode.”
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Why Anxiety Can Be Worse In The Morning
Three women explain why they feel more anxious earlier in the day.
Let’s face it: anxiety can occur at any time of day and, when it does, it can be the actual worst. But for some, anxiety has a particular habit of rearing its ugly head in the mornings.
At the start of a new day, its easy for the mind to ruminate on what’s ahead and become overwhelmed with negative thoughts about what you need to achieve that day. This can leave us with a sinking feeling and a high level of anxiety, says Dr Elena Touroni, a Consultant Psychologist and co-founder of London’s The Chelsea Psychology Clinic.
And it turns out there’s a scientific reason why anxiety can be so common in the morning for some. “For most people, the stress hormone cortisol is highest in the first hour upon waking, helping us to stay alert and focused in the morning,” says Elena. “However, going to bed feeling anxious can cause cortisol levels to spike too early, which might lead you to wake up with a racing mind. Blood sugar levels are also lower first thing in the morning, which can trigger anxiety for those who are prone to it.”
Here, three women whose anxiety was worst in the morning explain why it happened, and how they’ve learned to cope.
So My Main Takeaway Point Is This:
If your anxiety is getting worse at night, the main point is to just know and understand that no matter how hard it is for you now and no matter how badly youre feeling now and how uncomfortable youre feeling day, in the light of day, it absolutely will feel much better than what it does right now.
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Reasons Why You’re Waking Up With Anxiety
If you live with anxiety, the all-encompassing feelings of dread can hit you at any time. But its particularly upsetting when you wake up with anxiety. You might be so overwhelmed that getting up and facing your day seems impossible. But staying in bed never helped anyone and can often be counterproductive if the reason that youre stressed has to do with the things you need to complete during the day. But even if you dont have anxiety, you may be familiar with the feeling of nervousness first thing in the morning. So why do you wake up with anxiety?
There are plenty of reasons you could be stressed in the morning and many of them may be self-evident to you if you have a big work or school assignment or an important interview. Yet, if youre waking up with anxiety on a fairly regular basis, it might be part of a larger problem that youll want to examine.
While there are tried and true tips to help make your mornings better that you can follow, you have the added weight of anxiety to overcome as well. In that scenario, these tips for how to motivate yourself on a day you dont like yourself might be particularly helpful. Because no matter why youre waking up with anxiety, one thing to remember is that staying in bed has rarely ever helped the situation and here are nine reasons why waking up might feel so daunting to you.
Reduce Your Daily Stresses
Your next step will be a little more complicated, but no less important. You’ll need to make sure that you’re looking forward to every day, and not experiencing a great deal of stress. Morning anxiety is directly related to the amount you’re looking forward to your day. When your day is stressful, your anxiety increases as a result.
So what can you do? That depends on what’s causing you the stress. For example:
- Making Work Fun If work is what is causing you so much stress, then you need to make sure you’re looking for more ways to enjoy your work. You may work at one of the worst places in the world, but there are almost always ways that you can improve the quality or enjoyment of your work if you do it right. Try to make work more fun, and the stress you experience will decrease.
- Getting Out There Maybe you’re stressed because you don’t feel as though you’re doing enough or having enough fun. That means that your next step is to make the changes you need to address that. Join clubs, spend more time with your friends – what you do depends on what you enjoy, but getting out there and enjoying life is the obvious solution.
- Relationship Troubles Those with relationship issues should be making sure they’re addressing them as well. Sitting around and hoping things will change is not realistic. If you’re so stressed during the day that you’re waking up with anxiety, then you need to make changes right away if you want your morning anxiety to go away.
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Try Your Best To Have Enough Sleep
Having enough steady sleep is medicine on its own. Research shows that adequate sleep helps to increase the concentration level of a human being.
Sleeping is a way of getting rest after a day of work. During the day the mind is fully occupied by the things that we sense with our 5 senses. Thats why everyone needs to take a break at night, close the eyes and sleep.
After waking up, the mind will be fresh again to think more. I think you should try this at home, take a good undisrupted sleep and thank me later. Scientists recommend anyone to sleep for at least 8 hours a day.
Taking enough sleep increases the chances of thinking well hence reducing morning anxiety.
Write Down Your Greatest Fears
Writing down what you fear the most helps you to know what you are dealing with. Knowing the problem helps you to work on getting a solution. You cannot solve a problem you do not know about.
For instance, have a to-do list of how you gonna pay off a nagging loan, pay your childrens school fees and upkeep, investment, retirement plans etc. These are just the common issues that can cause morning anxiety.
Once you have written down your pressing issues, learn to solve each problem one at a time. Having a problems checklist creates motivation to move on. Once you solve an issue just tick the checklist. A feeling of progress reduces the chances of morning anxiety.
