When Anxiety Keeps You from Sleep
By Megan Brewer, IMH
Anxiety is a growing epidemic in America. The
National Alliance on Mental Health confirms that 18% of Americans struggle with
anxiety, making it one of our most prevalent mental health issues. It is
not surprising then that many have anxiety-related sleep issues and stronger
symptoms of anxiety when trying to fall asleep.
Many factors can get our anxiety going. Anxiety may be
noticeable during certain points of the day such as when experiencing the
pressure of a meeting at work or the tension of doing well on a test at school.
Some notice their anxiety constantly running alongside them throughout the day
regardless of their activities. But anxiety can seem easier to cope with
when we are distracted from it. We may even think we have moved past it when we
notice it subside around a trusted friend or occupying activity, but when we
get home and crawl into bed, there it is - anxiety that is now more detectable
in the absence of distractions! We lay in bed anxious, feeling powerless to
control our internal world. So what causes your anxiety to begin speaking so
loudly right as you are trying to wind your brain down for the night?
It happens first as a response to being repressed throughout
the day and secondly because our anxiety has a function: its purpose is to talk
to us about something that needs attention. There is little
you can do about it once you have crawled into bed, but your anxiety does not
know that. It continues to talk, continues to try and solve the underlying
issue that brought it up in the first place and bedtime is its first opportunity
to communicate unhindered by the activity of the day.
Since bedtime is not the best time to work through
underlying anxiety issues, we need to
1) develop helpful tools to cope with anxiety that speaks
loudly when we are ready for sleep and 2) pay attention to what your anxiety is
trying to communicate during the day and work through underlying issues to help
reduce anxiety overall.
There are many resources available for practicing good sleep
hygiene with steps you can take throughout the day to prepare your body and
brain for a good night’s sleep. But here a couple that may help more
particularly with those who struggle with anxiety. As we said earlier, the time
for us to work on the underlying issues of our anxiety is not directly before
bedtime. So here are some helpful practices to try as you are falling
asleep.
- Write a list of the things that are making you anxious. Since your brain is finally free of distraction at bedtime and you’ve had an entire day of activities and experiences to feed your anxiety, let’s start with a simple list of what makes up the voice of your anxiety. In this practice, we are not trying to discern why we are anxious but are rather putting words to the feelings and images that contribute to your anxiety. Make a bullet-point list, something simple and manageable. When you are finished with the list, set it aside and give yourself permission to rest now and revisit the list tomorrow. Keeping a simple list of your anxieties consistently before bed is not only a helpful practice of releasing anxiety, but will be helpful for revealing the patterns that flow throughout your anxiety night after night. This will aid you in identifying and working through issues during the day.
- Listening to music. Play music that makes you feel calm and safe. Create or find a playlist and set an automatic timer for the music to shut off after a determined amount of time. This will allow you to fall asleep while the music is playing without requiring you to turn it off. Listening to music can help focus your attention on something other than your anxiety but will allow you to drift into sleep.
- Work on visualization. Perhaps while you are listening to music, imagine a place where you feel safe and at peace. Then place yourself within it. Imagine that in this place, there are no judgments, expectations or criticisms from the day. Nothing needs to be worked through here and your mind can stay present in the peace of the moment. Maybe visualize a person you feel safe with beside you in this place. Perhaps the two of you are taking a walk or doing your favorite activity. Utilizing calming visualizations can help pull your mind away from your anxious thoughts and allow your emotional brain to quiet down and rest.
Training your brain to calm down and release anxiety before
bed can become a helpful discipline that aids in a more restful night’s sleep.
During the day, it will be important to work through the underlying issues of
your anxiety to better treat and understand what is causing it. As you begin to
recognize patterns in what causes your anxiety, it might be helpful to see a
counselor or health care professional to work through what is causing your
anxiety.
To
schedule an appointment with Megan Brewer,
Please
call our office at 407-647-7005.
www.lifeworksgroup.org
