Feeling More Anxious at Night? It's Not in Your Head.
Your difficulty falling asleep could be due to a physiological response in the body.
by Rachel Linder
After getting through a long day, there’s no better feeling than finally getting ready for bed. But, have you ever felt like as soon as you turn the lights off and get under the covers, your anxious thoughts start to get even worse? Sometimes you may even be kept up for hours thinking about all the “what ifs” that circle your mind.
If you can relate, the first thing you should know is that you’re not alone. According to the Sleep Foundation, insomnia is an incredibly common symptom of anxiety disorders. After recognizing that this difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep due to anxiety isn’t just in your head, it’s important to understand why it happens. Answering the ‘why’ is the key to developing coping mechanisms and strategies to have a more restful sleep.
Unfortunately, there’s not a simple answer nor is there much research on the topic of nighttime anxiety—but instead, many possibilities as to what could be keeping you up. The first, and maybe one of the more obvious, is that this time in the evening just before you fall asleep, you are likely confronted with moments of fewer distractions. During the day things like school, work, or even reading a book can help to minimize anxious thoughts. They allow for a distraction in the brain from the excessive worrying that could come as a result of anxiety. However, at night, those distractions are gone and you can be left with just yourself and your thoughts.
It’s at this point where you’re alone with your thoughts, that it’s easy to become overwhelmed, which can make your anxiety even worse. Whether you’re thinking about all the things you didn’t get to do throughout the day or maybe the long list of things to tackle tomorrow, these nighttime thoughts will be perceived by your mind as a form of a stressor. Once your body recognizes these anxious thoughts as stressors, they will have a direct impact on your feeling of adrenaline and ultimately hyperarousal. Your heart will beat faster, you’ll get a boost of energy and you may even start to sweat—talk about the opposite of what you need when you’re trying to fall asleep.
Beginning to develop an understanding as to what is the cause of your anxiety at night, is the first step to working towards change. Even though it can feel like these nighttime thoughts are never ending, there are definitely things you can do to lessen the anxiety at night. However, if these disruptions in sleep persist, it’s important to speak with your doctor, as there could be special treatment or medication to help you calm down before trying to fall asleep.