Changes to Make to Guard Against Sleep Anxiety

You will not find sleep anxiety listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, sleep anxiety, when you are fearful or anxious about falling asleep, is a possibility for those who have generalized anxiety disorder or insomnia.

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is a sleep/wake disorder characterized by unsatisfactory sleep experiences. It can range from having trouble falling asleep to waking multiple times a night or waking up early and not being able to fall back asleep easily.

Why is insomnia a contributing factor to sleep anxiety? If you’ve struggled with any kind of erratic sleep, or a prolonged deficit of restful, restorative sleep, it’s also likely that you’ve experienced fear or anxiety oversleep.

What is generalized anxiety disorder?

While you may have occasional anxiety related to stress or a specific season of life, it differs from being diagnosed with general anxiety disorder. GAD is a pervasive anxiety struggle for six months or longer, most often diagnosed in women, impacting multiple areas of life.

An example of someone experiencing short-term anxiety is when someone is taking care of their aging parent for a season, which causes them stress and worry over their parent’s future. However, once the care needs are settled, the anxiety begins to diminish, and stress levels are reduced.

However, if this person were diagnosed with GAD, they may also feel on edge at times that aren’t related to the care of her aging parent. They may experience restlessness, have lingering fatigue that doesn’t go away with rest, struggle to concentrate, have a short fuse, have trouble controlling their temper, have tight muscles, and have difficulty sleeping.

Is sleep anxiety just GAD and insomnia combined?

Sleep anxiety does not mean someone has GAD. It also doesn’t necessarily mean a person has insomnia. Sleep anxiety can be present in someone who has had a traumatic past with sleep. For example, they may have gone through adverse childhood experiences, had nightmares, struggled to self-soothe as a child, or is taking a medication that impacts sleep.

You can also experience sleep anxiety if you have a family history of anxiety, struggle to regularly get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep each night, or have prolonged stress. The good news is that there are solutions you can put in place to get relief from sleep anxiety. Firstly, though, you must be able to recognize it.

Signs of sleep anxiety

• You have restless leg syndrome symptoms, such as tingling or itching legs and an urge to move your legs when you are resting.
• You are fearful or dread going to sleep at night because you have struggled with insomnia.
• You experience physical symptoms of anxiety related to sleep or before going to sleep, including digestive issues, rapid heart rate, short or quick breathing, and tension in your muscles.
• You struggle with overwhelming thoughts, restlessness, or racing thoughts that don’t “turn off” when you tell yourself it’s time for sleep.
• You are irritable as it gets closer to bedtime, or you fear for your safety while sleeping as if you need to stay awake and keep watch.

Changes to help overcome sleep anxiety

Sleep anxiety can contribute to a host of other conditions, so here are some changes to consider making if you’re concerned about sleep anxiety.

Begin a regular exercise routine

Exercise is one of the biggest contributors to a healthy night’s sleep. Many sleep researchers will warn those with insomnia, however, to avoid exercising late in the day or early evening. It can impact sleep on those who struggle to fall asleep.

Eat well

Eat a variety of vegetables, particularly those high in magnesium, such as avocados. Magnesium deficiency can make stressful events feel heightened, so it’s important to get enough magnesium in your diet.

Avoid regular trips to local fast-food restaurants. Some studies show that eating a large quantity of or relying heavily on fatty or high-carbohydrate foods can be damaging to the quality of sleep a person has. Focusing on a balanced diet with adequate fat, carbohydrates, and protein can be beneficial to sleep quality. Likewise, try not to eat fatty or carbohydrate-rich foods right before you go to sleep or when you wake up at night.

More studies show that eating high-carb or high-fat foods during the wake cycle of a sleep pattern or late at night can disturb the REM cycle for some.

Pay attention to your past

If you have come from a traumatic background, including physical or verbal abuse, the death or divorce of your parents, emotional neglect, or having a parent who struggled with a mental health or alcohol use disorder, it’s important to get help.

Seeking counseling for the adverse childhood experiences of your past can help you control your anxiety levels, even when the anxiety doesn’t seem related to your past experiences. The connection between a body’s trauma response and inability to sleep well can be long-lasting.

The sleep cycle of a person who has experienced adverse childhood experiences or trauma even in adulthood can be altered, which most often impacts REM sleep. This is the part of the sleep cycle where people experience dreams, process emotions, and store memories.

Getting help to process your past can be a huge victory in your attempt to solve sleep issues.

Cut back on scrolling

If you struggle with anxiety at any level, even if you don’t have generalized anxiety disorder, you will likely not be helped by scrolling social media or news sites. Sometimes, we can engage in what’s called “doom-scrolling,” where the information intake leads to fear and worry about our future or the future of our children. Yes! This can contribute to sleep anxiety.

Instead of sitting down to scroll on your phone during your next break from work or downtime, try taking a walk or picking up a hobby such as knitting, crafting, or reading. These are all calming activities that force you to stay off a screen.

Find a wind-down routine that helps your stress levels decrease

Whether you enjoy putting together a puzzle, taking part in a nightly beauty regimen, or doing some light stretches, it’s important to find something you can do to unwind after a stressful day at work or shuttling children to various activities.

We can’t avoid stress, but we can choose how we respond to it

It’s a good idea to make a short list, even just three to five bullet points, of activities you can pick up quickly when you feel your body is responding adversely to stress. It might be something methodical, such as folding laundry, or it could be something you like to do as a hobby, such as creative lettering.

Sit down and write a letter to a friend, read Scripture on the Bible app of your phone, or call a friend to chat while you walk around your house.

Adopt a breathing routine

While we all have to breathe to live, we don’t all live our best lives by the way that we breathe. If you find yourself struggling regularly with fearful or racing thoughts, particularly as it relates to sleep or before you go to bed at night, try this simple breathing exercise.

Inhale for a count of four, hold for one count and exhale for a count of four. You can google breathing exercises that may help decrease your sleep anxiety in the moment.

Listen to soothing sounds before sleeping

Finding a soothing sound to listen to can also be calming, especially in the last half-hour leading up to bedtime. Making sure your bedroom temperature is low and finding an app where you can listen to calming music or ambient noise may give you a sense of peace in your bodily response to sleep. This can help reduce your anxiety.

When it’s time for help

If you’ve tried these changes and continue to struggle with sleep anxiety, seeing a counselor can help immensely. Sleep anxiety can be managed and the things that trouble us can be unpacked with a skillful therapist. Reach out to our offices today. We can match you with a counselor that fits your needs.