How To Sleep Better With Anxiety

4 min read

Do you lay in bed at night worrying? Is your sleep pattern affected by anxiety, and you are searching for a solution to improve your sleep?

Anxiety and panic attacks affect most of us at some time in our lives. If you are anxious at bedtime, read a book, a boring book to make you feel sleepy and distract your thoughts. Use pink noise to relax your brain and help you focus on being relaxed in a safe environment.

Here are a few quick tips for sleeping better with anxiety:

  1. Establish a consistent sleep schedule: Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day can help to regulate your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle and make it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
  2. Create a relaxing sleep environment: Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet, and invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows.
  3. Avoid stimulating activities before bed: Avoid screens, caffeine, and heavy meals close to bedtime, as these can disrupt your sleep. Instead, try engaging in relaxing activities such as reading, taking a warm bath, or practicing deep breathing or meditation.
  4. Practice relaxation techniques: Techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization can help to calm the mind and body and promote sleep.
  5. Consider trying a sleep aid: If you’re struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep, a sleep aid such as melatonin may be helpful. However, it’s important to speak with a healthcare professional before starting any new medication.

By implementing these strategies and making lifestyle changes, you can improve your sleep and better manage your anxiety. It may also be helpful to speak with a mental health professional about your anxiety and develop a treatment plan to address the underlying cause of the anxiety.

How do you fall asleep with anxiety?

Is it really possible to find a way of how to sleep quickly with anxiety? Yes, it is possible, but you will need to make slight adjustments to how you approach hitting the sack after a long day.

Don’t take a nap regardless of how sleepy you feel during the day. If you sit and feel your eyes are closing, get up and become active, the sleepy feeling will quickly subside.

Ditch stimulants. Forget drinking coffee and tea and sugary drinks. The last thing you need is to be jacked up on stimulants that will keep you awake through the entire night.

Exercise releases feel-good chemicals into your brain every day, which will help with your anxiety. Light exercise daily will also make you feel tired, so you will sleep easy when you go to bed.

If you can learn the trick of how to sleep better with anxiety, you will never look back.

Your final meal of the day should be more protein and fewer carbs. Many proteins, mainly poultry, release tryptophan which triggers sleep.

Before bed, take a warm shower and relax. Use aromatherapy oils to transport you to a place where you feel relaxed and happy. Many memories are associated with smell.

A key factor of sleeping under stress is to be relaxed before you get into bed. Make sure your smartphone is off so you can’t be disturbed.

A cool room is conducive to sleep, so set your thermostat to around 60 degrees or lower, even off and open a window.

Can pink noise help you sleep with anxiety?

If you have tried everything and your sleep environment is perfect, and you are ready for sleep, and then out of the blue, you have a panic attack, how can you deal with it?

First of all, this happens for inexplicable reasons sometimes, so don’t blame yourself. Often you will find putting a light on beneficial if you are scared.

After a panic attack, learning how to sleep is reestablishing rational thoughts and then relaxing.

If you have managed to calm yourself down and return to some semblance of relaxation, you can try pink noise. Pink noise suppresses the jolting nerve noises that may make you alert again.

You have most likely heard of white noise. It’s used to break down prisoners of war under interrogation. It’s a nerve-jangling continuous crackle that is not pleasant.

You may have realised by now that pink noise is somewhat more pleasant to listen to and can help you relax and drift off to sleep. You play pink noise for the duration of your sleep.

Pink noise can be a background soundtrack of waves gently lapping a tropical beach or the sound of the otter patter of raindrops on a window. You get the idea, and it’s relaxing and very pleasant for most of us to listen to.

Why does anxiety get worse at night?

Because it’s the culmination of the day’s experiences combined with all the stresses and anxiety you may already feel. It’s normal; how you deal with it is the main question.

Most of us would admit that when the lights go out, our minds can start to whirr, and sometimes the thoughts get out of control and beyond our coping mechanism. Boom, you have a panic attack instead of sleeping.

However, you can deal with a panic attack or anxiety by grounding yourself, understanding where you are right now, in a safe, secure location should ease some of your fears.

At night when things are quiet and peaceful, there is little to keep you distracted, and your thoughts can run wild. Your cortisol levels increase, and now it’s fight or flight time. 

If this is happening to you, get out of bed, make a cup of your favourite bedtime drink, switch the TV on and watch a lighthearted show that you have possibly watched 10 times before.

Distract your thoughts for that which is overwhelming you.

What triggers sleep anxiety?

The crazy thing is that anxiety of not being able to sleep can be the trigger that sets off your anxiety.

Once you are in a state of anxiety, you can convince yourself that the most irrational thoughts are true, your parents hate you, your spouse is getting ready to leave you.

Does anxiety medication stop panic attacks?

If your doctor prescribes medication to prevent anxiety attacks, they will become less frequent.

I(f you feel nothing is working for you and your panic attacks are becoming frequent, speak with your doctor, who will be sympathetic to your situation.

Why do I have anxiety for no reason?

It’s unlikely that you have anxiety for no reason. It’s just a case that you have not identified the specific reason causing your anxiety.

Many factors can cause anxiety, and you don’t necessarily identify with a situation for you to feel anxiety at a later date.

Stress in your life can trigger anxiety attacks and environmental circumstances that you have no control over. 

How many traumatic events are you exposed to every time you watch the news on TV? It’s a continual visual bombardment of images that show devastation and hardship.

Is it any wonder you feel stressed when you try to relax? Don’t blame yourself. You can do things to ease the anxiety to help you sleep through the night.

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