Insomnia and anxiety often conspire to keep people awake. Sleeplessness intensifies anxiety disorders, and anxiety’s physical and emotional tolls exacerbate sleeplessness and increase the incidence of parasomnias, including nocturnal panic attacks. For some people, sleep itself becomes a source of anxiety, triggered by the thought of going to bed, lying for hours without sleep, or waking in terror after a nightmare.
Anxiety can be challenging to overcome, especially when it’s focused on an unavoidable trigger. You can’t evade sleep for more than a couple of nights without serious mental, emotional, and physical harm. However, there are reliable techniques and treatments that help to reduce anxiety and improve sleep quality and duration.
What is Sleep Anxiety?
Sleep anxietysometimes called somniphobia or sleep dreadis caused by the fear of sleep, going to sleep, or not getting enough sleep. We’ve all experienced it to some degree. Perhaps we’re restless the night before an exam or an important meeting, and we’re aware that a bad night will hurt our performance the next day. We’re anxious because we’re not sleeping, and that makes it even harder to fall asleep.
But for some people, sleep becomes a source of chronic anxiety that leads to frequent:
- Nervousness and restlessness
- Increased heart rate
- Rapid breathing, which may develop into hyperventilation
- Sweating and shaking
- A feeling of intense worry and panic
- Nocturnal panic attacks
Even if sleep itself is not a primary trigger, people with anxiety frequently experience insomnia. It might be triggered by a phobia or medical condition, a panic disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Whatever the primary cause, insomnia is likely to be an exacerbating factor.
Taking Control of Sleep Anxiety
Because sleep anxiety is self-reinforcing, it’s best to tackle it from two directions, reducing anxiety and improving sleep.
Take Control of Your Sleep Schedule
Your body has a built-in clock called the circadian rhythm that controls when you feel sleepy with hormones and neurotransmitters. To prepare you for sleep, the pineal gland releases melatonin, which begins the winding down process, relaxing your body, slowing your heartbeat, and bringing on that ready for bed feeling.
If you go to bed at 10 p.m. one night and 3 a.m. the next, your body gets confused. It doesn’t know when to start preparing for sleep. To get the best sleep, you should help your circadian rhythm by going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time every day.
Create a sleep schedule with firm bed and wake times. Try to stick to the schedule consistently, even on weekends. Eventually, you’ll begin to feel sleepy at bedtime because your behavior lines up with your body’s expectations.
Create an Exercise Program
Exercising during the day is one of the best ways to sleep well at night. Besides all the other health benefits, exercise tires you out and helps you to burn off excess energy.
According to the medical director of John’s Hopkins Center for Sleep, we don’t completely understand why exercise helps sleep, but the evidence is clear. Even moderate exercise combats insomnia and improves slow-wave deep sleep.
However, you shouldn’t engage in strenuous activity immediately before going to bed. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins and raises your temperature, which can make you feel more awake. Leave a couple of hours between exercising and going to bed.
Give Your Body The Best Chance of Falling Asleep
As a general rule, you should avoid doing anything that disrupts your body’s natural cycles or makes it work hard in the hours before you go to sleep.
Things to avoid include:
- Drinking coffee or consuming any substance containing a stimulant such as nicotine or caffeine.
- Drinking alcoholic beverages. Alcohol might make you fall asleep faster, but it disrupts the quality and depth of sleep.
- Eating a heavy meal. A small snack is fine, but a large meal isn’t a good idea, especially if it contains a lot of fat.
- Getting stressed. Try to avoid stressful events such as arguments or known triggers for your anxiety. They stimulate your body’s fight-or-flight system, which is the last thing you want when you’re planning to sleep.
In the hours before bed, try to wind down slowly and focus on gentle and calming activities.
Optimize Your Sleep Environment
Your environment has an enormous impact on your ability to sleep. There are many factors you might want to change here. People with sleep anxiety often find these helpful:
- Temperature: Set your bedroom’s thermostat a few degrees lower than during the day. Your body generally prefers a slightly lower temperature while sleeping.
- Light levels: If possible, make sure your bedroom is dark. Low light triggers anxiety for some, but if you’re fine with a dark room, try to block as much light as possible. You may want to invest in black-out curtains if the light from outside brightens your room.
- Sound: Silence is golden, but people with anxiety often struggle to quiet their thoughts in a silent room. Consider listening to relaxing music or a gentle podcast as an external focus. If you’re disturbed by noises outside, a white noise generator may be helpful.
- Weighted Blankets: Many people with anxiety find that weighted blankets exert a calming effect.
- Remove the clock: Clock-watching is common anxiety-inducing behavior for people who struggle to sleep.
The goal is to make your bedroom cozy and as relaxing as possible. It should be a haven where every element contributes to giving you the best chance of an anxiety-free night.
Get Help
So far we’ve focused on combating insomnia and building a perfect sleep routine and environment, but if your anxiety is long-lasting and is triggered by sources beyond your control, it may be worth seeking help from a professional. Modern anxiety treatments typically involve cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), perhaps in combination with anti-anxiety medication.
Sleep anxiety is a problem you share with millions of other people, and there is no need to suffer alone. Whether your anxiety stops you from sleeping or your insomnia amplifies your anxiety, your doctor can advise and refer you to a specialist who knows how to help.
About the Author: Aaron Goldsmith is the owner of Transfer Master, a company that has built electric adjustable hospital beds for the home and medical facility since 1993. He started with a simple goal that hospital beds should allow wheelchair users to transfer independently in and out of bed. 25 years later, his customers are still at the center of everything he does. For more information, be sure to visit transfermaster.com or contact the team via email.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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