My Anxiety Gets Worse At Night, Is This Normal?

You’re laying in bed ready to fall asleep. You plug in your phone, set your alarms, and get into a comfortable position under the covers.

After closing your eyes, you start the process of trying to fall asleep. After having a little trouble, you decide to start counting sheep.

One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep. Four.

Your mind starts to wander. The sheep are disappearing only to be replaced by anxious thoughts. Now, you’re thinking about the items on your to-do list, what your day will look like tomorrow, and even things you’ve done or said in the past.

Is it normal for your anxiety to get worse at night? Let’s find out why this is the case. 

Less Distraction

When you're busy throughout the day with work, errands, home life, and relationships, it's easy to distract yourself from everything else going on in your life. It's harder to distract yourself at night when you're really trying to ease your mind and fall asleep. Due to having fewer distractions when you're falling asleep at night, it's easier for those anxious thoughts to start to creep in again and be the sole focus in your mind.

Ruminating

Having fewer distractions can also cause you to ruminate more than you would throughout your day. At night, you may start to worry about multiple areas of your life like your career, relationships, and your finances. You may even start to think about actions or behaviors from your past.

Fear of the Next Day

Whether you're spending your time lying in bed looking at the clock and calculating how many hours of sleep you'll be getting or you're worried about events that will take place the next day, it's easy to get caught up in your fears of future events that haven't even occurred yet.

Too Much Caffeine

If you're having difficulty sleeping at night, you may want to take a look at what you're consuming during the day, nutrition-wise and media-wise. Too much caffeine can keep you up at night and also be a contributor to anxiety.

How to Reduce Nighttime Anxiety

Anxiety worsening at night is extremely common for a lot of people. You're not alone if you're experiencing something similar. Anxiety is a normal emotion that most humans face as easily as happiness, sadness, and anger. It typically passes within a few minutes or hours. Luckily, there are some things that you can try to reduce or limit your anxiety at night.

Create and Follow a Bedtime Routine

One of the best things you can do for your anxiety is to create and stick with a nighttime routine. Try to go to bed around the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning. This can help your body fall into a natural rhythm of knowing when it's time to be asleep and awake.

Practice Mindfulness

Another great way to limit your nighttime anxiety is to practice mindfulness. A lot of anxiety stems from worrying about the future or past events. Try to bring yourself back to the present moment. You can do this by journaling, practicing deep breathing, or meditating.

Seek Additional Support

If you notice your anxiety is lingering on a little longer, keeping you up at night, or preventing you from doing certain things in your normal daily routine, it may be time to reach out for additional support.

Anxiety is completely treatable. Working with a therapist may be exactly what you need to help you better manage the signs and symptoms you may be experiencing.

Reach out to me today to set up a consultation for anxiety treatment.