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Disruptions To Your Circadian Rhythm Have Harmful Ramifications
While it starts with the disruption in ones circadian rhythm, it doesnt stop there. As Epstein explained above, depression causes sleep disruptions which then throws off an individuals circadian rhythm. This disturbance then creates other damaging and inconvenient effects, such as those related to ones emotional wellbeing: they might experience fatigue, anger, or irritability. Amanda Porter, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, explains how it affects their day to day functioning as well:
Poor sleep leads to morning somnolence, which contributes to poor outlook on the day, fatigue, lack of joy, and feeling less fulfilled. Sadly, often people with depression are waking up with their family, which is often a key stressor. Morning time can be highly stressful, with getting kids off to school and facing the morning commute. Often, people with depression will consume an energy drink or coffee to get their day started, get a boost of energy, and get out of their funk. However, this then plays into the vicious cycle of sleep disruption the following night.
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Waking Up Depressed: Why Is My Depression Worse In The Morning
- Depression is characterized by feelings of intense sadness and comes with many harmful symptoms, which include disrupted sleeping patterns.
- Individuals who struggle with depression also struggle with sleep disruptions because depression is shown to disturb our circadian rhythm.
- This circadian rhythm disturbance goes on to impact ones emotional wellbeing as well as everyday functioning.
- Fortunately, steps can be taken to get a better nights sleep: starting with declaring your bed a place for sleeping and nothing else.
- Additionally, you should follow a bedtime routine and resist forcing yourself to sleep if youre having a tough time falling asleep, ease into it with some relaxation techniques.
Depression is characterized by feelings of intense sadness and hopelessness. Those who suffer from this disorder often experience a loss of interest in once-beloved activities, significant impairment in day-to-day functioning, and a range of other harmful symptoms, like severe sleep disruption which triggers a dangerous ripple effect.
Why Do I Feel More Anxious In The Mornings
Because different people worry about different things, your morning anxiety could have multiple causes.
Anxiety is often a reaction to stress triggers. You are more likely to wake up with anxiety in the morning if you have something to do that day that youre not looking forward to, whether its a big project or some errands youve been putting off. You get anxiety when you feel unprepared or unmotivated to do something you know you have to.
Just like most other mental and physical issues, your diet could also be the culprit. Caffeine and sugar can aggravate anxiety symptoms. Having low blood sugar or being hungry could also make it worse.
Going to bed anxious means that youre more likely to carry that over to the next day. You could also have vivid nightmares and dreams that make you feel a wide range of negative emotions, and bring those feelings into your waking life.
A lot of people suffering from anxiety also dont get enough sleep. Thinking about our lives like our financial or health situation could keep you up at night. Not getting enough sleep means youre more likely to wake up tired. Your alarm could also be a stress trigger, since it interrupts your natural sleep cycle and makes you more irritable and anxious in the mornings.
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Write About Your Feelings
A journal is great, but even a piece of paper will do. Write down how you feel and why you think you feel that way. Theres no need to be eloquent or edit what youve written this is for you and no one else. Being able to articulate your emotions gives you control over them. It will help you pinpoint exactly what youre going through and why, instead of just feeling a general overwhelming anxiety.
Symptoms Of Morning Anxiety
Most people experience several of the following symptoms when feeling anxious:
- Rapid heartbeat
- Feeling weak, faint, or dizzy
- Tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers
- Nervousness, sense of terror, of impending doom or death
- Feeling sweaty or having chills
- Chest pains
- Feeling a loss of control
- Fatigue
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How Is Sleep Anxiety Diagnosed
Your healthcare provider performs a physical exam, reviews your medical history and evaluates your symptoms. They may ask you questions like:
- Do you eat or drink anything before bed?
- Does your anxiety always occur before bed?
- How long does it take you to fall asleep?
- How often do you wake up during the night?
- What activities do you do before bed?
Okay But What If I Feel Anxious Like *every* Morning
If you wake up feeling anxious most days, itd be wise to get in touch with a therapist. Consistent anxietyno matter what time of day it shows upcan point to generalized anxiety disorder , Wallace notes.
And its normal for GAD to show up at consistent times. Some people who have GAD may feel anxious only in the mornings. Typically, it’s right before people go to bed and when they wake up in the morning,” Wallace says. “Ive also had people report that those are the worst times .
Why? Having anxiety in the morning tends to interfere with your mood and attitude for the day to come, and having anxiety right before bed can interfere with sleep and then also set you up to still feel on edge when you rise. Your anxiety may also dissipate as the day goes on.
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How Can I Make Living With Sleep Anxiety Easier
Anxiety or sleep problems can affect every aspect of your life, from your performance at work to your interactions with others. It may help to talk about your sleep anxiety with a therapist, co-workers, friends or loved ones. Support groups can also connect you to a community of people dealing with similar experiences.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Sleep anxiety is a feeling of fear or stress about falling asleep or staying asleep. Sleep problems and mental health disorders such as anxiety are closely intertwined. One can often make the other worse, so it can feel like a never-ending cycle. But anxiety and sleep problems are both treatable. Talk to your healthcare provider about your symptoms and work together to build the right treatment plan. Common treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy , good sleep hygiene and medication.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 06/13/2021.
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